Hell was let loose yesterday, as men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) clashed with hoodlums suspected to be smugglers, in Owode, Ogun State.
At press time, no fewer than two officers of the NCS sustained severe injuries. Three others were inflicted with minor injuries.
The mayhem, which is said to be a reprisal on the NCS by members of the community, came on the heels of a Customs’ raid on Monday on a church compound in the community after discovering smuggled bags of rice hidden in vehicles parked inside the church premises by suspected smugglers.
Although the raid on the church premises for the smuggled items, largely rice, was unsuccessful, as resistance was said to have been put up by youths believed to have been mobilised by the smugglers, The Nation gathered that during the operation, one of the smugglers sustained gunshot wounds.
The NCS Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ogun State Command, Abdullahi Maiwada, in a phone chat with The Nation, said the officers were on routine anti-smuggling patrol at Owode, Yewa area of Ogun State.
He confirmed that two officers were critically injured and another three received degrees of injury.
Maiwada, who said the attack was a gang up against the anti- smuggling operatives, having sensed that suspected smuggled rice stocked in a worship centre and nearby buildings had been discovered, thanked sister security agencies who assisted NCS to ward off the hoodlums.
Two men were yesterday killed and five others injured following a gun war in Somolu, Lagos Mainland.
The deceased, identified as Tunde Awokoya, 36, alias Chop-Up and Gabriel were shot at 34, Abiodun Street, around 10:30pm by suspected cultists.
It was gathered that while Awokoya, a developer, was at a beer parlour, Gabriel, an hairstylist, was inside his saloon in the same premises when the bullet hit him.
The Nation learnt that six masked armed men had stormed the compound, firing sporadically. They allegedly shot a councillor but the bullet did not penetrate.
While two of the five injured, it was gathered sustained foot injuries and were rushed to the Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, three others were taken to an unnamed clinic.
However, the lawmaker representing Somolu at the Lagos House of Assembly, Rotimi Olowo said the mask men were sent to assassinate him.
According to Olowo, he was at the venue and left barely 15 minutes before the hooded gunmen struck, adding that those killed were his supporters, not cultists.
Olowo said: “That is my sister’s place and whenever I want to relax, I usually go there. I was there on Tuesday night and left barely 15 minutes before the incident.
“Those they killed were not cultists. They were my supporters. Chop-Up is a developer and Gabriel a hairstylist. It was not a cult war.
“My boys, who were still there, said there were six gunmen and that one of them had withered hand. Although they were all masked, my boys were able to see that hand and they knew who it was.
“They killed two persons and injured five others. Two are at Igbobi as I talk to you. I do not know where the other three are.
“But for divine intervention that made me leave the venue, I would have been dead by now. I have written a petition to the police for investigation, arrest and prosecution of those involved and their sponsors. Lives are involved in this and they must not be allowed to go scot-free.”
The council chairman, Abdul Hamed Salawu aka Dullar said it was cult fracas between Aiye and Eiye groups.
Dullar, as he his fondly called, said: “Those boys are cultists. They are members of Eiye and Aiye.
“I have spoken with the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS). Let the police carry out their investigation and unmask who’s behind the crisis.
Efforts to get reaction from the police command failed, as messages sent to the spokesman, Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent (CSP) were not replied.
Another tanker collided with a trailer in Mallam Karu area of Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State yesterday, barely 24 hours after a tanker fire outbreak on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway claimed nine lives and consumed no fewer than 54 vehicles.
Five people were injured in the incident which occurred at about 4 pm yesterday.
The tanker belonging to Conoil was laden with kerosene and was said to have lost control after it rammed into the trailer, resulting in an explosion.
The Niger state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) confirmed the incident, saying the injured victims had been rushed to the General Hospital in Suleja.
AT least one person died and five others sustained various degrees of injury when a vehicle conveying some delegates of Miga Local Government Area of Jigawa State lost control and summersaulted while they were on the way to Dutse, the state capital, to participate in yesterday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) State Congress.
Reports from the state indicate that the delegates were in a Golf station-wagon car moving at high speed before the driver lost control, ran into a bush and then somersaulted.
The state governor, Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar, yesterday led special prayers for the deceased and the injured people.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of APC, Jigawa State chapter, Alhaji Ado Sani Kiri, and other 35 state’s executive members of the party were returned unopposed.
The party officials were reelected to continue in their offices for another three years during the state congress of the party held yesterday at Aminu Kano Triangle, in Dutse.
Declaring the result of the election, Chairman of the Congress Election Committee, Alhaji Ahmed Umar, said 1,618 delegates participated in the voting and all the candidates were returned unopposed.
In his speech shortly after the declaration of the election result, Governor Abubakar urged the re-elected executives to work hard in uniting the party and to ensure its victory in all the future elections.
In his remarks, the party Chairman, kiri who spoke on behalf of the new elected executives, promised to work hard and in accordance to the party’s manifesto.
Vice Chancellor of the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil, Prof Shehu Alhaji Musa has debunked rumours that 20 people died when part of a building collapsed in the Department of Architecture.
Musa, at an emergency news conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre, said only five persons sustained injuries, while no life was lost in the accident.
The VC explained that of the five, two had been discharged.
He said only one suffered a fracture, insisting no student was injured, contrary to reports.
“We assure parents that our students are safe. Immediately after the incident, we mobilised security agencies and health workers from within and outside the university community to the scene.”
Prof Musa hinted that the university authorities have raised a committee to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident, adding that excavation has begun.
Five students were injured when soldiers were drafted to stop a protest at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) Veterinary Medicine Faculty, reports OLADELE OGE.
It has been more than two months since the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) started its second semester, but there has been no lecture at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The students protested the development last Wednesday.
•The medical students displaying placards during the protest
It was their second protest over the absence of their teachers, who are said to be on strike over the continuous reduction of their allowances and salaries since April.
The students initially embarked on a peaceful demonstration penultimate week, marching from their faculty to the Administrative Block. They were intercepted at the Freedom Square by security men. The students went back to their faculty, hoping that their grievances would be addressed by the authorities.
Last Wednesday, the students went on another demonstration, moving round the campus with placards, with inscriptions such as: “We are tired of staying at home”, “Benjamin, what have we done?”, “We don’t deserve this, Prof Ozumba”, “Reverse the reduction of our lecturers’ salary and allowances and let them start work”, among others.
The students said they could no long remain silent, while their colleagues in other faculties had almost finished their course outlines. They wondered why their lecturers were singled out for allowance reduction.
The students moved to the Administrative Block to meet the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Benjamin Ozumba, in his office. For several minutes, the students remained at the entrance of the office, chanting solidarity songs. They waited for the VC to address them but he did not leave his office. Soldiers later arrived to disperse the students.
The students remained on the spot, despite being ordered by the soldiers to return to their hostels. There was chaos when the soldiers used force to disperse the protesters. Five students were injured in the commotion that ensued.
Lamenting what they called unfair treatment meted out to them, the students said the reason for the protest was to ensure that both parties agree to end the academic impasse. They condemned the attitudes of the soldiers.
Addressing the protesters, the Nsukka Urban Police Area Commander, Mr Musa Aladu, described the students’ action as immature, saying the police would not allow anyone to go on rampage in the face of insecurity.
Aladu advised the students to be peaceful in their conduct, saying they needed to inform the police whenever they wanted to stage a protest.
The Dean of the faculty was not in the office for comment, but a Veterinary Medicine lecturer, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, said: “The problem started last April when our allowances were suddenly deducted without valid reason. When we saw the ugly situation, an official letter was written to the VC for correction but up till this moment, nothing has been done to stop the illegal deduction. This is why we down tool.
“But they want us to go back to classrooms and teach. How can this be done when our grievances have not been addressed? If the authorities want teachers to go back, they should reverse the deduction and pay back the money deducted.”
