The Nation Newspaper

Tag: escape death

  • 37 soldiers escape death in auto crash

    Committed to ensuring that members of the National Assembly (NASS) Committee on Foreign Affairs‎ develop deeper understanding of Nigeria’s foreign policy and sustain existing robust relationships, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organised a three-day retreat for the members to broaden their understanding.

    The retreat holding in Kaduna is designed to bridge the gap between the ministry and the National Assembly Foreign Affairs committee members, the Honourable Minister of State Foreign Affairs Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim remarked.

    She said that the retreat would examine the 2015 Saminaka Declaration with a focus on Nigeria’s ‎role in global affairs, analyse Nigeria’s foreign policy as a catalytic tool for national development and further explore and propose various ways of capacity building for members of NASS committees on Foreign Affairs and officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for effective and efficient service delivery and performance.

    The minister, who acknowledged that foreign policy implementation is a very costly enterprise, expressed confidence that by the end of the retreat, NASS as an appropriation institution would be in a better position to justify the huge resources required for conduct of diplomatic representation.

    “It is my expectation that the outcome of this retreat will reflect in our foreign policy formulation which will in the long run have more impact on the foreign policy thrust of this administration.”

    On her part, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Monsurat Sumonnu corroborated the minister’s position that the retreat at the end would equip the committee members to effectively carry out their oversight functions on the ministry.

  • Former PDP Chair Mu’Azu, Kashim Imam, others escape death

    Former PDP Chair Mu’Azu, Kashim Imam, others escape death

    Several prominent Nigerians including the immediate past National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),Mallam Adamu Mu’Azu,former Special Advise on National Assembly,Alhaji Kashim Imam and former National Chairman of the defunct CPC,Senator Rufai Hanga, narrowly escaped death in the Thursday tragedy in Mecca,The Nation can now report.

    Multiple eyewitnesses at the scene said Mu’Azu,Imam and Hanga had joined millions of other pilgrims in stoning the devil when the stampede started.

    Other prominent Nigerians close to the scene were the PDP Youth Leader Abdullahi Maibarisa, Deputy Comptroller General (Operations) of the Nigerian Immigration Service Mr.Muhammad Babandede, and a former member of the House of Representatives.

    The hajj rituals continued yesterday although with security beefed up across the various points in Mecca.

    Alhaji Umar Farouk a Nigerian pilgrim from Zaria, Kaduna state said by SMS that “in spite of the tragedy, pilgrims are determined to perform their hajj duties.”

    Another Nigerian pilgrim,Alhaji Abdullahi from Kano asked Saudi Arabia to stop what he called long-existing discriminatory practices during hajj.

    “ The designation of pilgrims into categories of Non Arabs, Africans and others ensures discriminatory treatments and arrangements,” he said.

    According to him pilgrims from US, UK, Canada and European countries are always treated with courtesy whereas every Muslim,irrespective of his colour,should enjoy equal treatment.

    King Salman has ordered a comprehensive review of arrangements for the annual hajj pilgrimage that sometimes involve some three million pilgrims.

    The Saudi authorities are in the process of reaching being expected to reach the Nigerian and other countries’ officials anytime from now, with the list of the victims according to nationalities.

  • Three kids escape death as truck rams into building, damages car

    Providence saved three kids from death when a truck belonging to a waste disposal company   rammed into a building at 35, Moshood Bello Street, Meiran, a suburb of Lagos,last  Saturday.

    The kids were washing clothes in the compound when the incident happened at about 12 noon.

    The truck driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle shortly after collecting refuse from a nearby house.

    As the vehicle veered off the road,it  smashed a Honda car parked inside the compound  against a perimeter fence.

    An eyewitness who chose to be unnamed blamed  the truck driver for the accident,saying:“he was so much in a hurry to make a U-turn while at the same time accelerating on this narrow street. The children were just lucky to escape death.”

    The owner of the car who asked not to be named said: “I just thank God that the truck did not kill the children who were washing clothes near my car. I had just finished washing the car when the incident happened. I had hardly  left the car to pick some items in my apartment when I heard a bang only to discover that the truck had veered into the compound and damaged my car.”

    Policemen from the Meiran Police Division were later invited to the scene while the truck was impounded.

    Another truck was deployed by the company to evacuate the refuse from the impounded truck.

    Workers of the waste disposal company however declined to speak with our correspondent on the incident because they did not have the permission to do so.

  • Students escape death as truck loses control

    Students escape death as truck loses control

    Tragedy was averted last Friday when a truck carrying gravels hit another vehicle conveying students of the Abia State University (ABSU) from St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Owerri road to campus. The accident occurred in Okigwe axis.

    The driver of the truck was said to be driving on the wrong lane when it lost control.

    An eye-witness told CAMPUSLIFE that the driver took the wrong lane to escape gullies on the road. “Even though the bad spots on the road might have made him to take the other lane, one cannot deny the fact that the driver was also reckless,” the eyewitness said.

    The truck smashed part of the students’ vehicle before it rammed into the premises of a new generation bank.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that exhaust of the truck broke the glass of the building, causing thick smoke to fill the banking hall. The driver and his assistant were said to have died at the of this report.

    Eye witnesses praised the driver for not killing the students.

    Chuks Ukabuilu, a 300-Level student of Nursing, said he was grateful that his laptop was not damaged.

    “I thought my laptop would be crushed because the truck was on it. It is a miracle that nothing happened to it,” he said.

    Students who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE decried the poor state of the road. “We are happy and grateful with what the state government is doing in Okigwe especially on road projects. However, we will be happier if the government can quickly finish the road projects to avoid further accidents,’’ a student who did not want to be named, said.

  • 30 children escape death in building collapse

    30 children escape death in building collapse

    Thirty children narrowly escaped death yesterday when an uncompleted three-storey building under which they were studying collapsed.

    The building on Elelewo Road in Akpajo community of Rivers State reportedly collapsed around 10.30 am.

    There was no casualty.

    The kids were said to be on the holiday lesson organised by Olacine Educational Centre, which was using the ground floor of the building.

    When The Nation arrived the scene, the main entrance to the compound was locked; there was nobody to brief the reporter.

    However, a neighbour, Michael Oyiri, said he watched the children run for safety.

    “I was watching the whole thing through my fence. The luck that the kids had is that the building started collapsing from the back of the third floor.

    “The owner of the building had asked everybody to vacate the compound for fear that government might take over the building because its erection lacked due process,” he said.

    Jacob Nduda, an engineer, who said he had worked on the site with the owner of the building said the woman might have gone into hiding.

    He revealed that the soil where the building was located was not tested by experts before the engineers were asked to go the site.

    Efforts to reach the landlady failed.

  • 11 escape death in Port Harcourt

    Eleven passengers yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, escaped death in a bus which somersaulted.

    The driver and passengers were helped out of the bus by passers-by. Some were, however, injured.

    The incident took place opposite School of Nurses, Rumueme, in Obio/Akpor Local Government.

    The accident, however, caused a serious traffic jam within Agip junction to Mile 4.

    The driver, Onyebuchi Ikedi, said he was fighting for right-of-way with another driver, when he lost control of the bus.

    He said: “I thank God the passengers and I came out of the bus unhurt. In fact, the devil is at work. I was just driving to the school gate bus-stop to complete my load when a foolish driver started fighting for right-of- way.

    “When I noticed his attitude, I decided to speed off to get there before him. Unfortunately, his bus pushed mine and I could not move to my left side due to the flyover’s pillars; I lost control.”

    Ikedi also noted that the bus was his only means of livelihood, saying he has no money to fix it.