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  • No okada restriction in Lagos, despite deadline expiration

    No okada restriction in Lagos, despite deadline expiration

    Motorcyclists and tricycle drivers had a field day on Lagos roads yesterday. This was against the ultimatum by the government that a massive clamp down awaits operators who flout the deadline restricting their operations to inner roads and side streets.

    In the Lagos Traffic Law enacted in 2012, motorcyclists and tricyclists were restricted from 475 of the 9,100 roads in the state. They are also barred from all bridges.

    Besides this, the operators must always wear standard crash helmet and provide same for their passengers. They are also barred from carrying more than one passenger, carrying children or an expectant mother and must not operate beyond 8pm in Victoria Island, Ikoyi and Ikeja and beyond 10pm in other areas.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had, on June 25, given the motorcycle union leadership 21 days to  educate their members on the return to the regime of full enforcement of the law, which comes with a forfeiture of the vehicle and a three-year jail term for offenders.

    The term could however be commuted to community service. The enforcement was suspended in the wake of the 2015 general elections.

    The deadline expired last Thursday, and government had said the enforcement will begin immediately after the Sallah holidays.

    But checks across the state yesterday showed that it was still business as usual for the operators as the government, police and other security agencies that are to implement the law are unprepared to enforce it.

    Motorcycles were seen on major roads, such as the Apap- Oshodi Expressway, Lagos- Abeokuta Expressway, Oshodi, Mushin roads, Ikorodu

    Road, among others.

    Most cyclists who spoke with The Nation said they were unaware of the return of the enforcement.

    A commercial motorcyclist, Amidu Adamson, said he thought the government had decided to leave the okada operators alone. He said he was unaware the government gave a 21 days ultimatum for them to move out of all restricted roads.

    A top official of the Ministry of Transport, who pleaded for anonymity, said the government would soon swoop on the cyclists.

    He confirmed that the deadline has expired. Government, however, he said, would not hurry into enforcement because it would want maximum impact when the enforcement eventually begins.

    He said government wants to avoid a situation in which “these people could gang up and molest any official out to enforce the law”.

  • Lagos light rail ready next year, says Ambode

    Lagos light rail ready next year, says Ambode

    The Blue Rail from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko on the Lagos Badagry Expressway started  in 2006 by former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be completed next year, Governor Akinwumi Ambde has said.

    On completion, the Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) rail system is expected to unlock gridlock on the Lagos-Badagry axis.

    Ambode said last Thursday that its completion  would open up socio-economic opportunities in the state.

    His commitment to the completion of the project has settled the dust of uncertainty hovering over the project. Six such lines are being proposed for the state.

    Ambode, who visited the project with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority’s (LAMATA) Managing Director Dr. Dayo Mobereola, among others, directed that China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), be mobilised “to enable it complete the project within a short time.”

    His tour, he said, was informed by the need to mobilise the contractor, to expedite action on the project and the Badagry expressway because of their importance.

    He said: “What we have come here to do is to specifically see the extent of work and to ensure that the contractor of the project is mobilised so that we are able to complete it on time. It’s also important to us that the contractor takes it as a major priority. The Mile 2 Badagry expressway is very important to all of us and like we said, it’s a project that we must finish.

    “It is a project that I would like to complete within the shortest possible time. So, I will like to see greater work done on the road project itself. On the rail project, like we have said before, we are going to mobilise immediately to see that what has been done from Mile 2 to National Theatre is continued to Marina within the next 12 months.

    “We should be able to put to use whatever has been done from Mile 2 to Marina. We also want the contractor to immediately commence work on the Mile 2 to Badagry road and once we pass Okokomaiko, we should be able to extend the Blue Rail to Okokomaiko.”

    He said what his administration expected was that, notwithstanding the rain or other constraints, the immediate mobilisation of the contractor should be done “and then the contractor should also increase the pace of work, that’s what we want to see.”

    Ambode added that whatever was the hindrance to completing the project, government officials would sit down with the contractor to see how it could be resolved to reduce the people’s suffering.

    “We are all going to sit down and make sure that we alleviate the sufferings of our people and ensure that this project is completed because it will increase the economic activity along this corridor and that is what the government is all about,” Ambode said.

     

  • Lagos to prosecute Synagogue church, contractor

    Lagos to prosecute Synagogue church, contractor

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Thursday said that his administration will enforce the verdict of the Coroner’s inquest on the September 12, 2014 Synagogue building collapse in consonance with the rule of law.

    The Governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, said his government will uphold and enforce the sanctity of the law in the state, just as he urged residents of the state to also respect the rule of Law.

    “His Excellency hereby reiterates his Government’s commitment to uphold and enforce the sanctity of the law in the state and calls on all Lagos resident to respect the rule of law”, the statement said.

    To this end, he said the Coroner’s verdict of 7th July 2015 made a number of recommendations which the state government will act upon accordingly.

    The Governor said that one of the provisions of the Coroner Law 2007 is the provision that empowers a Coroner to commence an inquest to find out the cause and manner of death which occur in an unusual manner.

    He said that consequent upon the collapse at the premises of Synagogue Church building, the state government applied that a coroner’s inquest be commenced into the cause of the tragic deaths.

    The Governor said the state government “Will cause the prosecution of the contractor, Engineer Akinbela Fatiregun of Hardrock Engineering Company Limited and Structural Engineer, Oladele Ogundeji who constructed and supervised the collapsed building respectively at the Synagogue Church of All Nations for professional negligence.”

    The Governor said that the state government will also prosecute the Synagogue Church of All Nations for neglecting to obtain building approval before commencing the building, contrary to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010.

    The Governor therefore appealed to residents of the state to always allow emergency responders perform their duties of emergency as they are trained for this purpose.

    “He enjoins land owners within the state who intend to embark on construction to employ the services of qualified and competent engineers who must obtain building permit before construction,” the statement said.

  • Lagos, River Basin to partner on dam

    Lagos State is collaborating with the Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority on the modalities for releasing water from the Oyan Dam,Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services,  Ministry of the Environment Mr. Ayodeji Adenekan has said.

    He said the partnership was aimed at preventing flooding in the state.

    “We have agreed on how water would be released from the dam. It is necessary for the authority to release part of the water so that the dam will not be destroyed, but we have related with them well and agreed that they will release it gradually so that it doesn’t flood Lagos.The collaboration is still ongoing but there is cooperation,” he said.

    Adenekan also identified the indiscriminate dumping of refuse into waterways, such as drains and canals, as the major reason for flooding in the state.

    He made this known at a forum with reporters.

    “The greatest challenge we have here is dumping of refuse in drains. If we don’t have refuse in the drains and it is only water, it will flow and only the silt will be left, because flood by its nature, carries sand,” Adenekan explained.

    He however regretted that   flooding had been compounded by dumping of pet bottles, satchet water bags, plastics and other refuse in drain channels.

    Though Adenekan agreed that covered drains would go a long way in stopping refuse dumping, he explained that there was a need for residents to cultivate positive attitudes toward the environment. Until this attitude was adopted, covered drains, he said, might not be an appropriate option, adding that there had been instances where people had been found opening up manholes and dumping refuse in them.

    “Open and covered drains have their advantages; we combine them. There are some roads that are properly covered but it is difficult to clean such drains because the slabs are usually very heavy. We try to look at what is most appropriate; in the places where we need to cover drains, we cover; but in places where we do not need to cover, we leave them open,” Adenekan explained, adding that when drains were opened, they  were easily accessed for cleaning.

    He added that the state only covered drains where there might be danger.

    He however assured that when residents’ attitudes changed, the government would cover all the drains.

    The Permanent Secretary said that the government was proactive in preventing flooding. He said, before the Nigerian Meteorological Agency’s report on the rains and flooding patterns for the year was released, the state had prepared ahead by clearing its primary water channels to prevent heavy flooding; identified black spots and ensured that such areas were dredged ahead of time. So far, over 25 primary channels and outfalls had been dredged, while over 13 would be dredged in the next phase.

    He said flooding in Lekki and Ajah  was caused by indiscriminate sand-filling. He however said the problem had been taken care of in the state’s new master plan.

    He said under the Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project  funded by the World Bank to increase sustainable access to basic urban services through investments in critical infrastructure, the ministry had taken over some of the projects that were not completed, especially the drains.

    “We have taken over the drainage projects that were not completed. What we are after is ensuring that the state is flood-free and the work is ongoing,” he explained.

  • 150,000 pupils take placement test in Lagos

    Save for a few hitches, the Lagos State placement test for admission into public secondary schools for the 2014/2015 academic session went smoothly last Saturday.

    The examination was written by about 150,000 primary six pupils in 235 centres across the state. Ninety thousand of the candidates were from public primary schools, while 60,000 were from private schools.

    The challenges encountered during the examination included insufficient OMR sheets and inability of some candidates to locate their centres on time.

    Dummy OMR sheets were used in place of the originals in centres that had shortages.

    At the Education District II, where the Director-General, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mrs Ronke Shoyombo; the Tutor General/Permanent Secretary of District II, Mrs Titilayo Sholanrin, and District 1, Mrs Florence Ogunfidodo monitored the exam, latecomers were allowed to write the examination.

    In Army Cantonment Junior Secondary School, about 33 candidates were absent.

    Mrs Shoyombo explained that the examination was one of the ways through which the state government was trying to bridge the gap between public and private schools.  She noted that the questions were designed for both public and private schools.

    She said though many private schools have not been approved in the state, no pupil would be denied education because of the status of their school.

    “In Lagos State we have about 18,000 private schools and about 4,000 are approved and we are moving to 5,000.  With that, any decision you make as the Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, the child should be at the centre of it all. We cannot prevent our children from accessing education because of the status of their schools, so we are making provisions for children that are coming from unapproved schools.  But that does not mean that we will approve schools that do not have good teaching and learning conditions. We have been putting a lot of measures in place; we have been working with quite a number of schools that are not approved and we have been sending out signage approval and that is going to deter parents from sending their children to unapproved schools. I can assure that between one to three years we will be able to overcome all our hurdles but we are working on them,” she said.

    Mrs Ogunfidodo described the conduct of the examination as 80 per cent satisfactory despite increased candidature.  She noted that the government has provided infrastructure to cater for the large intake and would continue to provide more.  She also promised improvements next year.

    “By next year, we will improve, especially in locating the centres and production of OMR sheets,” she said.

    On her part, Mrs Sholanrin said the 235 centres were sufficient enough to accommodate the large number of pupils for the examination. She noted that physically-challenged pupils were well taken care of.  She said the Computer Based Test which was piloted in some schools, would cascade to other exams in the state.

    A parent, Mrs Oluwatoyin Ayinde, who resides in Agbede in Ikorodu, said there are no enough schools in the area. She said there is only one primary and secondary school, which are merged in the area.

    Results of the examination would be released in two weeks.

  • Lagos abolishes fine on tax evading firms

    Lagos abolishes fine on tax evading firms

    The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) on Wednesday said that it had abolished the fine on tax-evading companies throughout the state.

    Mrs Ajibike Oshodi-Sholola, the leader of the Distrain Unit of the LIRS, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that this was due to total compliance by most of the companies paying the taxes.

    Oshodi-Sholola said that the new administration cancelled the fine so that the erring companies should be able to pay up their taxes, without any additional costs attached.

    NAN reports that the Distrain fine is the additional N250, 000 paid by tax evading companies before they will have their offices re-opened, after it has been shut by the LIRS.

    Oshodi-Sholola said that nine companies were sealed for owing N18.6 million for tax evasion last week, during a state-wide tax law enforcement exercise.

    According to her, the unit shut down six companies for owing N11.3 million on tax evasion on July 9, while another three companies were sealed off for also owing N7.3 million on July 10.

    She advised the affected companies never to attempt removing the government seal papers on the doorposts of their offices, adding that such act is a criminal offence which attracts some penalties.

    “The enforcement team usually goes out for spot-checks to identify the companies that might have removed the seals after the team left.

    “Any company that may be found in the act of removing the seals will be charged to court for judgment and prosecution,” she told NAN.

    Oshodi-Sholola said that companies affected by last week’s enforcement exercise included: hotels, an oil and gas firm, a micro-finance bank and a digital photo laboratory.

  • Lagos seals off 29 fake medicine stores

    Lagos State Task Force on Fake, Counterfeit and Unwholesome Processed Foods has sealed off 29 illegal Patent Medicine stores.

    Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Modele Osunkiyesi said the stores contravened the law on the operation of pharmacies and patent medicine stores.

    Their offences includes sales of drugs without license from the regulatory authority; failure or refusal to relocate from a market area and adherence to the mandated distance between a patent medicine shop and market place as stipulated by the law; and sales of counterfeit and fake drugs.

    She said: “The closure is part of the government’s efforts at ridding the state of fake, substandard and illegal drug operators and outlets as well as ensuring high drug quality through sanitation and streamlining of drug distribution system in the state. It is important that operators of pharmaceutical shops and patent medicine stores operate within the ambit of the law regulating their operations as the state government would not take it lightly with any operators of pharmaceutical products who disregard the laws of the state.”

    The government, she said, acted in accordance with Chapter C34 of the Counterfeit, Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods (Miscellaneous Provision) Act of 1999, Number 25.

    The affected stores and unregistered premises are: Goodnews Store at 8, Badore Road, Folarin Bus-stop, Ajah; Jonadab Nwaogwugwu Chemist, Seyi-Omogwa Street, Lakowe Phase 2, Lekki; and BL Supermarket, Yomade Shopping Mall, Awoyaya Bus-stop, Lekki ; Tela Rose Pharmacy, 13 Shonibare S. Complex, Awoyaya, Ibeju-Lekki; Omata Chemist, 2 Seyi Omogwa Street, Lakowe Phase 2, Lekki; and Uzoma Shop, Bale Palace, Abijo town, Lekki; Chidominion Stores, Olasuru Shopping Plaza, Haruna Bus-stop, Sangotedo, Lekki, Ajah; Chinkem Pharmaceutical Ltd., Sangotedo, Lekki, Ajah; Shade Chemist, 2, David Oladapo Street, Ajah; Big Friend Merchant Store, Sangotedo Ajah; and Kike Medicine Stores, Oke-Imole Street, Sangotedo, Ajah.

     

  • NURTW pleads for more bus stops in Lagos

    NURTW pleads for more bus stops in Lagos

    The Lagos State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has pleaded with the State Government to provide additional bus stops to foster traffic flow.

    The Chairman of the union in the state, Mr Tajudeen Agbede, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    Agbede said more bus stops and motor parks should be provided in the metropolis to curb indiscriminate picking and dropping of passengers along the road.

    ‘’We need more bus stops and motor parks to allow us to operate freely without disrupting the free flow of traffic and constituting nuisance to other road users.

    ‘’If there are adequate designated bus stops like the Bus Rapid Transit, commuters will always go there to board buses as well as disembark without disrupting flow of traffic. ’’

    He also called on members of the union to make use of available bus stops ones, advising commuters to always go to the designated bus stops and parks to board buses.

    The NURTW chief said that commuters boarding inter-state vehicles on highways were exposing themselves to danger.

    “Commuters travelling outside the state should go to designated motor parks to board vehicles in order to have their names written on the manifest.

    “The passengers manifest is very important because in the case of any eventuality, a passenger’s family can be contacted through the next of kin’s contact number registered on it.

    ‘’Another benefit of boarding vehicle at designated parks is to help the union to check reckless driving by reporting any erring driver to union officials at the parks.

    ‘’A passenger can also locate his or her misplaced or missing goods at the union’s office,’’ Agbede said.

    Also, Mr Rotimi Ajayi, the NURTW Ikorodu West Chairman, said that many areas in Ikorodu did not have bus stops.

    “We have set up a task force to monitor and arrest any bus operator who disrupts the free flow of traffic in the area,’’ he stated.

  • Customs inaugurates clinic in Lagos

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) has inaugurated a clinic at its Western Marine Command, Apapa, Lagos, to take care of its officers and the host community.

    The clinic was named after the wife of its Comptroller-General, Hayija Sa’Adiya Abdullahi Dikko.

    Speaking at the inauguration, Abdullahi, who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller-General, Musa Tahir, said he was happy the Controller in charge of the Western marine, Umar Yusuf, had rehabilitated the command within his eight months in office.

    Abdullahi said the clinic came at a time when the Customs introduced operation “Hawk Descend” which will make the smugglers look for alternative ways outside the roads and bushes, stressing that the waterways will be their next port of call.

    “I know that officers and men of the command are up to the task because they have the necessary wherewithal and coupled with their training on Ak47, I know you are equally well-prepared,” he said.

    Abdullahi said that the service is serious about the welfare  of its officers, adding that Usman had keyed into the vision of ensuring that the officers are taken care of through the provision of the clinic.

    He said that the clinic is for the officers and also the host community, pointing out that Customs management will continue to support the command.

    The Customs boss assured further that management will ensure that the clinic serves optimally, justifying  the purpose for which it was established,while providing all the necessary facilities.

     

  • ‘Why Lagos opposes sexual offences bill’ 

    ‘Why Lagos opposes sexual offences bill’ 

    The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT)  was   conceived in September 2014 as a response to the high increase in report of Sexual and Gender Based violent offences in the state.

    Asides from increasing victim safety and offender responsibility by providing a cross jurisdictional response that is uniform in approach in Sexual and Gender Based Violence crimes across Lagos State, DSVRT is also mandated to review policies and laws on SGBV crimes. It is against this backdrop that we are opposing the Sexual Offences Bill 2014 already passed by the National Assembly is awaiting Presidential assent.

    While the Team considered the National Assembly incompetent to legislate on general law such as sexual offences in a Federation save for the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, we still find it compelling to bring to the fore, certain provisions in the Sexual Offences Bill 2014, which are considered offensive, obnoxious, inconsistent and likely to increase the incidences of sexual abuse in Nigeria.

    Therefore as Law officers and Ministers in the temple of justice who have obligation to safeguard the Rule of law and promote justice, we need to speak out to prevent the obnoxious provisions in the Bill from being assented to by the President.

    The Bill seeks to introduce a strange defence based on the innocent act of a child (referred to as deceit) and belief of the perpetrator that a child is above 18 years when he committed the act of defiling a child.

    Section 7(5) of  the  proposed  Bill   provides; “ It is  a  defence  to  a charge  of defilement of children under  the    section if  (a) It  is  proved  that  such  child, deceived  the  accused  person  into  believing  that  he  or  she  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen  years  at  the  time  of  alleged  commission  of  the  offence: and; (b) The  accused  person  reasonably  believed  that the  child  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen years.”

    Similar defence is provided for the offence of Attempted Defilement under Section 8 of the Bill. Likewise for the offence of Indecent act with Children in Section 10 of the Bill which provides  as follows;

    “It is a defence  to charge under this sub-section(1) if It  is  proved  that  such  child, deceived  the  accused  person  into  believing  that  he  or  she  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen  years  at  the  time  of  alleged  commission  of  the  offence: and; the  accused  person  reasonably  believed  that the  child  was  over  the  age  of  eighteen years.”

    “The belief referred to in sub-section (2) is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including the steps the accused person took to ascertain the age of the complainant”

    “The provisions of sub-section (2) shall not apply if the accused person is related to such  child  within the prohibited degrees of blood affinity”

    It is apparent that these provisions of the Bill are inconsistent with the interest and welfare of children contrary to the Child’s Right Act which provides in Section 1 that:  “In every action concerning a child, whether undertaken by   an individual, public or private body, institutions or service, court of law, or administrative or legislative authority, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration”.

    Furthermore Section 277 of the  Child’s Rights Act 2003 the word “child” means a person under the age of eighteen  years.  Therefore the distinction in   the  ages  of   children in Section 7 of the Bill is  irrelevant  and  should  be  expunged  because  the distinction can lead to an ambiguity and unnecessary uncertainty, especially having regard to the fact that this particular Bill if assented to will be keenly enforced by Communities, Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations.

    Contrary to the provision of the Bill, Section 31 (1-3) of the Child’s Rights  Act  which  has  similar  provisions  in the Child’s Rights  Law  of Lagos  State  2007 provides that-

    (1) No person shall have sexual intercourse with a child.

    (2) A  person  who contravenes  the provision of  subsection(1) of  this section commits an offence of  rape and  is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life

    (3) Where a person is charged with an offence under this Section, it is immaterial that  the offender believed the person to be of or above the age of eighteen years, or  the sexual intercourse was with the consent of the child”.

    The Child’s Rights Act therefore provides that the paramount objective of the Act is to promote, protect and uphold the rights of every Nigerian child irrespective of age.  A person below 18 years old is a child under our legal system and therefore most times exempted from liability on the ground that these persons   may not understand the  nature/consequences of  their  act. Therefore, there should be no statutory defence for   sexual   offence against a child on the ground of purported deceit by the child and belief of the offender that the child was above 18 years. It is therefore suggested that this defence, should be completely expunged from the Bill.

    The Bill also seeks to introduce the offence of gang rape in section 9 of the Bill as follows:

    “Any person who commits the offence of rape or defilement under this Act in association with others is guilty of an offence called gang rape and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for life”

    Whilst the Team is cognizant of the fact the introduction of this section is in response to the increase in reporting of gang rape in Nigeria, we are however of the opinion that this section may be problematic at the prosecution stage.

    The rule of drafting charges as stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Act provides that for  every  distinct offence   with  which  any  person  is  accused  there  shall  be  a  separate charge  and  every  such  charge  shall be tried  separately  except  as provided  in Section  155 .

    Section 155 painstakingly lists out the exceptional circumstances as follows:- “when more persons than one are accused of the same offence or of different offences committed in the same transaction or when a person is accused of committing an offence and another of abetting or being an accessory to or attempting to commit such offence or when a person is accused of any offence of theft criminal misappro-priation, criminal breach of trust and another of receiving or retaining or assisting in the disposal or concealment of the subject matter of such offence, they may be charged and tried together or separately as the court thinks fit.”

    Therefore, the offence of rape, such as murder cannot be charged jointly because of the difficulty in proving that each individual person committed the act and must therefore be charged separately in different counts but on the same charge sheet. Consequently, it is therefore suggested that this section be expunged from the Bill.

    The team also regrets to note that the Bill seeks to trivialize sexual offences in Nigeria by imposing smaller fines on offenders.  A case in point is Section 10 (5), which provides for the sum of N20,000 for the offence of indecent assault. While no amount can ever be sufficient for the victim, any amount imposed should, however, not appear to trivialise the offence and indeed undermine the intention of the Law. Otherwise, the purpose of the punishment section that is to serve as a deterence to others will be abused if it can easily be ”afforded” by affluent perpetrators. We, therefore, recommend that monetary sanctions provided for in the Bill should be amended to make it commensurate with the gravity of the offence.

    We appeal to the National Assembly to review the financial sanctions imposed in the Violence Against persons Act, 2015 for the same reasons as highlighted above. The highlighted unacceptable provisions of the Bill if not expunged or amended will encourage impunity in sexual offences and undermine the efforts of DSVRT, NGOs and CSOs involved in the fight against child abuse in Nigeria.

    We also intend to forward a Memorandum of our position to the Office of the President communicating our thoughts and suggested amendments that should be considered before Assent is given to the Sexual Offences Bill, 2014.