The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bus

  • Kaduna Utd given new 55-seater bus

    Kaduna Utd given new 55-seater bus

    • Governor Yero tasks team on continental ticket

    Kaduna State governor, Mukhtar Yero has donated a brand new, 55-seater Tata luxury bus to Kaduna United, SportingLife can reveal.

    Governor Yero handed the key to the bus to the club’s chairman, Sabo Babayaro in a brief ceremony yesterday in Kaduna.

    The governor said the move to give the club a new bus is in fufillment of his numerous promises made to the team. He added that he is concerned about the comfort of the players and the technical crew. “When the players and the technical crew are comfortable they will do well for the team. I beleive the new bus will make their journey very convenient anytime they travel for away matches,” the governor said.

    Yero, therefore, charged the Babayaro-led management board to return the club to the continental stage, adding that the state wants continental matches in Kaduna.

    Responding on behalf of the team, Babayaro thanked the governor for his kind gesture to the team while promising to reciprocate with good performance this season.

    “I want to thank our sports-loving governor Mukhtar Yero for his love for the team. We are happy for this wonderful gift to the club. There is no doubt that this will motivate the team to do more. I want to assure you and the people of the state that Insha Allah we will try our best to finish among the best teams so as to deliver a continental ticket at the end of the season.”

    Kaduna United are currently placed 15 on the log with three points from three matches played so far. The coach Ben Duamlong-tutored side will host Rangers International in a week four Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) on Thursday at the Kaduna Township Stadium.

     

  • 25 die in Kano as bombers attack Lagos-bound bus

    25 die in Kano as bombers attack Lagos-bound bus

    Blast barbaric, says Jonathan 

    Obi urges calm

     

    SUICIDE bombers struck yesterday in Kano, killing no fewer than 25 people.

    Some of the dead included passengers aboard a Lagos-bound luxury bus.

    Park workers and traders were also killed at the New Road Motor Park in Sabon Gari, which is predominantly occupied by non-indigenes in the North’s commercial headquarters. Many were injured.

    The attack, which occurred at about 4.30 pm during the peak period, was targeted at the 59-seater luxury bus, which was blown up as it was departing the park.

    Eyewitnesses said three suicide bombers positioned their Golf car, which had been primed with explosives, between Gobison Luxury Bus and one other before detonating the explosives.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said last night that the death toll could not be ascertained. NEMA spokesman Yushau Shuaib, in text messages said: “Rescuers and security personnel are yet to determine the source of explosions that occurred this evening at a motor park for long journeys in New Road, Sabo Gari. While casualty figure is not available at the moment, the seriously injured have been taken to the hospital and bodies evacuated.”

    The scene was immediately cordoned off by men of the military Joint Task Force (JTF) to pave the way for the evacuation of the victims, who were taken to the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital.

    Some of the injured had their limbs cut off. About six explosions were heard in the busy park that accommodates mostly Southeast and Southwest-bound passengers.

    Besides the wrecked Gobison bus, 10 others were affected.

    There was stampede in Sabo Gari as residents scampered for safety, following the multiple explosions. Businesses closed abruptly. The Kano Central Market and other places of business were shut.

    JTF spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha, said it would be hasty to release a casualty figure, adding that “our interest now is to ensure that the injured are taken to the hospital for treatment while efforts are being made by fire fighters to extinguish the raging flames in the park.

    “We are also making efforts to prevent thieves from taking advantage of the situation to steal.”

    A survivour, who identified himself as Mr. John, told this reporter: “I went to the motorpark with my family who were billed to travel to Lagos. I had purchased the ticket and wanted my family and I to have some refreshment a few metres away from where the Lagos-bound luxury bus was parked.

    “As we started taking the refreshments, we heard a loud explosion, the smoke of which enveloped the area. We survived by the grace of God. My immediate family and I are not hurt, but let me tell you, my brother, many people died.”

    The Chairman of the Kano Chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Tobias Idika, said from records available to him, many people died and five luxury buses were burnt.

    “This is the worst experience of the lives of the Igbo in Kano. We have lost many souls while five buses were burnt to ashes.”

    The Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) Zone 1, Mr David Omojola, visited the scene of the incident, describing it as tragic and unfortunate. “My men have taken position and doing everything possible to restore confidence in members of the public, as well as to evacuate the dead and injured to the mortuary and the hospital”, Omojola said.

    President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the explosion.

    According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Rueben Abati, the President said the barbaric incident will not deter the Federal Government from its strong-willed determination to overcome those who do not mean well for the nation.

    The Federal Government, he said, would not be stampeded, for any reason whatsoever, into abandoning its unrelenting war against terrorists in the country.

    The statement said: “President Jonathan reassured Nigerians and foreigners in the country that the Nigerian Government will continue to do all that is required to ensure the safety of lives and property, including continued collaboration with local and international partners and stakeholders to check the menace of terrorism.”

    “President Jonathan commiserated with the victims of the Kano explosions, their families and friends, and assured the Kano State government of the Federal Government’s continued support.”

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi condemned the bombing.

    Obi who said he heard the news as the plane that conveyed him to Rome, where he is in the Federal Government delegation for the installation of Pope Francis I today landed, described it as “barbaric and condemnable”.

    He said that no amount of anger for whatever reasons, rightly or wrongly, would justify what he called atavistic throw- back to old and superseded way of settling disputes by blood letting.”

    Calling for restraint on the part of those affected, he said he was in the process of contacting his Kano counterpart for detail, since, according to him, the barbarism took place at Sabongari, the home to non-indigenes, especially the Igbo.

    Obi prayed for the repose of the souls of the affected and for God to continue to grant wisdom to the President as he works tirelessly for the country to overcome her security challenges.

     

  • ‘No bus fell into the lagoon’

    ‘No bus fell into the lagoon’

    Lagos State government and the police yesterday denied that a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) vehicle plunged into the lagoon.

    They explained that a LAGBUS Asset Management Company bus, had a head-on collision with a commercial bus at Ebute Ero in Lagos, injuring seven passengers. The bus with a Lagos number-plate KSF 76 XA collided with a commercial bus with an Ogun State number-plate XC 595 JGB.

    The cause of the accident was not immediately known but eyewitnesses blamed the LAGBUS driver for running into the commercial bus.

    Seven people, three of whom have been discharged, were wounded and taken to Lagos Island General Hospital. The remaining four casualties have been referred to the Orthopaedic Hospital for specialist attention.

    Rumours were rife yesterday that a filled BRT bus plunged into the Lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge. The rumour started from a tweet purportedly posted by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on a social media platform, Twitter. The agency later posted another tweet, describing the earlier post as false.

    The General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Oke-Osayintolu, said: “It is a false alarm that a BRT bus carrying passengers plunged into the ocean from the Third Mainland Bridge. But a LAGBUS was involved in an accident with casualties, no mortality. They are being treated at the General Hospital, Lagos at the expense of the state government.”

    “People should please refrain from carrying false news, especially at the wake of the National Sports Festival to avoid unnecessary panic.”

     

  • 50 killed as train crashes into school bus

    50 killed as train crashes into school bus

    Fifty people, mostly children, were killed when a train slammed into a school bus as it crossed tracks in a city south of Cairo yesterday, state media and officials said.

    All but two of the dead were children, aged around four to eight, said a senior security official in Assiut, near the site. One woman and the bus driver also died, he added.

    The bus was broken in half by the force of the crash. Blood was spattered on the front of the engine and school bags and text books, some bloodstained, were strewn around.

    Witnesses said barriers at the rail crossing were open when the train hit the bus. Transport Minister Mohamed Rashad and the head of the railways authority resigned, and President Mohamed Mursi said those responsible would be held to account.

    Egypt’s roads and railways have a poor safety record and Egyptians have long complained that successive governments have failed to enforce even basic safeguards, leading to a string of deadly crashes.

    State media reported that as well as 50 dead, 15 or more people were injured. A medical source said as many as 28 were injured, 27 of them children.

    “They told us the barriers were open when the bus crossed the tracks and the train collided with it,” said Mohamed Samir, a doctor at Assiut hospital where the injured were taken, citing witness accounts.

    Assiut Governor Yahya Keshk also said the crossing was open. “The crossing worker was asleep. He has been detained,” he told state television.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Free bus ride for Lagosians

    To ensure easy movement during the Eid-El Kabir, the Lagos State Government has promised to provide free bus ride for Lagosians tomorrow.

    Also, the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) is releasing about a million free trash bags for waste collection during the celebration.

    The free ride, according to a statement by the Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, and signed by its External Relations’ Specialist, Kolawole Ojelabi, will enable Muslim faithful get to different praying centres across the state.

    The free bus service which began in 2008, Dr. Mobereola said, had helped in reducing congestion and accidents on the roads during festive periods. He added that the service would run for 13 hours starting at 7.00am and end at 10.00pm.

    The First BRT Cooperative, operator of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), according to the statement, will offer free services on Mile 12 – CMS; Mile 12 – Obalende; Ajah to National Stadium; Ajah – Obalende; Mile 12 – National Stadium; Mile 2 – National Stadium; Oshodi – Obalende and Oshodi – National Stadium routes.

    On the Bus Franchise Scheme (BFS) corridor, free services will be offered on the Ikotun – Ikeja – Maryland; Iyana Ipaja – Maryland; Ikotun – Iyana Ipaja; Igando – Iyana Ipaja; Igando – Ikeja and Igando – Maryland routes.

    A statement by LAWMA said the 350 Private Sector Participants (PSP) operating in the state have been mandated to rid the state of waste through the distribution of bags to ensure that refuse are properly bagged and disposed in covered bins. The statement which was signed by the Head of Public Relations, Mrs Shade Kadiri, said the festive season is usually charecterised by large volume of waste but that they are determined to rid the state of waste no matter the volume.