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Tag: ibadan

  • We won’t return to palace, Ibadan Obas dare Olubadan

    The war of words raging between Ibadan first class monarch, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and supposed members of his council under the aegis of Olubadan-in-council again got more fuel as the Ibadan Obas, comprising members of the Olubadan-in-council and promoted Baales on Wednesday kicked against the directive of the Olubadan urging them drop their crowns and return to the palace.

    The monarchs described the directive as hypocritical and an aspersion on the review of the laws governing traditional institution in Oyo State, which approves their installation as beaded crown wearing kings.

    Oba Adetunji had in a reaction to the various accusations leveled against him by the Obas asked the Olubadan-in-council members among them to remove their crowns and come back to the palace to perform their roles as members of his council.

    But the Obas, led by Otun Olubadan, Oba (Dr.) Lekan Balogun faulted the highly referred monarch, insisting that none of the issues raised in their allegations against the “nefarious activities going on in his palace such as non-screening of prospective Mogajis (family heads) and Baales (village head) by the council before installation; the cash and carry manner by which people now get positions of Mogaji and Baale, leading to the appointment of more than one Mogaji from the same compound and relinquishing of the palace authority to ‘Olori’ (the wife of the monarch) among others have been answered.”

    Read Also: Olubadan to Ibadan Obas: remove your illegal crowns

    The Ibadan Obas maintained that events had overtaken the court judgement being referred to, noting that aside the fact that there’s an appeal pending on the same judgement, the issue of review of the traditional law in the state had since become a statewide one, encompassing Ibadan and other cities and towns which till now has not been disputed.

    They also averred that the same reform which conferred on them the new titles of His Royal Majesties and Highnesses also elevated the Olubadan to His Imperial Majesty from

  • Man commits suicide in Ibadan, after jumping from telecom mast

    Tragedy struck at the early hours of yesterday when an unidentified young man reportedly climbed a telecom mast belonging to the WEMA Bank PLC and jumped, killing himself in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The incident, which occurred at Elewure junction, along Sango/UI road, Ibadan, attracted scores of onlookers who thronged the area.

    The ever busy Sango- UI road witnessed heavy traffic as motorists found it difficult to ply the road.

    It was gathered that an eye witness, Tosin Alabi while talking to journalists on how the incident happened said that the deceased scaled through the back fence of the WEMA bank before climbing the bank mast and eventually fell off on the roof of the bank.

    “He came in through the back fence of the bank and climbed the mast. He used almost 30 minutes before he eventually fell off on the roof of the bank”.

    One of the friends of the deceased who claimed anonymity said his friend was not a mad person as some people insinuate, adding that the deceased was his friend and that what happened to him was not ordinary.

    The mother of the deceased, Mrs. Alaba, who was on hand at scene of the incident, said her son was not mad, noting that what made her son to kill himself was strange.

    “We came from vigil and after we finished eating our breakfast, we started looking for him unknown to us that he came here to kill himself; my son is not mad as some people insinuate but what made him to kill himself was not understandable”.

    The Oyo State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) , Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi , a Superintendent of Police (SP)  while reacting to the incident said the identity of the deceased was yet to be known, adding that report reaching him was that a naked man was seen moving towards WEMA Bank building located at Elewure, along Sango UI road, after which he climbed the mast of the bank and eventually jumped from the tower, and the bank officers immediately called on the men of Nigeria Police Force, Sango Police station, and the Fire Service who came and rescued the man but the man was later confirmed death.

    Fadeyi noted that the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Adeoyo State Hospital and autopsy will be conducted on the body.

  • Man jumps to death in Ibadan

    A man suspected to be mentally unstable on Saturday  jumped to his death from a bank’s network mast in Sango area of Ibadan.

    Confirming the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Oyo State Police Public Relation officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, said the naked victim  came to the Wema Bank branch in Sango and entered the building  through its   small gate.

    Fadeyi said that the victim, having successfully entered the premises of the bank through the small gate, climbed the bank’s  mast  before the security personnel  became aware.

    READ ALSO: Girl ‘raped to death’ in Enugu

    He  said the victim, however,  jumped down  to the roof of the bank  before the police and Fire Service personnel  arrived.

    “The impact was so much that he crashed  through the roof and fell inside the bank.

    “ An official of the bank was called in to open the premises.

    “By the time the bank’s  door was opened,  the man was already bleeding through the mouth and was rushed to the University College Hospital where he was confirmed dead,’’ Fadeyi said.

    He said the corpse had been deposited at the Adeoyo Hospital for autopsy while efforts were on  to ascertain his identity.

  • ‘We are churning out graduates with high employability’

    The Vice Chancellor, Kola Daisi University, Ibadan, Prof. Kolade Ayorinde, has revealed why the institution is the cheapest private university in Southwest Nigeria.

    Ayorinde disclosed that aside charging between only N411,000 and N491,000 per session depending on courses, and payable in three instalments, the founder, Chief Kola Daisi, also approved reduction of all fees by minimum of N50,000 for all students. He said the reduction totalled N7.1m for 142 students.

    He said: “The founder of the institution has approved the reduction of the fees by all categories of students in the current session by at least N50,000 for all the 143 students in the institution.”

    Ayorinde also disclosed that no private university in the country was making profit, adding that some indigent students are currently on scholarships provided by the institution to allow them access university education.

    He said the institution currently has students from 19 out of 36 states of the federation, adding that the mission of the institution was to nurture graduates with high employability attributes and competencies to help transform Nigeria into global reckoning.

    Ayorinde noted that the university was liaising with the National Universities Commission (NUC) to seek approval for more programmes that will contribute to national development.

     

  • Family seeks N200m damages from UCH for ‘sharing Sugar’s photos’

    THE family of the late lawmaker, Temitope Olatoye (aka Sugar) has petitioned the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, for the alleged sharing of the deceased’s ‘horrific’ photographs on social media without its approval.

    It is seeking N200 million damages.

    In the petition by C. C. Amedu of Ikeh Sunday Chambers, Ibadan,  the Olatoye family accused the hospital of allowing the gory photographs of the late lawmaker in his dying hours at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital to be circulated on social media, thereby causing members of his family a lot of grief.

    The petition was also sent to the Minister of Health and the Ibadan chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

    Although the family acknowledged that doctors and other workers attending to the late Sugar declared in the presence of Sugar’s family that taking photographs of patients was prohibited, they were surprised to see such photographs circulating on online newspapers and social media hours later.

    They insisted that the ICU of a hospital is a restricted area, hence only members of staff of the hospital had access to the dying Olatoye.

    They reminded the UCH management of the Hippocratic oath, ethics and international best practices in the medical profession, which protect the rights of a dying patient to die in peace and dignity, which also mandates doctors to maintain respect for human life, avoid using their privileges as doctors to violate human rights, which also mandates them to practise the profession with conscience and dignity.

    In spite of the ethics, the Olatoyes said it was disheartening that UCH staff allegedly allowed the taking, circulation and publication of the dehumanising photographs of the deceased, which have since been trending online.

    Read also: Dogara, APC caucus condemn electoral violence

    The petition reads in part: “A cursory assessment of the attached photographs revealed that the deceased, as at the time the photographs were taken, was still at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital in a pool of blood. Therefore, it is reasonable and unarguable to believe that only your staff could access the unit at the material time.

    “The above conduct of your staff suggested that instead of your personnel on duty to have acted in their full professional capacity, focusing on taking care of the deceased, which might have probably saved his life, they were busy taking his pictures, which perhaps for the purpose of selling same to social media operators as it can be seen trending online.”

    They posited that the trending online photographs have been serving as a painful reminder to Sugar’s gruesome murder, adding that they also subjected members of the family to “a lasting unimaginable depression, mental and psychological torture.”

  • ‘How we survived Ibadan building collapse’

    Some of the survivors of the collapsed three-storey building at Sogoye, Idi-Arere, Ibadan on Saturday narrated their ordeal in the debril while waiting for rescue effort

    Rescue effort had ended at about 2am with about six people rescued and taken to the hospital.

    No death was recorded from the incident.

    While two survivors were moved to a private hospital in Owode, Olomi Academy, another two were moved to the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

    One of the survivors, Femi Fatiregun, while narrating his ordeal said everything that happened was beyond his imagination, noting that sufficient materials were used in putting up the structure.

    Narrating his ordeal to newsmen, he explained he only heard the sound of a sharp crack on a part of the wall and about looking closely, before he saw the whole structure where he was standing started caving in.

    He recounted that he was buried under the debris for at least six hours, hovering between life and death and not sure of where he would end up.

    He said: “My spirit told me this wasn’t normal in a twinkling of an eye, everything blacked out. When I woke up, I saw everywhere was dark. There was no breathing space whatsoever, there was no light.

    Read Also: Update: Scores injured, trapped as building collapses in Ibadan

    “It was as if I was rescued from the grip of a lion when I was eventually brought out. I saw death but God gave me a second chance at life. I never thought I would be alive to tell my story.

    “I could not do anything at the moment since the building has already collapsed. Underneath the collapsed building, were two benches, which I laid on for almost six hours.

    “I was still under the debris when I received a call from my friend whom I explained the situation to and sought his help to notify people around on how  to rescue us.

    “I did not feel any heat at all. If I had been underneath till this moment I would have been okay. I summoned courage immediately the incident happened, believing that God was there for us.

    “It was not by our power, but just to make us realise that God exist.”

    Fatiregun further insisted the quality and quantity of materials used were sufficient enough in accordance with approved building regulations.

    Another survivor, Ismaila Segun, a bricklayer, receiving treatment at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, said he was at the site of the incident to collect his days pay for work done on another site been managed by his boss.

    “I have finished the work giving to me on another site at Odo-Ona Elewe, Ibadan and my boss asked me to come for the money at the other site located at Sogoye where the incident occurred.

    “I was at the site, sweeping when the building suddenly collapsed. I was on my knees since that time till the excavator  was brought to rescue us from the debris.

    “The building suddenly came down, everywhere became dark. For four hours, my two legs were trapped in the rubble, I couldn’t move them. I was in serious pain and thought I would die. After several hours I heard sounds of people breaking concrete to rescue us.”

    A senior medical officer at the Accident and Emergency department of the hospital, Dr. Ekunola Kayode, said a survivor was brought to the hospital from the collapsed building.

    “The victim on arrival, complained of severe waist pain and we were able to resuscitate him.

    “I can tell you that the victim is recuperating very fast and with this I am very sure the victim would be fine by the grace of God.”

    But unconfirmed sources said another survivor who was also taken to the hospital discharged himself, against medical advise.

    The victim was said to have complained that he was only been injections and drugs without food.

    When our correspondent visited the site, officials of Standard Organization of Nigeria were seen collecting samples of the materials of the collapsed building which a source said would be used for laboratory test.

    As at the time of filing this report, the state government has also concluded arrangement to visit the site and also the victims at the hospital.

    The government had earlier in a statement directed that the victims be given free treatment, promising that thorough investigation would be carried out on the cause of the incident.

     

  • Update: Scores injured, trapped as building collapses in Ibadan

    A building collapsed in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Friday leaving some people injured and some others trapped.

    The structure, which was a three-storey building under construction suddenly collapsed and threw residents of Shogoye Bus Stop area, Bode community in the city into panic.

    The building was said to have collapsed around 5:54 pm while bricklayers and other artisans on site were rounding off for the day’s work.

    Nobody was confirmed dead as at press time but rescue efforts were ongoing.

    Four of those who were trapped in the rubble were already rescued by men of the state fire service and volunteer rescuers.

    Read also: Updated: Over 150 buildings marked for demolition in Lagos Island

    The Nation learnt that some of trapped victims were making telephone distress calls from under the rubble. But when calls were made to one of the numbers few minutes after, an eyewitness said there was no response.

    The incident led to traffic gridlock in the area as motorists from Idi Arere and Oja ‘ba and those from Molete end of the city could not move freely.

    As usual, crowd of sympathizers swarmed the scene, blocking the road.

    Among those rescued are 42-year-old Olalekan Dauda, Tunde, Toheeb Gbadamosi and Rilwan Oladepo. Dauda said he was working with other artisans on the third floor when the building collapsed. He said he just heard a sudden blast and later found that he and others in the building were trapped in the rubble.

    Gbadamosi, 19, said: “Today is my first time of working at this place. I just came around in order to raise some money for my upkeep because things were difficult. I thank God that I came out of the rubble alive”.

    One of the firefighters who spoke in confidence, said: “We responded promptly to the emergency as we got to the scene about 35 minutes after the alert.

    “We are trying our best to rescue the victims but the challenge we are facing is getting the right equipment to lift the concrete wreckage. Another challenge is the time of the day; it will soon get dark but that will not deter us from doing our best.”

  • UPDATED: Witness’ absence stalls Akala’s N11.5b fraud trial

    The trial of the former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala, and two others for alleged fraud was on Wednesday, adjourned to May 2, 2019 due to absence of the prosecution witness who was to give evidence in support of the 11-count charge preferred against the accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Justice Olalekan Owolabi of the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Iyaganku, Ibadan, granted the EFCC’s request after its counsel, Dr. Ben Ubi, told the court that the second witness, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, who is also the current head operations in the commission’s Port Harcourt zonal office, was unable to make it to the court.

    The former governor is standing trial alongside the commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters during his tenure, Hosea Agboola and an Ibadan-based businessman, Femi Babalola.

    The charge against them borders on conspiracy, awarding a contract without budgetary provision, obtaining by false pretence, acquiring property with money derived from an illegal act and concealing the ownership of such property, among others.

    Among the offences, according to the information on the court papers, was a road contract worth N8.5bn, which Alao-Akala awarded between 2007 and 2009 to Pentagon Engineering Services, Babalola’s company, allegedly without budgetary provision.

    The said contract was executed on behalf of the 33 local governments in the state.

    Also in the charge is the allegation the former governor ordered the supply of drilling machines on behalf of the 33 local governments in the state to the tune of N3.5bn.

    Apart from the allegation of conspiring with Agboola to withdraw N2.9bn from the Oyo State Local Government Joint Account, the anti-graft agency is equally prosecuting the former governor for allegedly illegally acquiring some property on Old Bodija road, off Rotimi Williams road, when he was in office.

    The offences were said to contravene Section 22 (4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act and Section 1 (18) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act.

    The case was originally filed in 2011 and has witnessed series of adjournments due to the volume of evidences and witnesses prepared to reinforce the prosecution’s argument.

    Though, the court was to continue with the trial on Wednesday that could not happen since the witness billed for cross-examination was not present.

    Dr. Ubi told the court that the witness was unable to attend the proceeding because he was involved in election duties.

    “My lord the reason our witness is not in court today is because he is involved in the election processes in Rivers State,” he said, praying the court for another date.

    Counsel to the first and third defendants, Hakeem Afolabi (SAN), and his counterpart holding the brief of the second defendant, Richard Ogunwole (SAN), did not oppose the prayer.

    The presiding judge then adjourned the matter to May 2, 2019 for continuation of trial as he ordered the prosecution to make its witnesses available at the next date.

  • Man convicted of fraud by EFCC gets four months jail term

    Justice P. I. Ajoko, of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, has sentenced Ogundiran Tosin Iyanu to four-month imprisonment.

    Ogundiran was found guilty of a one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan Zonal Office, and sentenced yesterday.

    The convict, who earlier pleaded not guilty on December 16, 2018, later changed his plea to guilty.

    His latest plea led to an amendment of the charge and re-arraignment on March 5, on a one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence contrary to Section 419 of the Criminal Code Act.

    Read also: EFCC: Akingbola used Intercontinental Bank’s N10b to clear personal debt

    The charge sheet reads: “That you Ogundiran Tosin Iyanu and Ayomide Balogun (at large) on or about April 5, 2018 at Ibadan within the jurisdiction of this court with intent to defraud, obtained N282,500 only from Adeyemi Adejumo, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 419 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of Nigeria, 2004.”

    After considering the merit of the charge and the evidence as presented by the prosecution counsel, Sanusi Galadanchi, the judge, convicted and sentenced the defendant to four-month imprisonment with effect from the date of his arraignment.

     

     

  • Combat-ready soldiers deployed in Ibadan

    There was palpable fear and tension within Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday, ahead of the announcement of the final winner of Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly election,

    The fear, according to investigation, was as a result of political clash that resulted in the death of a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Olatoye Sugar.

    Military operatives were seen mounting security checkpoints at Idi-Ape and Agodi-Gate – the road leading to the Agodi Government House among others.

    Sporadic gunshots were heard around Iwo Road, Gbagi-Wema, Alakia-Isebo, Iyana Church and Monatan, which is believed to be the stronghold of the late politician.

    But nobody was seen arrested, as heavy security patrols also moved around the affected areas

    Olatoye was shot in the eye in Lagelu area of the state and later died at the University College Hospital (UCH).

    The ever-busy Alakia-Isebo, Gbagi-Wema, Iwo Road- Ife Expressway, Monatan-Iyana-Church, Iwo-road-Idi Ape road and Idi-Ape-Agodi-Gate Road were deserted as residents only peep from the frontage of their homes to watch events on the street.

    Residents, who have businesses which required them moving around, were seen raising their hands. Vehicles were subjected to serious search by the stern-looking military men.

    As at the time of filing this report, many commuters were also seen stranded and walking from and to their various destinations.

    Many of the transporters and commercial motorcycles that commuters talked to said they were not ready to go beyond specific areas for the fear of unknown.

    However, commercial motorcycle operators who were bold to convey passengers did so as exorbitant rates.