Category: South West

Four persons have died while 13 others sustained injuries in an accident that occurred along Ikaram -Akunu road in Akoko area of Ondo State.

The lone accident involved a Toyota Hiace commercial bus marked MBA 752 XA.

Witnesses said the bus somersaulted after one of the tyres burst. Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps, Ikare Akoko unit, Mr. Oluropo Alabi, said rescue crew of the command rushed to the scene upon receiving information about the accident.

He said the corpses were deposited at the morgue of Ikare Akoko Specialist hospital while the injured were admitted at the same hospital.

Traders in Agbado Market in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State, have cried out over alleged harassment following the installation of new market leaders by the monarch of the Agbado community.

One of the market chieftains, Chief Sabiu Alao claimed that some persons parading themselves as new Babaloja and Iyaloja of Agbado have been harassing and threatening traders and subjecting them to unlawful taxation.

”I was installed as Babaloja by the Baale of Agbado, Chief Anthony Kayode Akinrinade, who remains the only recognised traditional ruler of Agbado, and my installation was affirmed by Alake, the paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo. The unrecognised market leaders have since imposed extraneous taxes such as owo oba, owo iyaloja, and owo Babaloja on traders and have been using thugs to enforce the collection of the illegal fee on a daily basis.

Responding, the Asoju Oba of Agbado, Deacon Kola Oshoko dismissed the allegations as tissue of lies. He said: ”Before 2017, there has been an issue with the market when the Baale of Agbado was upgraded to Oba. We took the then market leaders to an Ota High Court which held that the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo and Baale Akinrinade have no right to install anyone as Babaloja and Iyaloja of Agbado Market.”

“The judgment specifically stated that Alake’s jurisdiction does not go beyond Abeokuta South Local Government and as such cannot appoint or install chiefs outside his area and the judgment was never appealed against to date.”

No fewer than 19 Yoruba nation agitators who recently regained freedom after their arrest and detention by the Nigeria Police during the July 3 rally in Ojota, Lagos, have fled the country.

The Nation learnt that 47 Yoruba Nation agitators were released on bail on the 27th of July, 2021 after meeting their bail condition.

A member of Ilana Omo Oodua, a Yoruba self-determination group, who spoke in confidence, confirmed this development when he spoke with our correspondent.

Agitators who have since fled the country to unknown locations include Babatunde Lawa; Salami Oladimeji; Kabiru Lawanson; Giwa Muniru; Opeyemi Tinuoye; Olasanmi Oladipupo and Olasunkanmi Tanimola.

Others are: Kabiru Lawanson; Chinemerem Emmanuel; Rasaki Musibau; Lukman Olalade; Olasanmi Oladipupo; Bashiru Shittu; Taofeek Abdusalam; Olamilekan Abata; Abdullahi Sikiru; Tosin Adeleye, Gbadamosi Babatunde and Babatunde Lawal.

However, Tajudeen Bakare, who was charged with the murder of Jumoke Oyeleke, a 25-year-old trader, who was hit by a stray bullet when the police were dispersing the agitators during the rally, is still in detention.

The police said Bakare was in possession of a Beretta pistol, two live ammunition, and “unlawfully killed” the trader.

He was detained following a remand order by the magistrate as a result of a murder charge preferred against him by the police.

The police filed a five-count charge against the agitators at a magistrates’ court in Yaba, Lagos.

The charge bothers on murder, unlawful assembly, unlawful society, and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace.

The leadership crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State on Friday further deepened with the swearing-in of a factional chairman, Alhaji Abu Gbadamosi.

The inauguration of the parallel state executive members was held at Trans Wonderland Plc, popularly known as Amusement Park, Bodija, Ibadan.

The oath was administered on Gbadamosi by a legal practitioner, Kehinde Owoade of MFN chambers.

After taking his oath, Gbadamosi also administered the oath of office on the party’s chairmen in all the 33 local government areas of the state.

It will be recalled that major stakeholders of the party had unanimously rejected the inauguration of Isaac Omodewu as state chairman of the party by the National Secretariat of the party.

The rejection of Omodewu was hinged on the fact that the congress that produced him (Omodewu) was flawed and had earlier been rejected by the national caretaker committee of the party.

Party chieftains including Senator Ayo Adeseun, among others, witnessed Gbadamosi’s inauguration.

Speaking after administering oath on the 33 local government chairmen of the party, Gbadamosi said he hasn’t committed any crime by taking the oath of office as Oyo APC chairman.

He said: “What Omodewu is doing is not allowed because we agreed on consensus. That is the arrangement our national leaders actually introduced and Omodewu was actually not appointed for anything,  he took over from the top.

“The post was not zoned to his local government, it was zoned to Kajola Local Government, not Itesiwaju. In consensus, when you are not able to agree, you introduce an election.

“Election was conducted, Omodewu’s local government (Itesiwaju) scored two, the other local government scored three while Kajola scored 16. You cannot actually build something on nothing. The process that led to his emergence was illegal.”

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Area Command, has intercepted no fewer than 5, 420 bags of smuggled rice and other contraband.

The Controller of the command, Bamidele Makinde, disclosed this yesterday while briefing newsmen in Abeokuta attributed the feat to the combination of strategic enforcement measures and effective use of intelligence.

The customs boss disclosed that the rice was impounded between February 9 and March 21.

According to him, the total duty paid value of all seized goods is N143,905,508.

Makinde noted that other seizures made within the period include 133 sacks and 181 wraps (book size) of cannabis sativa, 18 units of vehicles, 13 kegs of vegetable oil, 8 bales of 19 small ‘Ghana-must-go bags’ and two sacks of second-hand clothes.

Makinde added that 25 sacks and 4 bags of used shoes, 880 cartons of frozen poultry products, and 26,725 litres of PMS were also seized from smugglers.

The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Lekan Balogun on Friday charged some newly elevated chiefs to work with the understanding that their promotion meant additional responsibility.

Oba Balogun gave the charge while performing his first traditional duty of officially elevating some chiefs after his coronation exactly two weeks ago.

The promotion exercise involving six senior chiefs and three chiefs was necessitated by vacancies in the Ibadan traditional chieftaincy system.

“I charge you all to see your elevated positions and the future ones as a call to Ibadan duty in particular and humanity in general. It calls for commitment, loyalty, and sacrifice and I pray that our ancestors will back you and grant you the enablement to meet up with the demand of your respective titles,” Olubadan said.

The nine elevated chiefs from Balogun line, who received the traditional ‘Akoko Leaves’ as the compulsory rite from the ‘Oluwo Afobaje’ of Ibadanland, Alhaji Wahab Mosadogun, include Akeem Bolaji Adewoyin (Abese), Barr. Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli (Maye) and Adegboyega Adeniran (Ekefa).

Others are Taiwo Anthony Oyekan (Agbaakin), Raufu Eleruwere (Aare Alasa) and Emiola Onideure (Ikolaba). In the Chiefs category were Barr. Tirimisiyu Arowolo Obisesan (Asaju), Wasiu Delodun Ajimobi (Ayingun) and Mikail Gboyega Orogun Modi (Aare-Ago).

A pall of fear and tension hovered over  Oluwo area of Abeokuta following the gruesome killing of a suspected cultist  identified as  Tommy.

Tommy was attacked on Thursday night at rustic Panseke area of Abeokuta, the state capital by some yet-to-be-identified persons who hacked him to death in manners that left his remains evoking gory sight.

The assailants battered Tommy in the head and other parts of the body before leaving the body in a pool of his blood according to sources.

Insinuations were rife that he must have been killed by suspected cultists as many rumoured that he was a member of one of the rival cult groups operating in Abeokuta.

For the better part of Friday morning, there was tension in the seedy Oluwo neighborhood over fear of possible reprisal attacks.

Shops and residential buildings were under lock and key in the students populated environment with some residents seen fleeing the area before violence erupts.

Spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi described the incident as a cult clash.

According to Oyeyemi, 18 suspects have been arrested in connection with the clash.

Oyeyemi said: “On the early hours of Friday 25th of March, 2022, the Ogun state police command received a distress call that there was a clash between two rival cults at Oluwo area of Abeokuta, which left one person dead, in view of this, the Ogun State Police moved into action and quickly brought the situation under control. The timely intervention led to the arrest of a large number of suspected cultists who are now under investigation at the State Criminal investigation and intelligence department, Eleweran Abeokuta.”

The Chief Press  Secretary to Governor Adegboyega  Oyetola and media aide of Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola are at loggerhead with each other over non-remittance and payment of contributory pension of civil servants who retired in 2018.

Aregbesola’s aide, Sola Fasure on social media argued that Governor Oyetola should be held responsible for the pension arrears of pensioners because the government is a continuum, and anybody who assumed the seat inherited both asset and liability.

He said: “I have no intention of inciting retirees against the governor. Aregbesola left the government on November 28, 2018, having left the government; he is no longer in a position to pay pensioners anything. It is the responsibility of the new administration to pay them. Aregbesola was applauded for remitting contributory pension of workers.”

Responding, Ompidan, in a statement said: “claim that Governor Oyetola be held responsible for the inability of Contributory Pensioners, who retired since 2018 to get their pay, is tantamount to pitting pensioners against my Principal.

“I agree Government is a continuum, where assets and liabilities are inherited. We realise this and that is why we have carried on without complaining. But people like Sola Fasure, would not let us be. And since 2018, we have been managing the liabilities, including reducing the indebtedness to the Contributory Pensioners and other categories of pensioners while ensuring that we are up to date with our remittances since 2018.

”If we had met the deductions made before we came in and we mismanaged them, that’s when Fasure’s claim becomes tenable. But we didn’t inherit the deductions. We are only sourcing for money to pay the deductions that were made before we came in, which were neither passed to us nor disbursed to the Contributory Pensioners or other categories of pensioners.”

Counsel to Dr. Rahmon Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Hotel, Ile-Ife, and other six staff facing trial over alleged murder of a post-graduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Timothy Adegoke has said the defendants have no case to answer.

At the trial on Friday, before Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Oyebola Ojo, the counsel to Adedoyin, Yusuf Alli, SAN, said the prosecution failed to file legally admissible evidence to prove any of the 5 counts filed against Adedoyin.

Of 8 witnesses called by the prosecution, none gave any evidence admissible in law to connect Adedoyin to any of the offences charged. The only person PW 4, Police Investigation Officer that mentioned his name in evidence, did so in a positive light. The policeman said Adedoyin cooperated with them.

Alli said: “Regardless of social media trial, the court will decide the case on facts before the judge, saying suspicion has not been the basis in determining the course of justice. Precarious liability has no case in criminal liability. The prosecution tried but could not prove its case.”

The prosecution counsel, M.O. Omosun, however, said that he has filed his response to no case submission against all the defendants dated 24th of March, filed the same day.

He submitted that the prosecution has established a prima facie case against Adedoyin and other staff.

Justice Ojo adjourned till Wednesday, 30th March 2022 for the ruling on no case submission.

THE Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Lekan Balogun, will from today fill the vacancies existing in the Ibadan Traditional Council, with the promotion of nine chiefs in the Balogun line.

The ceremony, which will hold at the ancestral Aliiwo Palace of the Olubadan, will affect six senior chiefs and three others, including Senior Chiefs Akeem Bolaji Adewoyin, Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli and Adegboyega Adeniran, who will move from Maye to Abese, Ekefa to Maye and Agbaakin to Ekefa.

Also to be affected are Senior Chiefs Taiwo Anthony Adebayo Oyekan (Aare Alasa to Agbaakin), Raufu Amusa Eleruwere (Ikolaba to Agbaakin) and Emiola Onideure (Asaju to Ikolaba).

The three chiefs to be promoted are the current Ayingun, Tirimisiyu Obisesan, Aare-Ago Wasiu Ajimobi and Lagunna Mikhail Modi. They will become Asaju, Ayingun and Aare-Ago.

The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has urged the Olubadan-in-council to embrace traditional rites in burying Olubadan, rather than religious. He said the myth and respect attached to Yoruba kings across Southwest were legendary.

Speaking in Ibadan yesterday at the grand finale of the 2022 edition of Oke’badan festival, held at the Cultural Centre, Mokola, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland advised the new Olubadan, Oba Balogun, not to ignore the core traditional rites and practices that made Ibadan.

He said the stool of Olubadan of Ibadaland was purely traditional because the monarch occupied a prominent place in the history of Yorubaland.

Speaking about the importance of Oke’badan festival, Adams said it was a cultural fiesta that had spiritual value to attract success and prosperity to Ibadan, noting that the festival was celebrated annually to honour the founding fathers of Ibadan and show gratitude to the ancestors.

“The glory of Ibadan and the legacy must continue to thrive because cultural promotion is one of the tools for spiritual and physical liberation,” he said.