The 2013 Annual General Meeting of Anwar-ul Islam College, Agege Old Students Association (ACAOSA) will hold in the school’s premises, College Road, Oniwaya-Agege, Lagos on December 29 by 2pm.
According to a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the body, Alhaji Mufutau Ottun, all old students are expected to be seated by 1.45pm.”
Residents of Badagry wailed uncontrollably yesterday as over 200 policemen from the Lagos State Police Command demolished over 500 buildings erected on a land meant for police estate.
The armed policemen stormed the 950-plot land (65 hectares) around 10am with about seven bulldozers and began demolition immediately.
Residents watched helplessly as structures worth billions of naira were destroyed.
The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had ordered the command to take possession of the land which the police acquired about seven years ago with the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the Lagos State Government in 2008.
Men, women and children wept openly as their properties went down in seconds with bulldozers at work. Some of them were allowed to park their belongings before the exercise.
The operation was led by the Area Commander, Area ‘K,’ Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Osu Ekpo. Officers of the Rapid Respond Squad (RRS), Taskforce and policemen from Area ‘K’ took part in the operation on the land located at Atinporome, Mowo Phase II, Badagry.
A police source said an eviction notice was issued to the occupants to vacate in 2011, while another one was issued three weeks ago.
Taskforce Chairman Bayo Sulaiman said the residents encroached on the land as the police has a genuine title document of the land including a C of O signed by Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2008.
According to him, land grabbers, popularly known as Omo Onile sold the land illegally to unsuspecting public, adding that the action was taken because the police wanted to claim the land to build an estate for its officers
A victim, Waidi Yakubu, who said he built his house nine years ago, claimed he bought his land from a genuine source, but without a C of O. He appealed to the state government for help.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Ngozi Braide could not be reached for comments .
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Productivity Company (SNEPCO), a subsidiary of Shell Petroleum has renovated a part of the Old People’s Home, Yaba, Lagos.
The company said the project was aimed at lifting the wellbeing of the old occupants of the home.
At the organisation’s end-of-year party held within the premises, the firm’s Managing Director, Chike Onebekwe, said the company donated a 30KVA generator to the home last year. The renovated six-room block was handed over to managers of the home.
Onebekwe said: “We identify with children and senior citizens as part of our social investments portfolio which cuts across health, education and social services. Recently, SNEPCO identified with children with special needs at Modupe Cole Memorial Childcare, Lagos by expanding and equipping its physiotherapy unit. Also, we were there last year for the end-of-year party.”
The Director, Social Welfare Department, Office of Youth and Social Development in Lagos State, Musbau Abdulahi, commended the organisation and urged other corporate organisations to emulate its CSR gesture.
Former Lagos State Governor, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande heaped praises on Governor Babatunde Fashola on Saturday, describing him as an exemplary leader who is committed to grassroots development.
He was the Father of the Day at the 3rd Community Day Celebration of the Ilupeju Est Community Development Association (IECDA) held at the Secretariat of Odi-Olowo Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area, Ilupeju, Lagos.
Jakande said: “I must comment the IECDA under the able and dynamic leadership of Apostle Babatunde Odele (Pawpaw) for ensuring the development of the area. Much regards and appreciation go to our able governor (Fashola) for his focus on rural development and the delivery of the dividends of democracy to the citizens of the state, especially for giving street light to our community and Ilupeju at large. He is our amiable Omoluabi Eko, an unequalled governor in the present governance of Nigeria. I wish the dynamic governor more resounding successes.”
Jakande urged the association not to rest on its oars at sustaining the culture of environmental cleanliness in the area, while he enjoined residents to remain loyal friends of a sane environment.
Awards were presented to outstanding members. The gesture, Odele explained, was to encourage them and others to remain committed to uplifting their community.
The Lagos State Government served yesterday a one-month notice to a Chinese firm, Hongxing Steel Company, over environmental pollution in the Amuwo-Odofin Industrial Area.
The General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Mr Rasheed Shabi read the riot act when he visited the company.
He said: “We have been inundated with reports that your operations are heavily polluting the environment. We have seen some infractions. I give you till the end of January 2014 to put corrective measures in place, otherwise, I will come and seal you off by February.”
He ordered the company to clear the drainage within its premises, treat its water, arrest the smoke coming from its furnace and the flushing of the area to shield its workers from toxic scrap residue.
An official of the company, Mr David Oloto, assured that the company would urgently address the areas identified by the agency.
Thirty-nine policemen were killed by armed robbers in various parts of Lagos State this year, it was learnt yesterday.
The policemen were felled by bandits’ bullets in 54 robbery operations across the state.
The Nation learnt that within the period, 322 cases of murder were recorded; 1,130 vehicles stolen and 149 robbers killed.
Of the 1,130 vehicles, 557 were snatched, 568 were removed from where they were parked and five were driven away by drivers.
The statistics, according to the state police command, also show that 472 robbers were arrested, while 390 arms, 16,034 ammunition and 919 vehicles were recovered within the period. The Police foiled 390 robbery operations.
Commissioner of Police Umar Manko said the command had put in place strategies to ensure a secured environment, including more police patrol, intensive vehicular and border patrol, purposeful strategic raids on criminals’ hideouts, intensive patrol of all waterways and strategic deployment of gun boats and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) at key locations.
Blue Diamond Freights, a freight company based in Guangzhou, China, has denied giving authorisation letter to any company for the production of fake WHAL clippers.
The development followed a raid on Yongkang Wonderful Electrical Appliance Company based in Yongkang City, China, by agents of Economic Inspection Brigade of the Yongkang Administration for Commerce and Industry, the Jinghua Municipal Administration for Commerce and Industry and Officials of the Yongkang Public Security Bureau.
During the raid, 10,000 fake WAHL clippers were allegedly seized from the company, including “a fraudulent authorisation letter signed by a Festus U. Mbisiogu of Blue Diamond Freight LLC (Blue Diamond).”
In a statement, Blue Diamond Freights’ Chief Executive Officer, Mr Festus Mbisiogu, said: “I did not give any authorisation letter to Yongkang Wonderful Electrical Appliance Company or used the Seal of Blue Diamond Freights for the production of WHAL. I also do not remember, officially or unofficially, freighting any WHAL Products from China or any part of the world to Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Yongkang Wonderful Electrical Appliance Company, China has debunked reports that a letter bearing the name of Mr, Festus Mbisiogu and Blue Diamond Freights was allegedly seized from them.
A son of the first female councilor in Nigeria, Prince John Boevi Lawson, has passed away. Lawson, who died in Lagos on November 11, was 80.
Born in Ibadan on October 30, 1933, his father, the late Bishop Hailing Lawson, was a missionary, while his mother, the late Mrs. Henrietta Olaitan Lawson (nee Macaulay) was a politician. She was elected to the then Lagos Town Council. She was the grand-daughter of the late Revd Thomas Babington Macaulay, founder and first principal of the CMS Grammar School, Lagos, the oldest secondary school in Nigeria.
Her maternal grand-mother, Abigail Macaulay, was the daughter of the late Rt. Revd Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the acclaimed first African Bishop of the Church of England, and the first to translate the Bible into Yoruba.
Lawson attended Baptist Academy, Lagos, and worked for the defunct Lagos City Council, Amex and J. Allen, before enlisting in the Nigerian Army where he served in the corps of military police. He left the Army in 1979, worked for the defunct Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (now LAWMA) as Vehicle Inspection Officer, and retired in 1993.
A Christian wake will hold at his residence, 4, Adedoja Street, Mushin, Lagos tomorrow at 6pm. He will be buried at Atan Cemetery, Yaba, Lagos, on Friday after a funeral service at African Church Cathedral, Salem, Freeman Street, Ebute-Meta, Lagos, at 10am.
The Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Rev. Prof. Emele Mba Uka has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to do all within his constitutional authority to see that students in the tertiary institutions return to school immediately.
He condemned the lingering strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which was occasioned by government’s refusal to honour its 2009 agreement with the body.
The cleric who addressed reporters in Calabar, Cross River State, said that whatever it would cost the government to resolve the present impasse in the university system would be a worthy investment in securing the future of the nation.
He stated that no responsible government anywhere in the world would allow students who are the future leaders of the nation to remain idle for over five months for no cause of theirs.
“The more they remain at home,” he said, “the more they become the devil’s workshop. The situation could cause incalculable damage to the future of the nation in terms of the incidence of crime and social vices…
“Besides,” the Prelate continued, “the quality of education in Nigeria is very low because of lack of infrastructure and equipment, poor motivation of teachers and poor remuneration. It is time the government took concrete steps to reverse this ugly trend in order to restore confidence in the Nigerian education system.”
• Chukwumerije, Ukpai, Oando Plc, others among victims
Anambra State Command of the State Security Service (SSS) has arrested four persons who allegedly specialise in diverting and cashing dividend warrants of unsuspecting shareholders in the country.
Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Prof Ifedayo Olawale Oladipo, Rev Uma Ukpai, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Oando Plc are among their victims.
The suspects are: Cletus Chris Ohaegbulem (aka Chris Ohams); Emmanuel Mbakwe, Yahaya Anifowoshe and Mojeed Babatunde. They were arrested in Lagos, Asaba in Delta State and Umuahia in Abia State.
Also apprehended by SSS is Chukwunonso Emeghalu (30), from Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State for allegedly duping some people under the guise to helping them to secure DSS jobs.
Parading the suspects yesterday, the state Director of SSS, Mr. Alex Okeiyi warned the public to be wary of fraudsters claiming to be agents of any organisation or working for the SSS either in the state or elsewhere.
He said the four suspects specialised in stealing dividend warrants of unsuspecting shareholders from NIPOST, Falomo, Lagos and cashing them in banks.
Okeiyi said Ohaegbulem (43), who hails from Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State had been a notorious fraudster with multiple identities which he used in opening fictitious bank accounts to hit at unsuspecting victims before he was arrested in Asaba.
He said a total of 194 dividend warrants belonging to unsuspecting shareholders were recovered from him, including that of Rev Ukpai.
Ohaegbulem confessed to have connived with the manager of Okaiuga Micro Finance Bank in Umuahia, Orji Ukanwoke, now at large, and his Operations Manager, Emmanuel Mbakwe to cash the dividend warrants through a spurious company, Access Enterprises Limited he opened to perpetrate the act.
He also confessed to have swindled “uncountable number of victims” through bogus contracts in Ebonyi State Government House, Abakaliki, posing as a top official of the government.
Anifowoshe (45), a trader on Lagos Island, was said to be the suppler of the warrants to Ohaegbulem.
He said he was approached by a man, Chisom in 2012, to source dividend warrants for him, which according to him, prompted him to approach Mosheed Babatunde, a NIPOST worker in Falomo, to source the items and compensations were handsomely paid to him.
Okeiyi said the suspects would be handed over to the relevant agency for further investigation and necessary action.