The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Woman docked for ‘bathing another with pepper’

    Woman docked for ‘bathing another with pepper’

    A 27-year-old woman, Patience Edet, has been charged before an Ejigbo Magistrate’s Court with allegedly bathing her friend, Rose Agali, 26, with pepper.
    The accused is facing a two count-charge of assault and breach of peace, punishable under Section 171 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.
    Prosecuting Corporal Oladejo Balogun told the court that the offence was committed at 11, Olowu Street, Egan, a Lagos suburb.
    Trouble started after Patience allegedly asked Rose to leave her lover, Emmey, without success.
    The accused, who blamed the complainant for her failed relationship, told the court that she warned Rose to  allow Emmey come back to her. Rose, Patience added, refused, insisting that she also loves him.
    Patience alleged that Rose told her that Emmey  who approached her and as such she could not let him go.
    Angry at her friend’s response, the accused allegedly blended pepper, mixed it with water and poured the substance on Rose’ face and body.
    After bathing her with the substance, Patience allegedly beat her up. The complainant was injured and rushed to a hospital.
    Rose who told the court that she went out that fateful day, said she did not know Patience had ground pepper and was waiting for her return.
    She said she was shocked when the substance was poured on her by the accused who also beat her up, knocking off one of her teeth.
    The accused pleaded not guilty and was granted N50,000 bail, with one surety in the like sum by Magistrate M.B. Folami, who adjourned the matter till November 14.
  • Peace returns to Lagos NURTW

    Peace returns to Lagos NURTW

    WARRING factions of Lagos State Council of the National Union of  Road Transport Workers (NURTW) have resolved their rift.
    The parties held hands and hugged at a reconciliation meeting at the Council’s office.
    The meeting was at the instance of the union’s National President, Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin.
    While the dispute lasted, the Council was factionalised, with one faction loyal to former Chairman, Alhaji Rafiu Akanni Olohunwa and the other to the former Treasurer, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (MC Oluomo).
    The crisis led to violent clashes between members.
     Elated by the success of the reconciliation effort, state Chairman Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede,  promised to accommodate all.
    He warned members to desist from rumour mongering, because it was the peddling of unsubstantiated information in the past that caused the Council’s initial problem.
    Olohunwa urged members to forgive each other of past infractions.
    He added:: “I want you people to forgive me of any atrocity I might have committed while in office. To err is human, to forgive is divine” Olohunwa pledged his loyalty to the new administration under the leadership of Agbede.”
    He implored the new Chairman to accommodate everybody.
     Akinsanya also thanked everybody for the role they played in ensuring that peace returned to the Council.

  • Pupils to learn Chinese language

    Lagos State will introduce Mandarin or Chinese Language in public schools’ curriculum from next session, Commissioner for Education Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye has said.
    In a statement by the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Lanre Bajulaiye, the commissioner said learning the language would be an opportunity for pupils to speak it and adapt to Chinese culture.

    The commissioner spoke after a meeting with a delegation from the Chinese Confucius Institute, University of Lagos.

    Prof. Caleb Orimoogunje, Director of the Institute, said the institution was ready to assist the state with logistics to make the teaching and learning of the language easier.
    Orimoogunje added that Prof. Lirong Jiang, a co-director of the institute, would help in the take-off of the programme.

    Jiang said the institute, as a representative of the Chinese culture in Nigeria, was set up to satisfy people’s need about the country’s culture. She said the language became necessary because China had become the new destination for economic growth and technological development.

    Jiang said: “The Institute is prepared to provide Chinese instructors to teach the language and the culture in the state’s public schools as soon as the Memorandum of Understanding is signed between the state and the institute.

    The knowledge of Chinese language will help students to further their studies in China and carry out research in various fields of human endeavour as China has become a success story in the world economy.”

  • Police arrest robbery suspects

    The Police in Idimu, a Lagos suburb, have arrested a suspected robber, Tajudeen Sarafadin, and recovered a locally made pistol from him.

    Sarafadin is alleged to be a member of a four-man gang that stormed Gowon Estate roundabout in a Toyota Siena car around 10:30am on Sunday.
    A Senior Police Officer told The Nation that a distress call was received at the station about 10:30am on Sunday, that robbers were terrorising people around the Gowon Estate roundabout.

    He said a patrol team was immediately dispatched by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Mike Imeke, a Superintendent, to stop the hoodlums.

    The effort, according to sources, paid-off as the suspect was intercepted at Ilepo Alhaji Bus Stop on the Ikotun-Idimu Road, with a locally made pistol while others fled. The DPO said those still at large would soon be arrested following Sarafadin’s confessions.

    He said Sarafadin had been handed over to the Gowon Estate Police Station because the crime was committed in that area.

    Imeke said: “We could not get them all because it was not a vantage position. If we had attempted shooting while they escaped, we might have shot innocent people and that would compound the situation. But since we got one of them alive, I am sure our interrogation will pay off and lead us to the others.”

    In a related development, two robbery suspects were arrested by the Isheri-Osun Police Division after allegedly carrying out separate operations. Agunbiade Ahmed, 23, of 5, Idimu Road, and Ikechukwu Peter, of no fixed address were arrested at different locations.

    Ahmed, who is said to have been arrested and charged to court on several occasions, allegedly broke into the house of Onifade Ifeoluwa on September 3 and carted away an undisclosed sum of money; Peter allegedly stole clothes.

    It was alleged that Ahmed usually terrorised residents of the neighbourhood, telling them that he was only interested in cash.

    “After collecting their money under threats, he will leave. He has been doing this continuously until that fateful day when he was caught,” a police source said.

    When asked why he chose to engage in crime, Ahmed told The Nation that he does not know why he keeps going back to steal each time he was released.
    He said: “I always see myself doing it and I don’t know if I can ever stop it.”

    Peter said he stole the clothes in order to sell them at Iyana-Iba market.
    The Divisional Police Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police, William Akinlade confirmed the arrest and told The Nation that the suspects will be handed over to the anti-robbery squad.

  • Magistrate frees graduate beggar

    A 30-year old man, Peter Osawe, was arraigned yesterday before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court for allegedly begging a Police Area Commander for alms in Lekki, Ajah, Lagos.
    Prosecuting Sergeant Cousin Adams said the accused, a graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar, was arrested on Saturday at the Shoprite Mall in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state and detained at Maroko Police Station.

    Osawe was charged with conducting himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace by begging from a senior police officer, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 166(f) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos. Osawe, who lives at 5 Ajegunle Street, Lakowe, Ibeju-Lekki, alleged that he was at Shoprite for a modelling interview at the MTN office and ran out of cash.

    He said he approached an elderly man, who turned out to be an Area Commander, for financial help and the elderly man asked him to follow him.
    The Commander took him to the security post and ordered the policemen at Shoprite to search if he has any incriminating or harmful object on him.

    The Commander, it was alleged, ordered Osawe’s arrest because he did not have anything to identify himself. The Commander was said to have alleged that his wife’s phone was stolen at the same place penultimate week, when she came shopping.

    The offence, according to Adams contravened Section 166(f) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2012.
    The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge.

    Magistrate Oshodi Makanju discharged the accused because it is not a crime to beg. He advised the accused to get a meaningful job to improve his condition.

  • Lagos to rehabilitate monuments, tourism sites

    TO boost tourism, the Lagos State Government is to rehabilitate monuments and landmarks in the state, the Ministry of Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations has said.
    Speaking during a tour of some sites over the weekend, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, Mrs. MorounRanti Alebiosu, said the inspection would enable the ministry make appropriate recommendations on ways of restoring their lost glory.

    The sites visited included: the Tinubu Square, Glover Hall, Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) office at Kakawa Street, the first Mosque in the state, the site where pipe borne water was first inaugurated in Nigeria at Enu-Owa, the first public toilet in Nigeria, situated at Isale Eko, and the Freedom Park among others.

    Mrs. Alebiosu promised that the originality and content of the monuments and sites would be retained despite their planned rehabilitation.

    A comprehensive report and data on all abandoned and uncompleted buildings would be made to the government with a view of making them useful, she added.

    The rehabilitation, she said, would boost tourism, adding that the Babatunde Fashola’s administration is determined to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the state.

    The Commissioner for Tourism and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr. Oladisun Holloway and some officials of the Ministry also visited the Gbemisola Street, Ikeja, residence of the late Afrobeat icon.

    Holloway said government’s plan to rehabilitate Fela’s shrine and turn it into a museum, was part of the way government intends to immortalise the late Afrobeat legend. He expressed satisfaction with the work so far done on the house.

    Pledging government’s readiness to immortalise other deserving Nigerians, Holloway said the Fashola administration would continue to partner stakeholders in tourism to move the sector forward.

  • Commercial motorcyclists, outdoor workers risk eye problem

    Commercial motorcycle riders and roadside traders risk having an eye problem called Pterygium, a three-month data obtained by a Lagos Eye Hospital, Pietros, has said.
    The hospital has been conducting free eye screening for those interested since May and the data collected after three months, showed that cases of Pterygium, mostly found in Okada riders and roadside traders, formed one-third of diagnosed cases.

    “When we first started, average of 100 people came in for the free screening. Now, we do have about 40 people and cases of Pterygium have been quite common, about one in every three people,” said Shola Oyelakin, the hospital’s General Manager.

    Those diagnosed with the eye defect, he said were found to be Okada riders, food sellers, and roadside traders, who are exposed all day to the cause of the defect, which are dust, smoke, wind, and sunlight.

    Pterygium, he said, is a patch of tissue that obstructs vision by developing sideways from the lens, and ends up obstructing vision. Once it develops, surgery is the only solution. There is probability of relapse after surgery if exposure to the causal agents continues.

    “The best is prevention and that is through limiting exposure by using sunshades,” he said.
    The data also shows that more people below 50 are developing cataract, which Oyelakin attributed to drug abuse and trauma, high blood pressure and diabetes.

    Oyelakin said: “Cataract is usually the most common eye problem, but it is age related. However, we have seen that people below 50 years are increasingly having cataract,” advising people to stop self-medication.

    He added: “You may have similar symptoms, but the causes may be different. However, because an eye drop bought over the counter works for an eye problem, people will use it for any eye problem with similar symptoms, not knowing some eye drops should not be used for more than certain days.”

    year because eye problems are better prevented. What we have seen is that people do not take eye problems serious until they have started affecting vision,” he said, disclosing that half of the number visiting daily for screening, at least have one eye defect.

    “It shows we have poor attitude to eye health,” he said. He advised government to ensure that primary healthcare centres conduct eye check-up, especially to prevent retinal problems and glaucoma.

    “Only one eye hospital does retinal surgery in Nigeria and the surgery is not only expensive, it is 50-50. Glaucoma is common in Africa and it has no known surgical cure. It is better prevented because it does not even give any symptom until about 50 percent of the eye is damaged,” he said.

  • Assassination attempt on Dawodu: A chilling account of violence, perseverance

    Assassination attempt on Dawodu: A chilling account of violence, perseverance

    In a shocking and disturbing incident, Mr. Olawoye Anthony Dawodu, a renowned Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on his family in March 2006. 

    The brutal attack occurred while Dawodu was returning from his wife’s sister’s engagement ceremony in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

    According to eyewitnesses, gunmen ambushed Dawodu’s vehicle, unleashing a hail of bullets that resulted in a devastating accident. 

    Witnesses reported that good Samaritans rushed to the scene to rescue Dawodu, his wife, and children, to the hospital for medical attention.

    In the aftermath of the attack, Dawodu, still shaken by the ordeal, gave a statement to the authorities, pointing a finger at one Folohunsho, whom he alleged was behind the assassination attempt. 

    Dawodu’s words were laced with a mix of emotion and defiance: “Is it a crime to support those that I believe can make Nigeria better? Is it a crime to be a good man in society? Is it a crime to be productive in the community?”

    Read Also: Hon Dawodu organises five-day free medical outreach for constituents

    Dawodu’s courageous statement highlighted his unwavering commitment to his values and principles, even in the face of violence and intimidation. 

    The incident served as a stark reminder of the dangers faced by individuals who dare to challenge the status quo and fight for positive change.

    As the investigation into the assassination attempt continues,  Olawoye Dawodu’s bravery and resilience in the face of adversity have inspired countless Nigerians to stand up for their rights and demand justice. 

    An activist said Dawodu’s story “serves as a powerful reminder that the struggle for a better Nigeria is not without its challenges, but with courage and perseverance, positive change is possible”.