The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogun

  • 42 Boko Haram suspects arrested in Lagos, Ogun

    42 Boko Haram suspects arrested in Lagos, Ogun

    Army alleges plot to attack Southwest

    20 feared dead in Kano bombings

    Forty-two suspected Boko Haram members were paraded yesterday by the Army in Lagos.

    They were arrested in various parts of Lagos and Ogun states, after fleeing the military intervention in some parts of the North. The suspects were arrested between July 12 and 23.

    Parading the suspects at the headquarters of the 81 Division, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Gen. Obi Umahi, said they were seized during raids done in conjunction with intelligence operatives following plans by the sect to unleash terror in parts of the Southwest.

    One of the suspects, Ibrahim Abubakar Bori, said they took part in several major operations in Borno State, where several military personnel and civilians have been killed since the insurgency started in 2009.

    “We were involved in several major operations in Maiduguri, where several security agents and civilians were killed.

    “I and some others here were recruited by Mallam Hassan Ibrahim.”

    Ibrahim, 22, admitted recruiting some of the suspects and disclosed that he went with Ibrahim Ismaili and Alhaji Black to kill a soldier and a man described as Buka.

    He said: “We rode in a tricycle and it was Alhaji Black that pulled the trigger.

    “I met both Ismaili and Alhaji Black in Lagos, while I was riding Okada. We all went to Maiduguri, where we carried out some operations.”

    However, some of the suspects denied being terrorists, alleging that they had been in Lagos for many years.

    Black, who was indicted by Ismaili, said he had been staying in Lagos for about five years, riding Okada (commercial motorcycle).

    He said the army came to Kirikiri to arrest some suspects and he was taken along with them.

    The Army said the raids were conducted at Ibafo trailer park and Ileke new trailer garage in Ogun State; Aviation Quarters at Mafoluku, Oshodi; Ketu/Mile 2 Motor Park; Orile Trailer Park; Lekki new extension and Bar Beach, which are fast becoming Boko Haram terrorist enclaves.

    Gen. Umahi said the suspects, who were arrested at various intervals, gave information that led to the arrest of others.

    The GOC reiterated security agencies’ determination to rid Nigeria of terrorists, adding that the suspects would be handed over to security agencies.

    Gen. Umahi, however, refused to disclose if weapons were recovered during the raids.

    He said: “In response to intelligence report on the influx of Boko Haram terrorist elements into Lagos and Ogun states, 81 Division headquarters organised and conducted raids with intelligence operatives in these states between July 12 and 23.

    “The Boko Haram trickling influx is adduced to their plan to unleash terror in some parts of the Southwest.

    “During interrogation, they confessed to have participated in various major terrorist attacks in the North, especially Maiduguri, where majority of the suspects fled from.

    “We are bent on ensuring that Lagos and its environs remain safe for Nigerians and will not hesitate to fish out criminals,” Gen. Umahi said.

    Security agents March 14, raided Ijora Badia, Lagos following intelligence reports, which led to the arrest of over 14 suspected Boko Haram members.

    The suspects were said to have disclosed during interrogation, their planned massive attacks on Lagos, with designated 16 landmarks slated for simultaneous bomb blasts.

    That foiled attack was the second in March. No fewer than three suspected Shiite sect members were arrested in Illorin, the Kwara State capital in February, with the allegation that they had plans to bomb Israeli and America’s interest in Lagos.

    The group allegedly planned attacks on the Lagos offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development; the Haifa-based ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Limited and the Jewish Cultural Centre.

    Also in June, the army said it arrested about 15 Boko Haram suspects at various parts of the metropolis, with most of them arrested at Ijora Badia and Kotankowa areas between February and May, who were handed over to security agencies.

    Sophisticated weapons were recovered including explosives and remote controls during the previous raids

    The vehicles that were to be used to transport the bombs to their designated places were also among other items recovered during the raid.

    When the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security, visited Lagos, it emerged that about 104 Boko Haram members arrested in the Northern part of the country, were being detained in Lagos prisons.

  • Ogun, BoI create over 4000 SMEs jobs

    Ogun, BoI create over 4000 SMEs jobs

    About 4,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created in the last two years by the Ogun State Government through loan granted youths and women to establish Small and Scale Medium Enterprises (SMEs), or expand existing ones.

    The Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, who stated this in Abeokuta yesterday, said the state government did it in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI).

    He said the Ministry has facilitated the opening of no fewer than 35 industries in the same period, adding that Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s administration remained committed to creating more enabling environment for industries to thrive and more jobs to be created.

    He said the state government had just disbursed N81million to 14 cooperative societies across the state, to help members re-capitalise SMEs.

    He said the money is expected to be of benefit to over 140 individuals from the 14 different cooperative societies, adding that the loan is to alleviate poverty, empower the people, check crimes resulting from idleness and to encourage creation of wealth.

    He said the loan, which attracts seven per cent interest rate, would be paid within 30 months, while the interest would be paid for six months without the principal rate.

    Ashiru enjoined the beneficiaries to make use of the loan judiciously for them to be self-employed and be mangers of their own, citing Dangote Plc as a example of a company that started as a small scale venture.

    He noted that the government would make more funds available if the N1billion earmarked for such intervention is exhausted.

    The Deputy Manager, BoI, Raymond Adenuga, who represented the Managing Director, Ms. Evelyn Oputu, urged the beneficiaries to pay back the credit facility promptly so that others can enjoy same.

    Meanwhile, the Bank of Industry (BoI) yesterday advised Nigerians in Diaspora to invest in the manufacturing sector of the country, as it reaffirms its commitment to assist their businesses.

    Its Principal Manager, Strategic Planning, Mrs Betty Obaseki, stated this at a workshop for Diaspora Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at the Sixth Diaspora Week in Abuja.

    She said the bank was considering setting up a special desk in Lagos and Abuja to attend to the need of the Diaspora Nigerians, to enable them to invest in the manufacturing sector.

    She said: “We are considering setting up a special desk in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to attend to the need of the Diasporas.

    “The same products that are available to the Diasporas are available to other Nigerians. There will be no special consideration because we have a dedicated desk to meet their need, adding that the bank has shifted focus from funding large entrepreneur to Small Medium Entrepreneurs to enhance the growth and development of the economy

    “The bank was mostly interested in funding equipment and machinery for production and not trading, as trading does not add significant value to the economy, the bank encourages initiatives that transform raw materials to finished products.

    “The best way to grow and develop African and Nigerian economy is to add value to natural resources instead of exporting them as raw materials. So to ensure growth in Africa and Nigeria economy we have to strengthen our entrepreneurs to enable them transform from our natural resources to the finished products.

  • 470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    470 Ogun teachers trained in ICT

    No fewer than 470 secondary school teachers in Ogun State have been trained in the CISCO academy organised information technology essentials for a train-the-trainer programme.

    Another 55 instructors have also been trained by the academy and they are now teaching in the various ICT polytechnics in the state.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun made this known at the Cisco African Academy Safari Conference 2013 held in Abeokuta, advising Nigerian youths and the participants to be more innovative in order to develop software needed to solve basic challenges hindering maximal use of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) in the country.

    He also enjoined stakeholders in the ICT sector to assist the youths to unlock their potentials.

    Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Taiwo Adeoluwa, a lawyer, Governor Amosun underscored the need for Nigerian youths to be ICT compliant in order to be active members of the “global village which the whole world has become, pointing out that virtually all human activities are now driven by information technology. In the same vein, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the Governor on ICT, Mr. Bunmi Adebayo, pointed out that the world has turned out to be a “global village” whereby the people can unlock their potentials through the use of information technology and become relevant in the world at large.

    According to him, the Senator Ibikunle Amosun believes that knowledge in information technology remained the only means of making any individual an active member of the “global village,” assuring that government would continue to do the needful to enhance human capital development in the State through ICT knowledge.

    Adebayo, in a statement signed by the Information Officer of the Gateway ICT, Mr. Ademola Orunbon, emphasised that educational development occupies a prominent position in the mission to rebuild, recalling that the highest singular allocation of the state’s 2013 budget was devoted to the sector.

    “This government will continue to lay emphasis on youth empowerment and development through the use of ICT. This explains why it devoted the largest single allocation of its 2013 budget to the education sector as it believes that investment in the youth today is a move to secure their tomorrow,” Adebayo noted.

    In his remarks, CISCO’s Regional Manager corporate Affairs, Mr. Alifie Hamid disclosed that out of the five institutions that submitted proposals to be appointed as the academy support designated centre for English West and Central Africa, only two, one of which is the South West Resource Centre were given approval.

    He advised the participants to make good use of the knowledge imparted to them, emphasising that anyone without requisite ICT knowledge would be an outcast in the global village.

     

  • Ogun and the quest for food security

    SIR:Despite the fact that Nigeria is blessed with vast agricultural potentials and readily available human resources for its exploitation, the country is still a far cry from guaranteeing food security for the populace. Also, numerous findings have shown that Nigeria’s agricultural sector can sufficiently be the driving force of its economy. Hitherto, the country’s GDP still depends on money made through crude oil while past governments at the federal level are yet to match their words with action in terms of developing the agricultural sector.

    The present administration in Ogun State led by Senator Ibikunle Amosun has taken giant steps to boost large scale mechanized farming in the state. This resolve can seen in the installation of two sets of rice processing equipment at Moloko-Asipa in Obafemi Owode area of the State; the resultant effect of this move is that there will be a great increase in rice production in the state and at the same time creating employment opportunities for people living in such areas

    Earlier this year, the administration acquired agricultural land clearing equipment and tractors worth about five billion naira for farmers in the state. Similarly, over 500 metric tons of different brands of fertilizer were procured and distributed to farmers in order to enhance the cultivation of crops in the state. It is believed that this will serve as succor to farmers who have previously found it difficult to procure these equipments for use in their farms, also increasing their farm output and productivity

    Another programme worthy of mention is the cassava revolution embarked on by the current administration. About 25, 000 bundle of cassava cutting was distributed freely to farmers across the state to enhance the production of high yielding cassava for consumption and also exportation purposes.

    These are positive indications of how the Amosun-led administration is gradually positioning the state as a front-runner in the quest for of food security.

    • Bimpe Amos

    Abeokuta, Ogun State

  • Ogun Assembly passes resolution to halt carnage on roads

    The Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA) has passed a resolution for the convening of a stakeholders’ forum to find lasting solutions to the increasing loss of lives and property due to the activities of some companies and their reckless drivers operating in the state.

    The Speaker, Prince SurajAdekunbi, said the Assembly would put all legislative mechanisms in place to convey the stakeholders’ forum to tackle the problems and restore sanity on the roads.

    The OGHA resolution came on the heels of the killing of an Egba High Chief and senior lecturer at the Mass Communication Department of the OlabisiOnabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Dr. Gbenga Dalley, when a truck crashed into his Toyota Camry car along the Abeokuta- Siun – Sagamu road last Wednesday.

    Two other unidentified persons also lost their lives along with Dalley in that multiple car accident.

    The state legislators last Friday acting upon a motion moved by the Minority Leader, Hon. Job Akintan, on the need to halt indiscriminate parking and reckless driving of the drivers of trucks carrying products from the companies, resolved that a forum should be created for stakeholders to fashion out solutions to carnage on Ogun State roads.

  • Teachers’ strike: We can’t pay beyond 15 percent, says Ogun

    Ogun State government has said it could only pay 15 percent of the Teachers Peculiar Allowance (TPA) in its public primary and secondary schools and not the 27.5 percent being demanded by them.

    The teachers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) had since last June 1 downed tools to protest the non- payment of the 27.5 percent TPA by the state government.

    But its rival, the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), declined participation in the strike, which would enter the third week tomorrow.

    ASUSS also proceeded to alert the police and the State Security Service(SSS) of the increasing intimidation and harassment of its members by NUT in a bid to forcibly drag ASUSS into joining the on – going strike.

    According to the state chairman of ASUSS, Comrade Tunde  Folarin, the decision by his members to stay off the strike called by NUT was reached at the end of its Central Working Committee after it agreed with the state government’s phase payment procedure, starting with the “payment 15 per cent by 1st of July.”

    The commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Segun Odubela, told reporters at the weekend that though the government is negotiating with the teachers, it could not afford to pay the 27.5percent being demanded.

    He noted that the government was ready to pay the 15 percent to all teachers in the state irrespective of the union they belong.

    He said: “Concerning the NUT strike, I can assure you that we have been having negotiations with them and of course the government on our part has agreed to pay 15percent.

    “You know they are agitating for 27.5 but the government is prepared to pay 15percent and this of course has been communicated to them.”

    Folarin said the body had to notify the security agencies so that measures could be taken to avoid “fracas” in schools should the ASUSS found itself compelled to engage in self defence against intimidations by NUT officials.

    He urged the ASUSS members throughout the state to continue discharging their lawful business as they await the final consummation of the 25.7 peculiar allowances.

     

  • ‘Ogun won’t reply confused opposition’

    The Ogun State Government yesterday said it will not dignify the “confused opposition” with a response on the state’s debt profile.

    The Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said she would address all questions about the state’s finances on Friday at a ministerial press briefing.

    Mrs. Adeosun spoke with reporters on Monday in Iperu, Ikenne Local Government Area.

    She said: “I will have a press briefing on Friday and address all financial issues. I will rather do that than react to their confusion.”

    The commissioner was reacting to the claim by a Labour Party (LP) chieftain, Mr. Ladi Adebutu, that the government had “plunged” the state into N200 billion debt.

    When reporters asked Adebutu to substantiate the claim, he could not explain how the “debt” was incurred.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ogun shelves celebration

    Ogun shelves celebration

    The Ogun State Government yesterday shelved the celebration of Democracy Day.

    Scores of people from far and near yesterday gathered at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta, the state capital, for the celebration. But the event did not hold.

    At the June 12 Cultural Centre, our correspondent observed that the entrance doors were chained but scores of people were getting copies of a compact disc (CD) containing the achievements of Governor Ibikunle Amosun in the last one year.

    The CDs were being distributed by persons close to the government.

    The Commissioner for Information and Strategy Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu said the government planned a low-key event.

    He explained that instead of gathering the people at the stadium, stakeholders in the state would be taken round project sites the administration has executed for on-the-spot assessment.

    In his 7am live broadcast on the state television, Amosun said the administration faced some challenges but also recorded successes in its Five Cardinal Programmes or Mission to Rebuild Ogun State.

    The governor said neither himself nor his administration would take for granted the sacrifices the people are making to rebuild the state.

  • Ogun attends to 5,224 accident victims

    The Ogun State Ambulance Service (OGSAS) has attended to over 5,224 accident victims in the last one year.

    The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, spoke with reporters yesterday on the second anniversary of the Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration.

    He said the rescue mission covered 811 accidents involving 1,257 vehicles.

    To enhance communication between OGSAS operatives and the public, Soyinka said a new toll-free telephone line would be introduced soon.

    He said more ambulances would be bought and more personnel recruited to improve service delivery.

    Soyinka said: “Model hospitals would be built in each of the nine federal constituencies. We are presently identifying the sites for the hospitals. They will come up in the next few months.”

    On the status of the Trauma Centre, the commissioner said it would soon be equipped for improved services.

    He said his ministry, the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN) and the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) recently burnt unwholesome drugs worth N1.5 million.

  • N200m WAEC fees fraud in Ogun

    •Govt goes cashless in hospitals 

    THE  Ogun State Government has uncovered N200 million fraud in the payment of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) fees of pupils in public schools.

    The fraud was allegedly perpetrated by workers in the education sector in the last three academic sessions. Four officials, two men and two women, have been arrested by the police. Other suspects are being investigated.

    It was learnt that the list of WAEC candidates in public schools was inflated by the suspects. Sources said the government was made to pay for candidates in private schools and tutorial centres.

    They said the suspects would then get the proprietors of the private schools and tutorial centres to pay the fees into their personal bank accounts.

    The accounts have been discovered by the government.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, said: “This is a disturbing development. Education is number one on the five-cardinal programmes of our administration and that is why we are investing so much to rebuild the sector.

    “Officials who think they can divert funds meant for this important sector are in for a surprise. Anybody, who is implicated in this scam will face the full wrath of the law.”

    Between 2011 and 2013, the Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration has paid about N1 billion WAEC fees, including the arrears inherited from the previous administration.

    The government has introduced the cashless policy in state-owned hospitals. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Ajibola Chokor, announced this in Abeokuta at a sensitisation meeting with stakeholders on the need for the policy.

    She said the policy would ensure transparency and accountability in revenue generation, reduce revenue leakages and curb robberies in hospitals.

    Mrs. Chokor said the state was already practising the policy in government-owned tertiary institutions, adding that it had increased revenue by 20 per cent.

    She said it would help the government develop a sustainable financial model for hospitals, ensure efficiency and reduce cash handling.