The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogun

  • Court orders PDP to obey verdict on Ogun leadership

    Court orders PDP to obey verdict on Ogun leadership

    The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to recognise the Adebayo Dayo-led executive in Ogun State.

    Justice Mohammed Idris held that the state executive’s tenure will not expire until May 2020.

    He nullified congresses that were held in violation of a court order, in which a chairman was purportedly elected to replace an interim executive committee in the state.

    The suit was filed by a member of PDP’s National Working Committee (NWC), Alhaji Adewole Adeyanju, Ogun State Youth Leader Femi Alao, “national delegates” for Sagamu and Ijebu North local government areas, Idris Muniru and Chief Tuke Omotara, Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government Area, Badejo Abiodun and Chairman of Sagamu Local Government Area, Kola Akinyemi.

    They sued for themselves and on behalf of “PDP Ogun State delegates to the National Convention”.

    The defendants include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP, Tunde Odanye, and others.

    The plaintiffs urged the court to hold that there was a subsisting and binding judgment and orders of the Federal High Court in Lagos and Abuja, delivered and issued on June 24, 2016 and on August 10, last year.

    The plaintiffs averred that by virtue of the court verdicts, they were entitled to attend and participate in PDP conventions.

    They urged the court to restrain the PDP Caretaker Committee in Ogun State from usurping the plaintiffs’ functions as “authentic officers of the Ogun PDP Executive Committee”, led by Chief Adebayo Dayo.

    Justice Idris, in his verdict on Friday, dismissed the defendants’ objection on the ground that the plaintiffs are beneficiaries of the judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Buba in another suit.

    Justice Buba had held that the tenure of the Adebayo Dayo-led executive still subsists until May 2020.

    Affirming the judgment, Justice Idris directed INEC and the PDP (first and second defendants) to obey Justice Buba’s orders.

    The court also nullified the congresses held in defiance to Justice Buba’s judgment and orders.

    Justice Idris held: “The decision of a court of competent jurisdiction is binding on all parties concerned until set aside by either the Court of Appeal or the same court that made the order, if found that it was made in error.

    “I am not in agreement that the decision of my learned brother Justice Buba is in conflict with the decision of the learned law lords of the Supreme Court.

    “All objections are overruled. Parties are bound by the judgment of this court, delivered by Buba J., and everybody should obey a judgment of court until set aside.”

    The court nullified the appointment of Odanye and others as Ogun State PDP Caretaker Committee members, saying their appointment was contrary to Justice Buba’s judgment, which affirmed the Adeboyo Dayo-led exco.

  • Ogun community gets light after 25 years

    Ogun community gets light after 25 years

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has lighted up Gbamugbamu community in Ijebu East Local Government Area with the inauguration of 85KW (kilowatts) solar hybrid mini-power grid, after 25 years of no-connection to the national power grid.

    Amosun described the inauguration of the power project, a collaboration with the European Union (EU) and German Government, under the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), anchored by the German Agency For International Development (GIZ), as another milestone in his administration’s journey towards making life better for the people.

    The governor noted that it was also in tandem with one of his five cardinal programmes, aimed at reducing unemployment and providing jobs for the teeming youths through the provision of regular power supply.

    He said: “Our belief is that the provision of state power supply will boost socio-economic activities of our people, promote employment generation by enhancing and scaling up Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMSEs), promote value chain development and reduce rural-urban migration.”

    Amosun assured the residents that his administration would continue to collaborate with private investors and developmental partners to make the state conducive and secure for businesses and for the foreign investors to operate effectively.

    The governor said his administration would mobilise contractors to begin the Ogbere/Gbamugbamu road, which would stand the test of time and improve development that the solar mini-grid had brought to the community.

  • Customs cries out as smugglers machete officer in Ogun

    Customs cries out as smugglers machete officer in Ogun

    •Says criminals take officers’ arms for granted

    the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday raised the alarm as suspected smugglers severely cut the left arm of one of its officers in Ifonyintedo axis of Ogun State Customs Command.

    Its Public Relations Officer (PRO) Joseph Attah told our correspondent in Abuja the officer was attacked last Wednesday while in an operation to seize smuggled vehicles in the creek of the community.

    Describing the officer simply as an Assistant Superintendent, Attah said he was one of the operatives acting on the intelligence to prevent smuggling of vehicles through the creek.

    His words: “The case in point happened exactly at Ifonyintedo axis of Ogun State Command. There is a particular creek there.

    “Our operatives, based on credible information that some vehicles were being smuggled through the creek went there but only to be visited with violence.

    “Some of these smugglers pay some youths, arm them to hide in the bush and descend on our officers.

    “It was a life threatening injury that was sustained by this officer, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs.

    “His left hand was badly macheted very close to his shoulder. He is in the hospital where doctors are battling to see if they can save him from amputation.”

    He noted in situations as this, the law allows customs officers bearing arms to use reasonable force but criminals take the officers for granted since the management urged them to be cautious with arms.

    Lamenting, the PRO said that “a situation where somebody with a machete will move straight with somebody who is bearing firearm without the fear of being shot clearly shows that the exercise of caution on the part of the customs operative is being taken for granted.”

    According to him, the officers succeeded in apprehending the vehicles, which they took to a Customs station.

    He said that investigation into the incident has commenced.

     

  • Four feared dead as truck pushes bus into river in Ogun

    Four feared dead as truck pushes bus into river in Ogun

    Four persons – two males and two females, were killed on Friday in an accident when a truck running on top speed pushed a commercial bus off the Kara Bridge on Lagos – Ibadan expressway into a river beneath it.

    The accident which occurred around 10:50am involved a Sino truck marked KMC 47 ZB and an Urvan  bus.

    Two of the passengers in the bus died at the scene.

    The spokesman of Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), Mr  Babatunde Akinbiyi who confirmed the auto accident, said the remains of the dead were kept at  the morgue of the  Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH), Sagamu, while the  injured are receiving treatment at the Lagos State Emergency Centre.

    According to Akinbiyi, the truck driver and his boy have also been arrested and detained at the Akute Divisional Police Headquarters, Akute, Ogun State.

    “The truck lost control due to over speeding, then hit the commercial bus beside it, which fell from the Kara bridge down, a few metres from the river.

    “Out of the six occupants in the commercial bus, four died on the spot and their bodies have been deposited at the morgue of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH), Sagamu, while the  injured are receiving treatment at the Lagos State Emergency Centre.

    “However, the two  occupants in the truck (the driver  motor-boy) have been arrested and  detained at the  Adigboluja Police Station, Akute along with  the accident truck  and  commercial bus,” Akinbiyi added.

  • Ogun warns against cattle rearing in forest reserves

    Ogun warns against cattle rearing in forest reserves

    The Ogun State government has warned against rearing of cattle in both private and government owned forest reserves across the State.

    The State Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal who gave this warning while speaking with press men in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, said that allowing grazing in the forest reserves would be inimical to the State government efforts at rejuvenating and preserving the reserves.

    Lawal stated that government had on several occasions, stressed the need for people to engage in tree planting and protecting new tree seedlings, so as to achieve its forest regeneration mission, adding that mechanism like capacity building, patrols, protection and monitoring, as well as Assets Safe Guarding Initiatives, were geared towards protecting the State’s forest reserves.

    He called on investors to support the government at mitigating climate change, through the establishment of private forest reserves and protection of forest resources.

    ‘’It is very important that private investors complement government efforts in tree planting and forest protection, to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, which aid climate change and its attendant consequences’’, he said.

  • Four feared dead as truck pushes bus into river in Ogun

    Four feared dead as truck pushes bus into river in Ogun

    Four persons – two males and two females, were killed on Friday in an accident when a speeding truck pushed a commercial bus off the Kara bridge on Lagos – Ibadan expressway and thrust it into a river beneath it.
    The accident which occurred around 10:50am involved a  Sinotruck marked  KMC 47 ZB and
     an Urvan  bus. Two of the  passengers in the bus died at the scene.
    The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency(TRACE), who confirmed the auto accident, said the remains of the dead were kept at  the morgue of the  Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH), Sagamu, while the  injured are receiving treatment at the Lagos State Emergency Centre.
    According to Babatunde, the truck driver and his boy have also been arrested and detained at the Akute Divisional Police Headquarters, Akute, Ogun State.
    “The truck lost control due to over speeding, then hit the Commercial bus beside it, which fell from the kara bridge down, a few metres from the river.
    “Out of the six occupants in the Commercial, four  died on the spot and their bodies have  been deposited at  the morgue of the  Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, (OOUTH), Sagamu, while the  injured are receiving treatment at the Lagos State Emergency Centre.
    “However, the two  occupants in the truck (the driver  motor-boy) have been arrested and  detained at the  Adigboluja Police Station, Akute along with  the accident truck  and  commercial bus,” Babatunde stated.
  • Civil society group decries IGP’s handling of Benue killings

    Civil society group decries IGP’s handling of Benue killings

    A civil society organisation, the Sanctity Transparency Peace Initiative (STPI) has called on the Inspector General of Police Mr. Ibrahim Idris to come clean on the alleged complicity of the police and its negligence which has worsened the herdsmen’s killings across the country.

    In a communique issued on Tuesday after its emergency meeting in Abuja, the group bemoaned the deteriorating security situation in the country, particularly in Benue State.

    The communique, signed by its National Coordinator, Sunday Alakho, the group condemned what it called the less than salutary role of the police chief since the killings by suspected herdsmen started on New Year’s day.

    The group said the IGP’s initial description of the mass murder of innocent villagers by herdsmen as a “mere communal clash” is callous and insensitive against people crying out for Justice.

    It further accused the IGP of flouting the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to relocate to Benue State and also rated the intervention of the police as a monumental failure, as according to the group, the killings have continued unabated.

    The group also expressed concerns over remarks credited to the IGP that the implementation of the Open Grazing Prohibition Law in Benue was responsible for the killings.

    It wondered if the same law was responsible for the herdsmen’s similar killings in Plataeu, Zamfara, Edo, Ogun, Kaduna and Oyo States where such laws do not exist.

    The STPI maintained that the complicity of the police was confirmed by the reference to Benue’s Governor Samuel Ortom as a “drowning man” by Force spokesman, Mr. Jimoh Moshood.

    It demanded for a full public explanation from the police authorities on what it meant by branding an elected governor “a drowning man”.

    The group urged the Nigerian people not to take the characterisation lightly, as it could be interpreted to mean the safety of the Governor is endangered. It demanded a public pronouncement by the police guaranteeing the safety of Governor Ortom.

    The STPI joined other Nigerians in calling for the immediate arrest of leaders of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore which it accused of masterminding the killings, following an earlier threat issued by the herdsmen.

    It charged the IGP to impartially execute his presidential mandate by ensuring the safe return of villagers who have been moving to Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps and to ensure the safety of their communities failing which he should resign.

    The STPI warned the police authorities to refrain from dragging the noble force into the murky waters of politics in order to disabuse the minds of citizens who suspect that the role of the police in this crisis is a manifestation of a hidden agenda against particular ethnic groups.

    It also recalled with dismay an earlier statement credited to the Minister of Defence, Gen. Dan Ali, citing the Anti Open Grazing law law passed by the state as being responsible for the killings.

  • Ogun repairs Abeokuta-Lagos, Ilaro Federal roads

    Ogun repairs Abeokuta-Lagos, Ilaro Federal roads

    The Ogun State government has completed the rehabilitation of some bad portions on Abeokuta-Lagos and old Ilaro roads – within the state – to ameliorate the suffering and loss of man-hour motorists and other road users plying the roads face daily.

    In a statement yesterday in Abeokuta, the state capital, by his media aide, Mr. Temidayo Agida, Works and Infrastructure Commissioner Olamilekan Adegbite said though they are Federal roads, yet the rehabilitation had become necessary because of the large volume of human and vehicular activities that occur daily on them.

    He said: “It is our duty to ensure that all the roads within Ogun State are in good condition. But due to paucity of funds, we have to strategically choose the roads to be rehabilitated in terms of importance.”

    The commissioner said the state had repaired a number of Federal roads in the past six and a half years, adding that the state could no longer wait for the Federal Government, as the affected roads are critical to the socio-economic life of the people.

    The commissioner assured road users that the state government would put all roads in good shape, not minding their classification.

  • FRSC in Ogun takes safety campaign to schools

    FRSC in Ogun takes safety campaign to schools

    The Federal Road Safety Corps ( FRSC ), Ogun Sector Command, on Wednesday said it had taken its campaign to schools in the state to educate the pupils/students on safety issues.

    Mr Clement Oladele, the Ogun Sector Commander of FRSC, said that the measure was part of the command’s programmes to ensure safety on the roads in the future.

    Oladele said that the measure would also help to prepare the pupils/students early enough as the next generation of drivers in the country.

    He said that the FRSC would lay emphasis on youth education and truck safety in 2018 to reduce crashes on the country.

    “The FRSC has commenced preaching of safety across schools and organisimg programmes for truck drivers to ensure sanity and protection of lives and property on the highways,’’ he said.

    The sector commander said that some truck drivers drove recklessly on the highways and in most cases such drivers did not belong to unions.

    He, however, said that the FRSC had been in contact with truck owners to see how the challenge could be addressed.

    “We want to see how we can organise those drivers without a union to form one so that their excesses and tension created by them could be reduced.’’

    Oladele also noted that nobody could function effectively if the person were not properly trained.

    He said that the FRSC had certified members of staff that were competent to train truck drivers.

    NAN

  • Ogun customs intercepts 276 kegs of petrol, N67.2m contraband

    Ogun customs intercepts 276 kegs of petrol, N67.2m contraband

    Operatives of Ogun Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have intercepted about 278 kegs of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol from smugglers.

    Two drums of diesel, 221 kegs of vegetable oil, 13 second hand vehicles, and 383 bags of rice were also seized from smugglers.

    The seizure, according to Ogun Customs Area Controller, Mr Sani Madugu, was recorded following impeccable intelligence at the disposal of the command.

    Speaking with reporters at the Idiroko Area Customs Command on Friday, Madugu said his men would continue to pursue smugglers wherever they are hiding.

    The seized fuel were later auctioned to security forces including the police, army, Directorate of State Security(DSS) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA).

    Madugu said: ”It is pertinent to inform you that , we have reinvigorated our efforts not only to sustain the tempo we have achieved in the previous year(810 seizures with Duty Paid Value of N1,581,410,058 and total revenue of N6,162,559,790.13 from January to December,2017), but rather strategies have been put in place to improve our performance. This assertion can be justified with seizures of 13 tokunbo(second hand), two means of conveyance, 17 motorcycles,383 bags of foreign rice(50 kg each), six sacks of second hand clothing, shoes, bags, 221 kegs of vegetable oil with DPV of N67,247,153, among others within the last two weeks in Idiroko axis of Ogun Area Command.

    ” In an effort to curb the menace of smuggling of petroleum products outside Nigeria by some unscrupulous, unpatriotic and desperate members of the public who are determined to enrich themselves illegitimately to the detriment of other Nigerians, we have succeeded in intercepting 276 kegs of petrol(PMS), nine drums and 32 kegs of diesel and five drums of kerosene. We will continue to explore intelligence and surveillance in monitoring filling stations along the border areas so as to avert any form of diversion. We will like to use this medium to appeal to all members of the public to be patriotic by availing the (Customs) service with plausible information , so as to assist in mitigating the menace of smuggling of petroleum products and other prohibited goods.

    Madugu disclosed that 291 vehicles have been released to successful bidders who participated in the electronic auctioning system put in place by NCS.

    He said further that 11, 990 bags of rice, 1,129 jerry cans of 25 liters vegetable oil and 29 jerry cans of 25 liters of palm oil were evacuated from Customs’ warehouses by the Nigeria Army Transport and Logistsics for delivery to internally displaced persons in Yobe State.

    Commendation letters were later presented to two officers of the command, Chief Superintendent  Jamairi Ali Mamza and Superintendent  Ya’u Habeeb for their outstanding exploits in curbing smuggling activities within Idiroko and Abeokuta axis of Ogun State.