The Nation Newspaper

Tag: HOMELESS

  • Man ‘attempts to rape homeless’

    A 40-year-old man, Peter Makinwa, was yesterday ordered remanded in Ikoyi Prison, following his arraignment for allegedly attempting to rape a homeless woman.

    The accused, a barber, appeared before a Tinubu Chief Magistrates’ Court on a two-count charge of attempted rape and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.

    Chief Magistrate Tajudeen Elias remanded Makinwa after he pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Hafsat Ajibode said the accused committed the offence on January 9 at about 5am at Leventis, Lagos Island.

    Read also: Oyetola urges peace, unity among races

    She alleged that the accused, who came out of his house to urinate, saw the homeless woman sleeping on the ground near the lagoon and attempted to rape her.

    “A guard, who saw the accused trying to force himself on the woman while she was struggling with him,  rescued her and apprehended him,” Ajibode said.

    The case continues on January 21.

  • Fire renders family of eight homeless

    A family of seven have become homeless after fire razed their thatch house in Ikot Edor, Oniong West, Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, at the weekend.

    The cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately.

    Eyewitnesses said the incident happened on Saturday morning after Mr. Joseph Hosea and his wife left for their farm and left their children at home.

    Read also: Police hospital declares Melaye fit for trial

    The children ran out to seek help but before help came, the house was burnt.

    Mr. Hosea, a youth mobiliser, wept uncontrollably.

    When our correspondent visited the scene, his wife was cooking in the open while the children looked helpless.

    “Everything I have struggled to acquire in life is gone. My wife and children don’t have clothes to wear again apart from what you see on their bodies. My only hope for survival and help comes from above,” Hosea lamented. He called on well-meaning people and the government to rise to their help.

  • Man, 69, blind, homeless cries for help

    Until 27 years ago, Idris Jimoh Ajibaye, 69, was very independent; he could feed his family of five, pay school fees and even drive his family on outings in his 504 Peugeot car. But all these came to a stop when he suddenly lost his sight.

    Was he sick? This reporter asked when the former tipper truck driver visited The Nation on Tuesday to tell his sad story and ask for assistance to rent a house as he doesn’t have a place to live in anymore.

    Hear him: “I was not born blind. In 1991, after breakfast, I went to the motor park to take my tipper out for work, but as soon as I entered the tipper and switched on the engine , my sight left me. I was supposed to go and load sharp sand, I had not gotten to the place but I just couldn’t see anymore.

    “I never had any problems with my sight until that fateful morning. After losing my sight , I started visiting  hospitals, herbalists, mosques and churches to see if I could get it back until the right was restored one and I started  to  drive again. But on  August 17, 1999,  I lost the right eye  again and I became completely blind till today.”

    He said on the day he lost  his sight the  second time, he had delivered sand to the TeslimBalogun Stadium  three times and was preparing for his fourth trip when he noticed that he couldn’t see anymore.

    ”I used to have two tippers, and a car. I bought my first tipper in 1986 and the second in 1993, but right now, I don’t have anything. The plate numbers of my tippers were LA 249 BE and 012304AH. The person I gave them to manage didn’t use them well. He kept telling me stories till I sold them off.“

    He continued: “After I went blind again, I began to spend money until I spent all I had on trying to find a solution to my blindness. Soon, I couldn’t take up my responsibilities anymore. I began to live on what people give to me.”

    More tragedy struck him when his wife died from tuberculosis in 2007 shortly after his only son died. Ajibaye was sent away from the house he used to live in and his friend who gave him a room after his eviction also told him that he needed the place as soon as possible.

    What this means is that he may soon be sent out to the streets.

    He is calling on well-meaning Nigerians to assist him with another home. “I have written to AsiwajuBola Ahmed Tinubu, Babatunde RajiFashola and even Governor AkinwunmiAmbode since my predicament began because I supplied almost all the sand used in building Alausa in 1975, but I haven’t heard anything from them. I don’t think they even saw the letters.”

    Crying, Ajibaye said if he had built a house before now, he wouldn’t be  begging  as one of his two daughters who is married, along with her husband, tries to feed him once a day.

    ”My daughter is not working and I cannot burden her husband with all the responsibility. If I had a male child, who was alive, I would have pleaded with him to take me in or rent a place for me. They feed me but they cannot pay the rent. I need help to get another house. I used to pay my rent with the help of people but they couldn’t meet up with the payment anymore.

    Donations can be made to First Bank account 3061524502 with account name IdrisJimohAjibaye.

  • Foundation lifts family of eight out of poverty

    Foundation lifts family of eight out of poverty

    Hope Rising Homes Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has brought succour the way of the family of Mr Peter Emmanuel, his wife, Blessing and their six children. OLATUNDE ODEBIYI reports.

    Life has become meaningful for a family of eight, after being homeless and in abject poverty since the last 10 months.

    Mr Peter Emmanuel, his wife, Blessing and their six children, Stephen, Ekene, Chukwuel, Ada, Taiwo and Kehinde were on September 15 treated to a surprise presentation of a two bedroom, fully furnished accommodation in Ikola Ipaja, area of Lagos state.

    The accommodation was presented to them by Hope Rising Homes Foundation, a non-governmental organisation.

    The flat was all tiles. The living room was furnished with sitting room chairs, centre tug and a centre table. Television, fan, extension box and freezer were also there.

    The children’s room had wardrobe and fan; two bed bunks, four mattresses with bed spread and pillows.

    The parent room had a large bed with matters and bed spread, four pillows covered with pillow cases, fan and wardrobe.

    The kitchen had gas cooker with cylinder; pots, frying pan, kitchen and dining cutleries and plates in a plate rack.

    It was also stored with food items including rice, beans, gari, semo, palm oil, groundnut oil, vegetables, cray fish and indamine, among others.

    As the Emmanuel family was brought into the flat, with their faces tied with handkerchief, they were surprised, seeing what has been done for them by the Foundation.

    Mr Emanuel and his wife, Blessings broke into tears of joy, even as they showered prayers on the Foundation for the kind gesture.

    Mr Emmanuel said he was astonished at what he saw. “Even though they told me they would give us accommodation, I never believed it would be this much and furnished. God has taken away my tears and shame. I thank God for Hope Rising Homes Foundation,” he said, as tears rolled down his eyes.

    He and his wife lifted their hands as they worshiped God. The members of the Foundation and some of Mr Emmanuel’s extended family members  joined them as they sang praises and danced. The Emmanuel’s children played around their new house.

    Mr Emmanuel told The Nation that his family had been homeless and in abject poverty since last November when their three-bedroom apartment in Elegushi, Ikate wàs demolished by the Lagos State government.

    Mrs Emmanuel said she also lost her shop where she sells food stuff to the demolition. As a result, she resorted to begging on the streets of Lagos, with her twins who were barely a month old then. She had to beg to feed her family.

    “Life has been difficult; I could no longer do the business, which I did in Lekki, and as a result of the demolition, three of my children who were of school age had stopped their education due to financial challenges,” Mr Emmanuel said.

    He thanked the Foundation for coming to rescue him and his family. He described the months of homelessness as terrible and unbearable, saying they lived in a small kiosk wood house at Oko Baba Sawmail in Ebute Meta since his house was demolished.

    Mrs Emmanuel said she is happy for the gesture. “The Foundation came to my family and changed the entire story of our life.”

    The Nigeria representative of the Foundation, Mrs Hekmot Alakija, who represented the Foundations Chairperson, Mrs Titilayo Lawal, said the gesture was their way of giving back to the society and relieving people who are in crisis.

    “Our aim as a Foundation is to raise people who are homeless up; give hope to the hopeless and God has been faithful. We thank God that this project  a reality.

    Explaining how the Foundation met the family, She said: “We had a programme last year at Teslium Baloogun Stadium (TBS) for vulnerable children and the less privilege. I saw Mrs Emmanuel with her twins, who were then less than a month old, with her first son in front of National Stadium asking for alms. It is quite unusual to see an Igbo woman begging for alms; this was what attracted me to her and I invited her for the programme which she did. After the programme, the Foundation  picked seven family which we would help; but out of them all, it was only Mrs Emmanuel that regularly picked my call, sent me text messages and told me all the problems her family was going through. She explained that she gave birth to her twins shortly after the demolition exercise; this affected her health, she could no longer concentrate on the children and this made her to start begging for alms.

    “I communicated with Mrs Lawal and we took it upon ourselves as a Foundation to help the family. While we were looking for an accommodation for the family, I on behalf of the Foundation took food stuffs to family monthly, while they stayed in Ebute Meta.

    “Their ply wood house had no address, no ventilation, and no space for the children to move round and was not conducive for the family. The children, we discovered had stopped going to school.

    “It was difficult getting an accommodation for a family of eight, but we thank God. The Foundation also got admission for three of the children into St Andrew Primary school, Ipaja. We got them the school uniforms, school bags, books, school sandals and socks among others. We did all of these for the family because of the children.

    “We have paid the rent for the accommodation, we will pay all other bills including NEPA and security bills, we will continue to provide the family with food items, small allowance and plans are ongoing to empower Mr Emmanuel in Keke Maruwa business.  We will continue to do all of these until we see that the family is financially capable and we would move to impact another family.”

    She urged the couple to focus on their children and set a bright future for them. “We expect them in the next few years to start giving back to their society,” she said.

  • Homeless after serving our fatherland

    Homeless after serving our fatherland

    With just two months left to celebrate his 77th birthday, everyone will expect Jacob Adeyemo to be relaxing in his village in Ile-Ife, Osun State, and enjoying the fruits of his labour, but he is currently living in one of the dirtiest environments inside the Abuja city centre, since May.

    Jacob has been sharing this new accommodation, which is under the zone 3, Wuse overhead bridge, with a mad man and other old soldiers who drop by occasionally to sleep over or visit.

    The old man said he came to Abuja in 2005 when the government said retired servicemen should come and get their pensions. He was not paid because his medically unfit status was not genuine.

    He returned home until he heard an announcement in May, requesting that all ex-service men that served during and after the civil war for at least ten years, should come to Abuja for their pension.

    Pa Adeyemo, who is suffering from waist pain due to sleeping on a concrete slab for months, said he has gone to the pension board and submitted everything, including his account number; he has been verified by the board and was told that he qualified, but he is yet to hear anything positive from the board, almost two months after.

    His words, “I was first stationed at Kainji dam before returning home to Osun State in 1967. When I got home, they said people should join the Army so I joined; they took us to Onitsha at that time, then we were reposted to Ogoja until I left the Army in 1978.

    “I returned to my hometown and to farming but farming is not all that lucrative. I was also a security guard and doing some security jobs until 2003 when I heard an announcement requesting old soldiers who fought in the Civil War to come to Abuja and get their pension.

    “I came to Abuja, I was checked and they said that my medically unfit status was not genuine, so I could not get paid that time but they made promises to us. At that time, we were about 520 pensioners who came and stayed under this bridge and I was the leader, we were called by the government of that time, headed by Olusegun Obasanjo, to come to Abuja and we did. But of about the 19,000 medically unfit ex-soldiers that came, not more than 5,000 were paid, many of us died here.

    “I returned to Osun until recently when I heard another announcement, which I verified before coming. They asked those of us who spent at least ten years in service during and after the war, to come for our pension, and I spent ten years, 316 days, so I came. I have gone and obtained a duplicate of my certificate because my house got burnt and my certificate was burnt also.

    “I returned to Abuja in May, presented my certificate at the pension office and told them that I have come for my regular pay. They said I am qualified but unfortunately they may not start paying me, even in a year or two.

    “My children are petty traders and not really doing so well, my wife and children know I am here. The military pension board does not provide any form of accommodation for us, they ask us to come and then abandon us, which is why I am here. This place is open, it smells because people urinate and defecate in the bush around us, sometimes the rain falls with heavy wind and we get drenched but I don’t care, some people feel sorry for me and give me money for food.

    “I share the space with a mad man who has his own space, he comes to sleep at night and leaves in the morning; he is Yoruba like me and does not disturb me. All I want from the government is for my payment to be effected. As soon as they pay me, I will go back home, what will I be doing here.”

    The hardship faced by Nigerian pensioners is not new in the discourse. For years, hundreds of pensioners have cried and died while waiting for their pensions and benefits, most times, their cases are so pathetic that the younger generation is scared of retiring.

    Abuja, unlike most states of the federation, is best known for its infrastructural development, with great roads, bridges and high rises that some people in most states can never believe exists in any part of Africa.

    But recently, these beautiful infrastructures and city is gradually being overtaken by homeless pensioners, who are asked to come to Abuja for pensions they never get most times.

    These days, septuagenarians that should be in their villages, enjoying their golden years close to nature are left to roam about the busy streets, sleeping under bridges or open spaces, even under the harsh harmattan wind that takes over Abuja in the dry season, or the windy rains.

    The answer on the lips of these old men, who are mostly military pensioners, and go back as far as ex-service men who fought during the civil war, is always the same. “I came to Abuja for my pension”, they all say and continue to wait for weeks, months and years for the pension they most times, die without getting.

    In March last year, the Nation published the story of 80-year-old Innocent Ochi, an ex-corporal during the civil war, who later joined the Nigerian police force, rose to the rank of a Chief inspector, sent on peace-keeping missions, including one to Congo in 1964, but has been homeless, suffers from filariasis and has been living in front of the Wuse zone 3 post office in the last 20 years.

    2016 makes it over 21 years that Mr. Ochi has been homeless because he is still at the same spot. Just like Mr. Adeyemo, Mr. Oche also claims to be waiting for his pension and has ended up being homeless for years because he is scared of leaving Abuja and losing out on it.

    Last year, a number of ex-service men laid siege to the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, protesting their unpaid pensions. They said it was not fair that after serving the country judiciously most of their lives, they are now faced with the reality of a government that is not sensitive to their plights.

    When the Nation visited the Headquarters of the Military Pensions Board (MPB) to verify Adeyemo’s claim, it was confirmed that he actually served in the Army. He enlisted in Ibadan on October 9, 1968 and was discharged as a Sergeant on May 13, 1978, after spending 10 years and 316 days. The cause for his discharge was demobilisation, according to his file.

    He, like some of his colleagues, requested to leave the military and were demobilised. His request for a discharge was made on July 31, 1978 and approved on August 1, 1978 and he was paid 100 per cent of his gratuity, which at that time amounted to two thousand and ninety six naira (N2,096.00).

    According to the pension board, after the war, most of the service men whose services where no longer needed or who wanted to be demobilised were posted to other security units like the police force, customs etc. After Adeyemo was discharged, he was posted to the Police College, Enugu, from where he was posted to Ogbomosho.

    Officer in charge of Archives and Acting Public Relations Officer M.K Dilli explained that at that time, servicemen who retired or were discharged before spending 15 years and were not discharged because they were medically unfit, according the law, are not qualified for pension. He said an officer would have spent at least 15 years in service before benefiting and unfortunately, Adeyemo spent less than 11 years.

    Dilli added that the policy that Adeyemo probably overhead was the law enacted in 2002, whereby servicemen from that year who spent at least 10 years in service will benefit from pension. He said that so far, the boards’ Chairman is pushing for the service to extend as far back as men who served during the war but presently, it is yet to be approved.

    Dilli added that Adeyemo was paid off fully in 1978 and that the pension board always cared for servicemen that come for their pension, going as far as providing them with transport fare back home.

    He lamented that most of the septuagenarians, who claim to be ex-servicemen, are not. They only do that to smear the military and beg for money.

    By the end of the investigation, the board sent a representative to Pa Adeyemo under the bridge, who explained the situation to him in details, and gave him N10,000 as transport fare back home. He was thereafter taken to the park and the officer ensured he boarded a bus to Ile-Ife.

    Though disappointed that he would get nothing, Pa Adeyemo said: “At least I am glad they explained everything to me, now I understand, I had been so worried, I had contemplated suicide because this is not life, but I will keep living with the hope that some day, my set will be approved and I will benefit from the pension.”

  • How Lagos fire rendered me homeless, by Ola Balogun

    How Lagos fire rendered me homeless, by Ola Balogun

    It is impossible to write the history of theatre in Nigeria, especially the film segment, without Dr. Ola Balogun taking a prominent spot. The late Hubert Ogunde, the late Ade Love and many more were able to make their early films because of his technical inputs. This film maker made great films but a Lagos fire which last year made a great damage to his life has seen him relocate from Lagos to Cotonou, where he is trying to pick the pieces of his life. In a piece he made available to this paper, Balogun relived this ordeal and many more. 

    The fire incident and life after

    The fire to which I fell victim at my former residence in Yaba a year ago destroyed virtually all my belongings – books, musical collections and film equipment – leaving me penniless and homeless, and forcing me to relocate to Cotonou in Benin Republic to try and eke out a living as best as I could.

    I define this devastating fire (which I believe was probably deliberately set to my residence by some evil folks) as a divinely ordained piece of luck, in the sense the universal genius William Shakespeare taught the whole of mankind when he coined the immortal phrase: “Great are the uses of adversity”…

    I am happy to testify that even though I arrived in Cotonou virtually destitute a year ago after narrowly escaping death in the inferno that swept through my residence in Lagos, I have managed to build a new life for myself after enduring several months of great suffering, hunger and loneliness, culminating in a harrowing period during which I ate no food whatsoever for one entire month due to extreme poverty, barley surviving on occasional sips of tap water…

    Fortunately, like the legendary phoenix, I survived it all, discovering amazing depths of resilience and fortitude in the process within my inner self!

    In the aftermath of this cleansing period of intense hardship, I have been born again as an artist and am currently experiencing an amazing degree of heightened creativity and productivity…

    Let the ancestors be praised for all I have learnt during the wonderful experience of suffering I have been through!

    I am also immensely happy to be able to testify that here in my new abode in Cotonou (every part of black Africa is my homeland!) I have been working in collaboration with a wonderful beninois architect to design and build an African cultural centre that has been conceived to serve the needs of the entire African continent.

    This amazingly gifted gentleman and I have now completed the preliminary drawings of the envisaged African Cultural Centre, and I am hoping to be able to buy enough land to host the actual building from my current earnings within the next few months, in the fond hope that I will somehow manage to live long enough to see this dream come true for the greater benefit of the entire youths of black Africa, in obedience to the teachings our great contemporary African heroes Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and Steve Biko, who willingly gave their lives so that Africa would rise to be great again in the not too distant future.

    Nigeria and the arts

    It has long been obvious that Nigeria as a nation has no respect for those of our compatriots who have chosen to dedicate their lives to creating works of art:In fact, Nigeria is a country with no cultural policies, in which no serious attempt has ever been made to support the arts since our supposed emergence as an independent nation half a century ago!

    Genuine Nigerian artists, painters, intellectuals, authors and film makers have been left to starve by the roadside, with no meaningful support from governmental authorities or even from members of the public.

    Examples that illustrate the sad fate of leading Nigerian artists make depressing reading.

    Coming to the field of film production, my dear brother and colleague Francis Oladele passed away unlamented in Oyo close to a year ago, with no serious attempt to immortalise his work. When the late Jab Adu travelled to meet his ancestors about a month ago, hardly any befitting tribute was paid to his stellar performances as a stage actor and film actor over the years. I didn’t ever get to hear that Jab had passed away until I happened to make a brief visit to Nigeria ten days ago!

    Should we talk about the shabby treatment that has been meted out to past giants of Nigerian plastic arts and literature, such as Ben Enwonwu, Erhabor Emokpae, Cyprian Ekwensi and a host of other illustrious representatives of the Nigerian artistic community, whose extraordinary talent and hard work has helped to spread Nigeria’s fame all over the world?

    What percentage of the current generation of ‘yankified’ and thoroughly deluded Nigerians who spend most of their time watching English football matches on television and endlessly visiting a multiplicity of internet sites and gossiping endlessly via web chat devices has ever heard of any of the names enumerated above, listened to their music or seen or read any of their works? Probably not up to 5%!

    Freedom Park and me

    To my immense surprise and disappointment, only two self-proclaimed young film makers showed up at the Freedom Park on the evening of Monday, May 9th 2016 to watch the screening of a documentary film entitled “The magic of Nigeria” on Nigerian art and culture, which I wrote and directed over thirty years ago. (As a result of misguided zeal, I had intended this screening to serve as a basis for a workshop that would enable me to explain some of the practical aspects of professional film making to any aspiring film makers willing to learn from me).

    To begin with, I was quite taken aback to observe that the event was  scantily attended, notwithstanding the fact that notice of the screening was widely circulated though the auspices of Freedom Park itself and of the Goethe (German Cultural) Institute. Without wishing to be immodest. I think it would also be pertinent at this stage to mention that this particular film has been shown to wide acclaim in many parts of the world over the past three decades, including at the New York museum of Modern Arts.

    When I was asked to share my thoughts about my documentary film on Nigerian art and culture on the fateful night that it was screened at Freedom Park to an audience that included folks like my senior colleague Tam Fiofori and other distinguished members of the Nigerian artistic community like Miguel Enwerem, Jahman Anikulapo and others, I believed that I was being helpful to young film makers by pointing out that film making is a profession in the same way as carpentry or architecture, and that those who wish to excel in this field therefore have to make an effort to watch and study the works of accomplished film makers from all over the world, as well endeavour to serve practical apprenticeships under the guidance of leading Nigerian film professionals, as has been the norm for many centuries now in most professions all over the world.

    I went further to point out that even if the new generation of aspiring film makers might claim not to have access to the films that were made by my own generation of film makers, they could learn by paying close attention to the work of accomplished contemporary film makers like Tade Ogidan and Tunde Kelani, as well as from the professionalism of Liz Benson, Osuofia and Mercy Johnson in the field of acting….

    When the floor was subsequently thrown open for general discussion at Freedom Park on the night of May 9th, a shocking development ensued when the only two individuals in the audience who defined themselves as young film makers got up to make largely irrelevant comments.

    The first to speak was a young man who asked me why I haven’t posted my films on Youtube for he and his colleagues to watch on the internet. As gently as I could, I explained in response that it would be sheer madness for me to do so, as this would only lead to large scale pirating of my work. To illustrate the point I was making, I gave the example of the musical soundtrack of my award winning film “Black Goddess”, which I made the mistake of authorising a British company to market, only for the music of my film to end up being widely circulated and sold world-wide via the internet by a variety of unknown companies and individual who have never paid me one cent of royalties…

    This was when a young lady who belongs to the generation of my grandchildren, and whom I had never seen before or heard of in all my life, stood up and castigated me in shrill tones for allegedly “rubbishing” her work, following which she declared that she never wanted to know me or hear from me about anything.

    I frankly confess that as I listened to her rant, I was at a total loss to understand if this young lady was in her right senses, or if she had smoked some substances that leads to delirium before standing up to speak.

    The said young woman (whose identity is unknown to me) then went on to boast that she held a Master’s degree in film production from an American University, and that she had nothing to learn from Ola Balogun or from any other Nigerian or African film maker.

    It was at this point that I rose and walked out of the venue, leaving her to continue unimpeded with her nonsensical utterances.

    I definitely do not need to listen to sit down anywhere listening to the idle boasts of this kind of young person, who appeared to have derived immense pleasure from spouting totally unfounded allegations that a man old enough to be her grandfather has been criticising and rubbishing films she claims to have produced, whereas I have never in my whole life heard of this confused girl or known anything about her existence!

    However, there is no wahala! The young lady should go ahead and produce the films that she claims she knows how to make for the people of Nigeria and of the entire world to watch and admire.

     

  • Lagos fuel tanker fire leaves more than 30 homeless

    Lagos fuel tanker fire leaves more than 30 homeless

    • Residents, business operators count losses

    For years, Patrick Mbeh lived in fear of a fire disaster. His house, number 122, Lawanson Road in Lagos, is located beside a filling station. In the evening of Thursday, January 29, 2016, Mike’s fears were confirmed when the MRS filling station along the popular Lawanson road went up in flames after a fuel tanker exploded while discharging its contents.

    Speaking with The Nation, Mbeh, who claimed that he lost everything to the fire, said he was in the Ajah area of Lagos when he was called that his house was on fire. “I have lived here for around 30 years. Since I started living here, I always had the fear that one day, there might be fire outbreak. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed on Thursday when the filling station went up in flames and spread to our house. i lost everything because my family could not rescue anything. I just thank God that nobody was killed.”

    A visibly distraught Mbeh said the residents of the building have been made homeless by the fire, calling on good-spirited Nigerians and the government to come their aid. “As you can see, we have all been made homeless. Aside from losing all our property to the fire, we presently don’t have where to lay our heads. I want to appeal to Nigerians and the government to please come to our assistance. They should help us so that we can have where to sleep.”

    Ironically, one of the offices in the destroyed building sold fire extinguishers. The company, Profile Ventures, was completely destroyed by the fire. A friend of the owner of the company, John Okhimhe, said the workers in the company were unable to evacuate the goods in the shop, as the rampaging fire quickly spread through the building.

    The fire, which eyewitnesses said started at about 5pm, destroyed everything in its path, including a residential building located beside the filling station, the fuel tanker and two cars parked inside the fuel station at the time.

    According to Rufus Olowoyeye, a taxi driver, whose parking lot is located adjacent to the filling station, the tanker was discharging fuel when it caught fire. “I was outside here when suddenly we heard a loud noise. When I looked, I saw that the filling station was on fire. All efforts to put out the fire were futile, as it quickly spread to the building beside the filling station. It was a very scary experience, as everybody ran for their lives.”

    The owner of the filling station, Reverend Boniface Williams, would not speak on the incident when The Nation called his phone number. The man of God, probably still in shock, simply refused to speak, saying: ‘’I don’t want to say anything for now.”

    The filling station was completely destroyed, leaving the carcass of the fuel tanker and two cars.

    But, aside Reverend Williams, the biggest loser to the fire is Celestine Elom, the owner of two different supermarkets located in the destroyed building. One of the shops sold wine and other sophisticated drinks, while the other sold general goods.

    Elom’s brother, who spoke with The Nation, said the fire caught the people by surprise. “We could not rescue anything from the shops. The fire started suddenly, and what anybody could think of at the time was safety. We just stocked the shops before this fire. It is a very big loss for us.”

    Mrs Adegbite’s shop is located a little distance away from the entrance of the filling station. In the last 10 years since she started her business, she had improved her business, selling assorted drinks and food. “I have been here for about 10 years now. I sold drinks and food, and it is from the proceeds from this business that I assist my family to make sure that our children receive good education.”

    But the fire has left the Adegbites inconsolable and unsure of what the future has in stock for their family. “I don’t know what to say for now,” she said amid tears. “As you can see, I was not able to take anything from the shop. The fire has destroyed us and we don’t even know what to do for now,” she added.

    53-year-old Mike Mbeh was at work when the fire that consumed his home started. His efforts to get back home to rescue some of his property ended in futility, as the house was completely destroyed by the time he got home. Mike said he is left with the only dress he had on before the fire.

    “I was not home when the fire started. It had destroyed everything before I rushed back home. For now, I don’t have any cloth to wear. The cloth I am wearing is the only one that I have left.”

  • ‘68m Nigerian children homeless’

    • 4m contributed to NHF

    The Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Mr. Gimba Ya’ukumo yesterday said about 68 million children are either improperly housed or rendered homeless as a result of house deficit in the country.

    Speaking at a meeting organised by the Initiative for Leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria, in Abuja,  he said only four million Nigerians subscribed to the National Housing Fund (NHF) over the last 23 years.

    He  said since 1992 when the fund was set up, about 50 million subscribers ought to have contributed to the fund.

    “A figure has always been reported in the media with regards to housing deficit in Nigeria that ranges from 17 – 20 million, as stated in the World Bank World Habitat Report of 2007. If you relate it with average Nigerian family of four and apply it with the number of deficit you have about 68 million people either improperly housed or not housed at all.

    “So when the NHF Act was enacted 23 years ago, the funding window was divided into four-collection from workers; banks are supposed to give a percentage of their total portfolio; the insurance companies ought to contribute a percentage of their life and non-life insurance scheme. So, it’s the responsibility of the people to ensure that government agencies complied with the law.”

    Ya’ukumo warned that the nation would be thrown into crisis if stakeholders failed to work together to end homelessness.

    The FMBN chief said financial institutions and insurance companies have failed to make statutory remittance to the fund in order to make housing available to the masses.

    He said the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has committed itself to ensuring that all insurance firms comply with the provisions of NHF Act, such that a percentage of life and non-life insurance is paid to the fund while 10 per cent of banks’ total loan will be remitted into the fund as investments.

  • 100 rendered homeless as fire razes shanty

    100 rendered homeless as fire razes shanty

    More than 100 persons were rendered homeless, following a fire that gutted makeshift buildings in Ijora, Lagos.

    There were no casualties in the fire that started around 10pm on Sunday night.

    A resident, Taye Rasheed, said nobody knew where the fire started from.

    “I was relaxing when I heard fire! fire!! fire!!!. It was so close that I couldn’t take anything out. The little money I have, I couldn’t pick anything. It was just last week I bought underwears for Christmas sales but now, there is nothing left. Everyone is claiming they are broke. If I go out to the streets to beg, people will say I am lazy. Only God knows,” she said.

    An expectant mother, Shola Owolabi, said all the baby items she bought and her goods were gone.

    The mother of three said she is her family breadwinner.

    She said: “Everything seems confusing in my life now. That we live here is not our wish. If someone can assist us with little income, we will be on our feet again. We have been managing all our lives. I just don’t know. I have never witnessed something like this before.”

    Another resident, simply called Wale, said the only thing he brought out was his O’level results and a pair of shoes.

    “I struggled to obtain my O’level results and it is what I have been using to work in factories. We all slept on the road while others are squatting with neighbours. We tried to put out the fire before fire service men got to the scene but there was no water. It is not really our wish that we live here. We are suffering,” he said.

     

  • 10,000 rendered homeless in Ijora, group alleges

    Over 10,000 people were rendered homeless when part of Ijora Badia, a Lagos slum community, was demolished last week.

    A coalition of civil society groups, Friends of Badia East, condemned the forcible eviction of residents.

    The group said the exercise was initiated by the Ojora Chieftaincy Family, under the supervision of Lagos State Government officials and the police. Scores of women and children, it said, were now under the rain.

    It decried the demolition, saying houses were pulled down during rainy season without adequate notice.

    According to the group, the demolition which started on September 18 left the residents under the torrential rains of the Sallah holiday.

    “The forced eviction started on September 18-19 and continued again on 22 September, moving from Badia East towards Badia West, displacing more than 10,000 people.

    “Based on the lack of adequate notice, the failure to identify and consult with the persons to be affected, and the total disregard for persons who are left homeless without alternative as a result of the ongoing demolition, we consider the demolitions to be a forced eviction and, as such, a grave violation of human rights law and statutory provisions in force in Nigeria.

    “We note that, without the requisite protections in place, even an eviction carried out in accordance with a judicial decision can amount to a forced eviction, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Habitat, among others,” the group said.