The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ikorodu residents

  • Lagos cautions Ikorodu residents

    Lagos State government has urged residents of Igbogbo in Ikorodu  not to resort to self-help but avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the  Ministry of Justice to settle their grievances.

    A Director in the Department of Administrator-General and Public Trustees, Mrs. Mariam Olaniyi, gave the advice during an enlightenment campaign carried out as part of the activities marking the 30th Anniversary of Igbogbo Day.

    The ministry had organised a legal clinic to offer legal services to residents.

    The exercise was also embarked upon by the ministry to sensitise and bring justice closer to residents.

    Mrs Olaniyi, who led the delegation, noted that the government had put modalities in place to assist the people in accessing free legal services across the state.

    She added: “There are several windows available to access justice free of charge as government through its agencies is ready to provide succour to the indigent residents in Lagos State.”

    According to her, agencies and directorates, such as the Administrator-General and Public Trustees (AG&PT), Public Advice Centre (PAC),  Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Citizens’ Mediation Centre at  (CMC), Citizens’ Right,  Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSRVT), Taskforce on Land Grabbers, Lis Pendis and the Community Service are institutions funded by taxpayer’s money to harness peaceful coexistence among residents in the state.

    Olaniyi praised the Oba of Igbogbo, Oba Kasali Semiu Adegboroye for his efforts at partnering with the Ministry to educate his people more in justice delivery.

    Olaniyi hinted that the clinic was aimed at reawakening the public about the free legal services of the ministry, which cuts across the rights of women, children, the less privileged, the vulnerable and persons living with disabilities and to further sensitise them on new laws enacted by the government to preserve their rights.

    The Oba of Igbogbo, Kasali Semiu Adegoroye praised the state government for providing avenues where residents could settle their disputes and obtain free legal services without fear or favour.

    He advised the Igbogbo community and its environs to seize the opportunity provided by the  ministry.

     

     

  • Ikorodu residents protest ‘crazy electricity bills’

    Some residents of Ikorodu carried out a peaceful protest to press home their demand for a realistic electricity billing system.

    The protesters stormed the venue of the launch of the Ikorodu-Sagamu road by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Monday, with placards to demand for prepaid metres.

    Some of the protesters who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said they had complained to IKeja Eletric (IE) office several times about estimated bills to no avail.

    Mr Otitoloju Samuel, a resident of Lowa, said the estimated bills had caused serious problems for the residents.(

    “We need to pay school fees, house rent and meet other obligations. Because of this crazy electricity bills we cannot meet our needs, that is why we want prepaid metres, let us pay for what we use,’’ he said.

    Mrs Lucy Adebayo and other residents of Benson in Lowa, said power was usually supplied to their area for a few hours during the day.

    According to them, they hardly use electricity because they are not usually at home within the hours electricity is supplied to their area yet they get outrageous bills at the end of every month.

    Mr Esan Edoyingbo, a resident of Erunwe community said, “the bills sent by IE is usually too high and we hardly have light, we want government to force them to give us prepaid metre.”

    Responding to their demands, Fashola said the Buhari administration was focused on making prepaid metres available to all electricity consumers in the nation.

    He stressed the need for residents to learn to conserve energy, stating that the power situation was going to get better.

    “It is getting better because we are getting more power, incremental power, small by small. We are working on the prepaid metres, there is a provision of about N39 billion. We are now working on the regulation for metre asset providers; we are going to register them. They would work with the DISCOs,’’ he said.

    He advised electricity consumers to learn to conserve power by turning off appliances when leaving home as well limit use of heavy duty appliances and equipment.

    He also stressed the need for residents to manage water consumption, stating that between 80 to 100 kilowatts was needed to pump water.

    “If you conserve water, you would save energy,” he said.

  • Soldiers rescue suspected Badoo from mob justice 

    Soldiers rescue suspected Badoo from mob justice 

    But for the intervention of soldiers, Ikorodu residents would have lynched another suspected Badoo cult member Monday.

    The suspect was allegedly caught by members of the Vigilante Group of Ikorodu, Onyabo, behind Access Bank, Benson Street around 2am.

    It was gathered that the suspect attempted to enter the home of an old woman, who lives with her grandchild.

    Unfortunately, the old woman sighted him and raised alarm, which attracted other residents and vigilante members.

    He was promptly apprehended and his bag searched. It was gathered that four Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, black oil, handkerchief, army t-shirt and charms were found in it.

    Upon the discovery, the mob descended on the suspect and made to lynch him.

    Efforts by the police to take him away were abortive, hence, soldiers were invited to prevent the mob from killing him, said Alaba, a resident.

    According to him, the mob wanted to kill the suspect particularly because his mother came out and told the crowd he was a bad boy.

    Alaba said: “The crowd was surprised when the suspect’s came out and showed everybody the cutlass injury he inflicted on her. She said he was a bad boy.

    “People wanted to kill him and refused to hand him over to the police. But soldiers came in and took the suspect away.

    “We are tired of Badoo group in Ikorodu. We are going to do everything possible with the security agencies to get rid of them. We are not going to relent in our struggle.”

  • Ikorodu residents flee homes over death of ‘land grabbers’

    Ikorodu residents flee homes over death of ‘land grabbers’

    RESIDENTS of Adamo in Ikorodu, Lagos, have fled their homes following Friday’s lynching of four men mistaken for ritual killers.

    Members of Araromi, Oke Gbodo, Mojoda, Eyin-Ogbe, Ipinyewa and Olorunda communities started leaving their homes shortly after the incident.

    The men were lynched at Oke Gbodo after a family accused them of being members of the notorious Badoo gang, which rapes and kills women in Ikorodu communities. The accusation was found to be false when some people identified them as land grabbers allegedly hired by one Abbey from Agunsoye community.

    Their death was said to have angered their friends and relatives, who stormed Oke Gbodo, torching houses. Among the burnt houses was that of the family which described the victims as Badoo members.

    A resident said the land grabbers were also cultists and members of the Badoo gang. He claimed that they had killed no fewer than 15 people in Adamo in two weeks.

    The government, he alleged, had abandoned them to their fate, adding that they were now providing their own security.

    He said: ‘‘Anytime these land grabbers don’t have anywhere to go to extort people, they become terrorists and attack us.  We need a police station here because none is close by. Government should make sure that a police station is situated here.

    ‘‘We appreciate Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for the law against land grabbing but the law is not respected in areas like this. We sleep with one eye closed because we are the ones doing vigilante by ourselves; no police or any form of security here.’’

    The source claimed that the slain men were armed and went to a building being constructed to demand N30,000.

    He said: ‘‘I heard that the owner had initially given them money but another set came and insisted that they must collect another N30,000. But instead of reaching an agreement with the owner of the building, they started injuring people, which made residents to scream that they were Badoo.

    ‘‘Out of anger, residents ambushed and caught them. They were tortured from morning till evening before they died. Their friends came later and started burning houses, stealing and hurting people.”

    A woman, Mrs. Risikat Ajayi, said she was packing her belongings and relocating to her village.

    The killings, she said, had gone out of hands, adding that they were happening daily.

    She said: ‘‘I came back to pack my things so that I can move to my village. I heard the policemen parked their vehicles in front of my house, and so I came to remove my things.

    ‘‘They kill people here daily. Most times, they enter people’s homes and wipe off the entire family. This place is no longer safe. That’s why people have fled. Government should help us. They should put an end to these murders.

    ‘’They killed some in Aleke the other time and since two weeks we have not been sleeping. More than 10 communities have been affected by the problem. There are 22 communities here.’’

    Kola Shotunde said he came to pick some of his clothes, but stayed back when he saw policemen.

    According to him, residents were enraged when they heard they were Badoo members because of the havoc the gang had wreaked on some parts of Ikorodu.

    He said: ‘‘When people heard that they were Badoo boys, they arrested them and took them towards Araromi where houses, motorcycles and shops were set on fire by their gang. You can see for yourself that the place is deserted. We want permanent presence of security men here to put an end to the killings.’’

  • Ikorodu residents unhappy with waste collectors

    Ikorodu residents unhappy with waste collectors

    •Consultant alleges delay of truck drivers at dumpsite

    Some residents of Ikorodu have accused private waste collectors of not providing quality service.

    They condemned the firms operating under the Private Sector Participation (PSP) in Itunpate, Ota-ona and Kokoro Abu. They said, have not been coming to collecting waste in the last two months.

    A resident of Itunpate, who simply gave her name as Mrs Adunni, told The Nation that the PSP operators have neglected them. The operators, according to her, claimed that the residents have not been paying their bills.

    She said: “The PSP trucks that come to our street are two. The one for our side just changed suddenly. They will come and will not stop. I remember during April, May, June and July, we normally begged our neighbours at the other side to help us collect our waste in order to get it disposed. Later on, we were informed by our landlord that most of us owed PSP which is unknown to us. I believe they should be able to sensitise people when the issue of bills comes up rather than neglecting us. Their responsibility is to collect our waste; they are not supposed to contribute to environmental pollution.”

    Another resident, who gave her name as Mrs Uchechi, explained that the PSP operators have not been consistent in the discharge of their duties.

    She said: “Although, we know some people do owe bills but that doesn’t stop them from coming. We have started paying our bills now but they are yet to be consistent. We will wait for two weeks sometimes. They really delay us for no reason, we don’t know why they don’t come regularly. Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) should intervene.”

    A trader on Kokoro Abu Street,  Mrs Kehinde Bada, said the PSP operators must improve on their regularity.

    But another resident who simply gave his name as Muyiwa said residents were not always right when they blamed PSP operators.

    A PSP consultant, who asked not to be named, said the truck drivers might be having problems at the Olusosun dumpsite, where there is a long queue of vehicles waiting to discharge waste.

    He urged the government to address the problem.

    He said: “There is no condition that cannot be managed. Now, government needs to key into recycling policy. That is the best method we can apply at this point in time. The population of Lagos is relatively high and the number of PSP operators is not enough to adequately manage the waste generated daily.”

    At the Olusosun dump site in Ojota, The Nation saw a long queue of trucks waiting to dispose refuse.

    A truck driver told The Nation that he had been on queue for over 24 hours.

    He said: “This is what we have been facing. It is this bad. Some of us sleep for two days here before we can dispose the waste. I got here yesterday evening and I learnt the machine that will dispose the waste into the pit is not available. I don’t have any choice than to wait. This morning, another machine is meant to be on ground but I learnt it isn’t available.”

  • Ikorodu residents lament downpour

    Ikorodu residents lament downpour

    Residents of Ikorodu, a Lagos district, yesterday lamented the heavy rainfall, which grounded activities in most parts of the state.

    Commuters, whose movements were stalled by the downpour,sought shelter at any available space, as they awaited vehicles.

    The rainfall, which began early morning at Ikorodu, flooded the major roads, causing heavy traffic congestion.

    It was observed that the congestion did not spare the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) buses, as their terminals were locked down for several hours.

    The residents, who decried the bad state of their roads, urged the government to provide palliatives, in order to reduce incidents of flood.

    An Alfa, who was emotional about the situation, said that more people were forced to relocate to Ikorodu due to the high cost of accommodation in the metropolis.

    Whenever it rains, Alfa said most residents who live in low cost houses were worst hit by flood, adding that water usually penetrated their homes, destroying valuables.

    He said: “They accept anywhere they are offered when they can’t afford better accommodation but these rains short-live the respite of these people.”

    A cleric, Timothy Ori-Oke, who also decried the menace of flooding in Ikorodu, said that his scheduled activity at Ogijo was disrupted.

    Dada, a drenched motorcyclist at Benson Bus Stop, lamented the low patronage of commercial motorcycles, blaming the rain for not meeting his daily target.

    The motorcyclist said the chances of motorcyclists wooing passengers were limited because commuters, who were in their homes when it started raining, would not come out.

  • Ikorodu residents flee homes over fear of militants

    Scores of residents of Ishawo and Igbo-Olomu in Agric area of Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, have fled their homes following reports of invasion of the area by suspected militants.

    Eye witnesses told The Nation yesterday that pandemonium broke out in the area on Monday night when news filtered out that the militants planned to visit the area to kidnap people from their homes in the night.

    A resident Mr Kola Adesina, told The Nation that his wife moved his children to his sister’s place in Somolu since Monday and called him on his way home not to bother going to Ikorodu as the place is no longer safe.

    Adesina said Ishawo, Igbo-Olomu and their environs have since been taken over by soldiers and naval officers.

    He said their presence has not deterred residents from evacuating their families for safety.

    Igbo-Olomu, Ishawo and their environs in Ikorodu have in the last four weeks been under the attack of gunmen.

    A resident who pleaded anonymity, disagreed with the notion that the area was under the invasion of militants but attributed the development to illegal oil bunkers carrying out reprisal attack among themselves.

    Some of the bunkers were reportedly killed and wounded during exchange of fire.

    One of those who escaped to London last month, said a source, returned to the country about two weeks ago to get married.

    The marriage which was fixed for two Saturdays ago failed to hold as the groom was shot in a reprisal attack by a rival group.

    It was gathered that it was this development that accounted for the invasion of many homes by the rival group.

    Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni said a massive manhunt had been launched against the suspected militants.