The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kaduna-Abuja road

  • Police parade 93 suspected kidnappers on Kaduna-Abuja road

    The Police yesterday paraded 93 suspected kidnappers and armed robbers terrorising Niger, Katsina and Kaduna states, especially on the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

    It said 35 AK47 rifles, 21 Dane guns, 500 live ammunition and other weapons, including a rocket launcher, were recovered from the suspects.

    Parading the suspects at Katari village on the Kaduna-Abuja highway, Force spokesman DCP Frank Mba said the suspects were arrested in the last two weeks in joint operations in Kaduna, Niger and Katsina states.

    He said 35 AK47 rifles, 21 Dane guns and more than 500 live ammunition were recovered from the suspects.

    Mba attributed the success to Operation Puff Adder launched to dislodge criminals from the Kaduna-Abuja expressway and the country at large.

    Mba, who was flanked by the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Aji Ali Janga, said the joint operations comprised policemen from operations, intelligence, technical, counter-terrorism and special protection units, among others.

    REad also: Insecurity: Ekweremadu urges Buhari to throw his weight behind push for state police

    He said the operation was designed to tackle kidnaping, robbery and banditry, adding that the success recorded so far was huge.

    Mba said: “The suspects were arrested from Matari forest, Niger axis and some were pursued to as far as Katsina.

    “We are determined to descend very hard on criminals. We recovered 37 AK 47 rifles, 12 locally made guns, a revolver pistol, 60,000 fake US dollars, military uniforms and a foreign made pistol.

    “A few days ago, the IG rolled out a new counter kidnaping strategy. It will help us curtail crimes.”

    The Force spokesman said the Office of the Inspector General of Police provided supervisory and supportive roles to the operations.

    Janga assured farmers at Birnin Gwari and other volatile areas that “it is now safe for them to return to their farms.”

    He said the new operations being conducted in synergy with the commanders of various units had achieved success.

    “Farmers who farm along Kaduna-Abuja expressway, Birnin Gwari and other volatile areas can go back to their farms. They are now safe,” Janga said.

    One of the suspects arrested, Isah, said it was his first time of committing the crime and that he had not collected ransom before he was arrested.

    Another suspect, Salisu Abubakar, who claimed to be a cleric, said he was aware that his clients belonged to criminal gangs, but that he only supported them with good luck charms. “I have never participated in crimes,” he added.

     

     

     

  • Thousands stranded, as fuel tanker explodes on Kaduna-Abuja road

    Thousands stranded, as fuel tanker explodes on Kaduna-Abuja road

    Thousands of passengers either coming from or going to Abuja were yesterday stranded as a result of an explosion and fire at Tafa along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

    It was gathered that the explosions occurred after a tanker loaded with petroleum products dodged collision on the highway with a commercial Golf car, skidded off the highway and resulting to fire and billowing smoke.

    It is too early to tell the number of casualties in the accident, but many are feared dead from inhaling the smoke, burnt by the fire, or as a result of the explosion.

    The spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Yushau Shuaib, said a place of worship was burnt, but insisted that no life was lost.

    It was gathered that several houses were burnt in the area, but NEMA explained that quick intervention that saw to evacuation of the residents led to saving of lives.

    The ever busy Kaduna-Abuja highway links the Federal Capital Territory with the North West and North East, with thousands of vehicles plying it every day.

    It also links the North with the South through Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

    Bad portions of the road cannot be ruled out as a cause of the accident on this very important federal road, which was rehabilitated earlier this year but went bad few months after

  • Six Ekiti doctors die on Kaduna-Abuja road crash

    Six Ekiti doctors die on Kaduna-Abuja road crash

    Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Ekiti State branch, Dr. John Akinbote has said that lack of immediate proper medical attention was  responsible for the death of six Ekiti State medical doctors that died in auto crash Sunday night along Abuja-Kaduna express way.

    Dr. Akinbote, disclosed this while speaking with journalists on his hospital bed at Saint Gerald’s Catholic Hospital, where other seven surviving doctors are currently receiving treatment.

    He said, “Those that died would have survived if we got good medical attention from the point of the accident to the Doka General Hospital in Kaduna.

    “It became even worst, when we got to Doka Hospital, there was no single Doctor to attend to us and the only nurse on duty had no first aid facilities to administer treatment.

    “I am sure, if personnel of Federal Road Safety, FRSC that took us to Doka Hospital and the nurse on duty had medical facilities to give first aid treatment, our doctors and driver wouldn’t have died.”

    According to two of the survivors, who spoke to journalists at Saint Gerald’s Catholic Hospital, Kaduna, they were 13 Doctors and a driver in an 18-seater vehicle, but after the accident occurred six doctors and a driver died.

    The Doctors, it was gathered, left Ekiti on Saturday to attend the Nigeria Medical Association delegates’ conference in Sokoto, but were sent to early grave after the vehicle’s tyre bursted, hit the side breakers and somersaulted severally before it stopped.

    One of the survivors, Dr. Stephen Ayosanmi who spoke to journalists from his hospital bed at St. Gerald, said a tyre burst caused the accident.

    It was also gathered that the accident occured at the spot where former Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James Ocholi had a similar auto crash and died along with his wife and a son.

    Those who lost their lives in the auto crash included Dr. Alade Sani, Dr. OJ Taiwo, Dr. Akinyele Lexy, Dr.Ogunseye, Dr. Olagide, Dr. Adeniyi James, and Mr. Ajibola (DRIVER).

    Meanwhile, Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central District under the umbrella of All Progressives Congress (APC) who visited the surviving Doctors at the hospital condoled with the Ekiti State Government and NMA, just as he urged the Federal government to fix all bad portions of the road to forestall future recurrence.

     

  • Ocholi was loyal to Nigeria – Buhari

    Ocholi was loyal to Nigeria – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari in a tribute issued on Thursday maintained that the late Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Barrister James Ocholi, was fully committed and loyal to Nigeria.

    Ocholi, who had died in a car crash on 6th of this month along with his wife and one of his sons on Kaduna-Abuja road, will be buried in Kogi State on Friday.

    Besides many other positive and pleasant things about Ocholi, Buhari said that he will always remember him for his loyalty to Nigeria, loyalty to the All Progressives Congress, and loyalty to his administration.

    According to him, Ocholi was part of the Change Cabinet determined to bring Nigeria out of the woods and place it among the greats in the comity of nations.

    The President declared that Ocholi will be ‘sorely missed’.

    Full Tribute by Buhari below:

    JAMES OCHOLI TAUGHT US THE MEANING OF LOYALTY

    How do I begin to pay this tribute to a man who was the epitome of civility, the archetype of intellectualism, and the paragon of loyalty? How do I begin to mourn James Ocholi, whom you can describe as one of my right hand men in the quest to reposition our country, and fashion a land of peace and prosperity, where no man is oppressed?

    A lot has been written about Ocholi since the tragic event of March 6, 2016, which took the life of our Minister of State, Labour and Employment, his wife, Blessing, and his son, Joshua. And a lot more will be written, for Ocholi was no mean man.

    He was a man among men, an Iroko in a forest of trees. How are the mighty fallen!

    Among many other positive and pleasant things, I will always remember Ocholi for his loyalty to our beloved country Nigeria, loyalty to our party, the All Progressives Congress, and loyalty to our administration, in which he had served for just about 4 months, before death took him.

    In 2011, Ocholi ran to be governor of Kogi State on the platform of our then party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). I believed so much in him, and in his ability to add value to the governance of his state, that I followed him round the state on campaign. We visited all the local governments, visited the paramount rulers, and urged the people to vote in a worthy man as governor. But politics is a peculiar game in Nigeria. The best often does not win.

    Ocholi did not win. But he bore it gracefully.

    In 2015, he threw his hat into the ring again. He sought to be governor on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), a party he had helped midwife.

    He still did not win at the party primaries, an eventuality he bore gracefully again.

    When the APC was being negotiated into existence among the Legacy Parties, Ocholi did a yeoman’s job, contributing his quota to the legal processes. This he did under a junior lawyer, who was not a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) like him then. But what mattered to Ocholi was the birth of a strong, solid party, which could wrest power at the centre, and bring change to our country.

    Hierarchy is important in the legal profession, just as it is in the military. But Ocholi subordinated pride and ego, served under his subordinate, and APC was born.
    Dream became reality.

    Steadily but sure-footedly,  he was part of the Change Cabinet, resolved to bring our country from out of the woods, and pedestal Nigeria among the greats in the comity of nations.

    Then the unthinkable happened. The Grim Reaper harvested Ocholi. What a pity! Sad and tragic. But we have this consolation: the departed has taught us fidelity, commitment and loyalty to party, to government, and to God.

    He will be sorely missed.

    MUHAMMADU BUHARI