The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogun

  • Seven killed as cultists strike Ogun communities

    Seven persons were killed yesterday when suspected cultists attacked Lagos and Ogun communities.

    The incident occurred at 6 p.m at Igbosoro in Ikorodu, Lagos as well as Emuren and Fakale in Ogun State.

    It was gathered that the gunmen, who went on the rampage shouting “Aye”, were suspected members of the Black Axe Confratenity.

    They were said to be celebrating their annual 7/7 (July 7) anniversary, which symbolises their orientation.

    While three people were reportedly killed at Igbosoro, a community near the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) campus, four others were shot at Fakale, a border community with Lagos.

    It was gathered that every July 7, people around Ikorodu are usually scared of falling victims of rival cult clashes.

    Although the names of the victims could not be ascertained, it was gathered that they were members of a rival cult groups.

    An Ikorodu resident who hinted on the murders wondered why the cultists started killing people on the eve of 7/7.

    “It is not 7/7 yet and these cultists have already gone on rampage in Ikorodu killing people. Every July 7 is a dangerous day to move around Ikorodu because of those Black Axe members,” he said.

    Ogun police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi said:. “I confirm that four persons were killed yesterday evening by gunmen at Fakale community who were shouting Aye! Aye! The DPO said they struck around 6pm and that he suspects some notorious boys around the area.

    “Investigation into the matter has commenced and I can assure that the culprits will be fished out,” he said.Lagos Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni said his command was on high alert

    “No death was recorded in Lagos. There were issues but in the Ogun side. I was personally at Ikorodu this evening and patrols are ongoing. We got a report that the hoodlums were at a hotel, which we raided but it turned out to be a false alarm. We are on alert,” he said.

  • Ogun assures pensioners of prompt payment

    The Ogun State government  has re-assured pensioners in the State of prompt payment of their pensions and improved welfare packages henceforth. The State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Adewale Oshinowo, gave this assurance in an interview with newsmen in Abeokuta during the week..

    Oshinowo, while recalling a recent encounter he had with protesting pensioners, said the pensioners were in his office to protest the delay in the payment of their May pension. He, however, added that payment was already made but was yet to be credited into the accounts of the pensioners when they came to express their grievances.

    He assured that Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration would never intend to delay their pensions for any reasons. He said: “What happened was that we moved the account to the Bureau of pension in order to pay the banks involved. That was done but maybe the accounts of the beneficiaries were yet to be credited at the time they protested.”

    While emphasising on the the government’s commitment to pensioners’ and workers’ welfare in the state, he said government would never jettison it’s responsibility on the prompt payment of pension and workers’ salary, adding that workers should be expecting their June salary soon from their various banks to enable them celebrate Eid-il-fitri.

    Speaking on behalf of the pensioners, the Chairman of Local Government Pensioners in the state, Chief Sikiru Ayilara, confirmed that they have received their May pension, saying that the June and subsequent months should be paid as at when due.

    “We didn’t lock up the Finance Commissioner and his staff contrary to speculations in some newspapers. We just registered our grievances and pains,” Ayilara submitted.

  • Ogun riverine killings

    •Militant or otherwise, it is time to face down and defeat organised violent crime          

     The heinous attack on the Ijebu Imushin community, which claimed no less than two lives (if you believe the police account) or 20 (if the claim of the community is true), had economic roots.

    Gangs of criminals had always, near-freely, operated in that vicinity, according to sources, stealing fuel; and selling the criminal proceeds on the cheap, to opportunistic buyers who ask no questions. However, tightening of controls, which threatened that illicit trade, earned the ire of the bandits.

    But the immediate trigger of the attack, according to newspaper reports, was an intelligence that led a detachment of the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to a Top-Catt Hotel, Elepete, in the community. That raid reportedly resulted in the killing of two of the suspected criminals, which led the band to reportedly swearing it would kill 110 people in a revenge mission. The criminals reportedly spoke pidgin English, which tended to suggest they were non-indigenes or residents of the area.

    The threatened revenge would then explain the hideous murders at Imushin.   The victim communities included Oke Muti, Elepete, Ajegunle, Ola Imam, Ereko junction, Igbo Olomu, Pakisa and Magbon, which the invaders attacked one after the other. Indeed, so brazen was this band, which always escapes on the creeks, that it attacked the convoy of the visiting Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Yetunde Onanuga, to the crime neighbourhoods, thus partly aborting the trip.

    To start with, it is absolutely unacceptable — indeed disgraceful — that a criminal band, no matter how fearsomely armed, would attack and kill lawful and innocent citizens, in a country founded on law. That is tantamount to challenging the might of the Nigerian state — which is why the security agencies must accept the challenge of that affront, move into the area, ferret out the criminals to face the law.

    That, however, is the final goal. To reach that destination, the problem must be clinically pared, to determine the most efficient and effective way to get there.

    As earlier stated, the criminality has its source in illicit fuel trading. These criminals steal fuel by rupturing oil pipes, and selling the proceeds cheap to abetting buyers, because it is dirt-cheap.

    The first thing to do is block the supply side. From reports, that is being done. Indeed, the initial ire of the bandits was that they could not operate as freely as hitherto. But the security agencies must reinforce the process and seal off every illicit pipeline leakage. Eternal vigilance, they say, is the price of liberty.

    Then, the demand side. Though the Imushin community is now victim to this murderous band, it would appear members of the community, and outsiders had, one time or the other, patronised the illegal fuel market. That sweet opportunistic behaviour of yesterday seems therefore to have morphed into the mindless killings of today. Surely, that tragedy could have been averted if that illicit trade had not gained traction, and the creek criminals had not got so brazen.

    The killings should therefore act as rude wake-up call: the community should rigorously declaim such criminal trading; and expose, to the security agencies, whoever is involved. If and when the market dies, the criminality dies with it.

    To boost this process, however, the security agencies must demonstrate their total capacity to secure that environment, such that the evil fallout of the raid on Top-Catt Hotel, Elepete, does not repeat itself.

    But the most roiling part of it all is that some criminals can freely kill and maim, sure they would vanish on the creeks! That calls the urgent attention of the marine police to go in there and flush them out. A state is no state if it cannot secure every part of its territory, onshore or offshore.

  • Ijaw youths condemn attacks on Ogun, Lagos communities

    Ijaw youths yesterday condemned armed invasion of Ogun and Lagos communities where innocent residents were killed.

    They described the incidents as criminal and barbaric.

    The youths, under the auspices of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide, disassociated the Ijaw nation and their groups from the attacks.

    In a statement by its spokesman Eric Omare, IYC condemned the incidents, irrespective of who was involved. The group insisted that the attackers were not Ijaw indigenes.

    The statement said: “We state clearly that the persons carrying out these criminal attacks are not Ijaw and it is absolutely wrong for the media to refer to them as Ijaw militants.

    “The sensational headlines and impression being created is that Ijaw persons or groups were carrying out organised attacks and killing people in some Lagos and Ogun communities.

    “The Ijaw, who are indigenous to and living in the Southwest of Nigeria, are peaceful and law-abiding people and can never be involved in attacking communities and killing people.

    “The Ijaw also have not, at any time, met and agreed to attack communities and kill people in Lagos and Ogun states.

    “We call on the media to accurately report events to avoid unnecessary inter- crisis between ethnic groups whose people were killed and the Ijaw indigenous to and living in Southwest.

    “Any inter-ethnic crisis between Yoruba and Ijaw ethnic groups is not in the interest of Nigeria; the media must guide against it. We also call on security agencies to bring the perpetrators of the Lagos and Ogun killings to justice to serve as deterrent to orders.”

  • BLACK SATURDAY IN OGUN

    MORE than five days after suspected militants invaded some communities in Ogun State and killed about 15 people, a pall of anguish hung over the affected villages. The gunmen invaded a cluster of communities in Shagamu Local Government Area of the state, namely Imagbon, Elepete, Kajola, Glorious Land and Ereko, in the early hours of last Saturday, shooting any living thing that crossed their paths dead.

    According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen, numbering about 100, went round the communities with their guns booming. From the moment they arrived, they left no one in doubt about their mission to kill and destroy. And by the time the smokes from their guns cleared, no fewer than 15 residents lay dead.

    Among the victims was Dele Ogundare whose life was cut short in its prime. Sources in the community said that Oladele only moved into his house when it was completed in January, this year. As it is the tradition, the new house was opened with pomp and ceremony on January 9.

    But more pathetic is the fact that he had just bought the SUV in which he was killed on Saturday. His remains were buried that same day according to Islamic rites.

    Speaking with The Nation, the late Ogundare’s younger brother, Femi, said: “We have left everything to God since he was not the only victim and particularly because we cannot identify his killers. I am his younger brother and that was why I had to ensure that he was buried according to Islamic rites last Saturday.

    “They deflated his tyres so that he would not run. His vehicle was riddled with bullets and the wind-screen was shattered. One of the bullets hit his leg. He was bleeding and ran out of the car to escape, but they pursued him.

    “We saw traces of blood from where he left the car to the place his body was found. We have buried him. He was 44 years and he worked at the airport. He left behind a wife and three children.”

    Femi also said the family had taken Ogundare’s death with equanimity.

    “As a family, we are not taking anything up against anybody,” he said. We have left everything to God who we believe knows the people behind the gruesome killing of my brother.

    “It is very painful. He only moved into the house in January. And now they have taken him away from us and all that he laboured to acquire.”

    Femi was not the only one still in pains over the death of the late Ogundare. Residents of Elepete, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the deceased man as an easy-going individual.

    “He was an easy-going man. He was also a rich guy and he did not disturb anybody. As we speak, nobody can tell you that he knows why or how he was killed. But I can confirm to you that his family members have buried him,” said one of the sources.

    Another source said Ogundare was unlucky to have run into the rampaging gunmen. According to the elderly source, his car was riddled with bullets that were fired by the gunmen.

    The source said: “I think he was unfortunate to have run into the angry gunmen. From what we gathered, they shot several bullets into his car and continued shooting at him even after he tried to run away.”

    Besides Ogundare, other victims of the deadly invasion included Wasiu Okeowo, Yah Lateef and one Umoru. Many more were wounded by flying bullets, while some others fell into ditches as they ran for dear lives during the bedlam.

    Unfortunately, the residents have not been allowed to mourn their dead. Midweek, when our correspondents visited Imagbon, Elepete, Kajola, Glorious Land and Ereko, the communities were all deserted, with fleeing residents refusing to return to their homes.

    For the few young men who dared to return to the communities, the fear of strangers became the beginning of wisdom. Every stranger that entered the communities was treated with suspicion. Our correspondents had a taste of the scenario. All you needed to do for the few people around to walk away in brisk steps was ask for your way to Elepete.

    A couple, who it was gathered came back to gather a few of their belongings, refused to utter a word in spite of entreaties, preferring to remain dumb. When eventually the man managed to open his mouth, he said: “Why do you want to put me into trouble? Please, I only came to see somebody here. I don’t know of any militant.”

    He and his wife then hurried away as if to avoid evil.

    Signs that the once peaceful communities are now cloaked in fear had first appeared at the popular Ita Oluwo Bus Stop when a commercial motorcyclist the reporters had waved down refused to do business in spite of the tempting sum they offered as fare.

    From Kajola to Elepete and other communities, all the buildings had their doors and windows firmly shut, with no sign of life.

    From a corner of the town, some young men, whose eyes were fixed on our correspondents, appeared with a bowl filled with a liquid substance. As they gathered in the centre of the town, their leader dipped his hand inside the bowl and sprinkled the substance on the ground as they walked gently round town.

    A source later said the residents were seeking spiritual solution to their problem. According to him, believing that the security agencies have not done enough to protect them from the evil militants, the people decided to look beyond the security agencies for their protection.

    The source said: “You see that thing they were doing, it is the traditional way of cleansing the communities. Imagine where more than 10 people were killed in one fell swoop. We don’t have go to sleep like that.

    “And much more than that, the people now believe that they have to do something the traditional way to stop the militants.”

    Indeed, the residents of the area, numbering about 27 communities, have for long suffered from the brutal activities of militants who operate from the creeks surrounding the communities unchallenged.

    But last week, the militants felt their authorities over the communities, which for long have gone unchallenged, were breached by the once docile residents.

    Sources who spoke with our correspondents said the militants, who are said to be pipeline vandals, have for long made the communities a safe haven after they were dislodged from the creeks by the special task force set up by the Federal Government for that purpose.

    They were said to have made the hotel at Elepete their abode, from where they set out for their dastardly operations. After each operation, according to the source, they returned to the hotel.

    But their cover was allegedly broken in the evening of Friday when security operatives stormed the hotel to dislodge the vandals from their hideout. In the ensuing battle, two vandals were said to have fallen to the superior fire power of the security operatives, while several others received severe injuries.

    The Saturday attack by the militants on the communities, according to sources, might have been a reprisal by the militants for the death of two of their members. Most residents believe they were made to suffer dysentery for the excess sugar consumed by security operatives.

    “They came to kill us because they believe that it was the people who went to inform the police about their hideout,” a resident said.

    Another resident said: “The issue of pipeline vandalism in this area is not new. It is common knowledge that they operate from these communities. But all these years, they had never attacked anybody around here. But what happened on Saturday was most likely a reprisal by the angry vandals.

    “On Friday, they lost two of their members when policemen stormed their hideout, one hotel at Elepete. During the fighting, the police killed two of them and injured many of them who managed to escape.

    “But at about 12 am on Saturday, the runaway vandals returned. It was obvious that they were very angry. From what we saw, they were about 100 and were well armed. They did not spare anybody they came across. They also destroyed whatever they could lay their hands on.

    “You needed to be here that day to be able to understand what I am saying. Goats, fowls, dogs, any living thing they saw did not escape their anger. Over 20 shops were broken into and valuables were carted away.”

    Another resident, who pleaded not to be named, said corpses littered the community in the morning.

    The resident said: “You would think that a war was going on here. While their reign of terror lasted, those who found ways to escape ran away. For me, I was lucky that my house is located behind another building. At first, I tried to hide my family. We tried under the bed and the roof. But at a point, we felt it was no longer safe and we escaped through the bush.

    “I came back in the morning after everything had become calm to see corpses everywhere. Houses were destroyed. Shops vandalised and they even killed our livestock.

    “I am sure it was those militants that did it. Before now, they did their thing without disturbing anybody here. But they have been terrorising us since the government stopped pumping fuel through the pipeline at Elepete.

    “But on Saturday, they came for a mission, which was to kill anybody. It was a demonstration of madness. Why would they attack innocent people who had nothing to do with their job?

    “The police said only three people died, but that morning, we counted about 10 corpses. Many others were rushed to hospitals. After that, others who were taken to hospitals have died.”

    His position was corroborated by another resident, who said the residents who survived the attack chose to run away because of the threat by the militants to come back and inflict more vicious attacks on the communities.

    “The few young men you see here are the bold ones who could show their faces here. Since you arrived here, have you seen any woman? We have all taken our women away. And what you see the young men doing is part of our own way of protecting ourselves from the evil men. Even at that, the few of us you see here now won’t sleep here. By 6pm, everybody would leave and come back again tomorrow morning.

    “The danger in the whole thing is that they have threatened to come back and kill more people. Nobody should take it as a mere threat. We want the government to come and help us before these militants kill us all.”

    The residents’ fears are compounded by the whereabouts of the owner of the hotel, who was allegedly taken away by the security agencies during the raid on her hotel.

    Some residents, who spoke, said they were confused as to who could have taken away the hotelier. “Our people are really scared. It is more than five days now but nobody knows her whereabouts. We are not even sure about the people who took her away. Up till this moment, no security agency has come out to say they have her in their custody. Its implication is very serious for all of us.”

    Meanwhile, the monarch of Imushin, Taiwo Adebunmi Bamgbose, has appealed to Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State to help save his people from the invading militants. The monarch, who condemned the attack on his subjects, however, hailed security agencies for their quick response.

    While refusing to comment further, the monarch said efforts are on to make sure that peace returns to the communities.

    The spokesman of the Ogun State Police Command, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the state’s Commissioner of Police had directed a widened scope of investigation, adding that security has been beefed up in the affected areas.

  • Militants’ attack: Ogun urges residents to be calm

    THE Ogun State government has appealed to residents of the state, particularly those in the communities invaded by suspected militants, to remain calm.

    It pledged that no stone would be left unturned to end the onslaught, which it described as “a threat to the peace the state is noted for”.

    A statement by Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration noted “with deep regret the recent and unfortunate invasions of some of its communities by suspected militants who wreaked havoc on residents and national assets in the areas”.

    It added: “The affected communities are Ibafo, Arepo, Ebute Ibafo, Elepete and Kajola towns in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area.

    “Government views these invasions as a direct attack on it and will confront it with every available force.

    “Towards this end, we are already collaborating with security agencies to unravel the causes and bring those behind this mindless destruction of lives and property to justice.

    “We are not only determined to apprehend and bring the perpetrators to book alone, ultimately our resolve is to forestall these unwarranted attacks on our people.

    “We further assure residents that we will not relent in our efforts and will not spare undesirable elements threatening the peace we have enjoyed over time.

    “We also want to use this opportunity to appeal to residents, royal fathers and opinion leaders to be vigilant and report all suspicious movements or gatherings to the security agencies.”

     

     

  • Ogun community laments bad bridge

    Ogun community laments bad bridge

    For residents of Ilogbo, a town in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun, these are not the best of times. No thanks to their being cut off from their neighbours because the bridge linking them caved in last week.

    The bridge was constructed over the Atuwara River and passes through the boundary between the town and Oju-Ore, Ota.

    The bridge also served as major link between Ilogbo and Ota, Iwoye and Ota, among communities in the area.

    Residents are calling on the state government to fix the bridge.

    Onilogbo of Ilogbo Oba Samuel Olufemi Ojugbele said the three major roads linking the 37 communities in Ilogbo had become impassable.

    He said: “All the three major roads linking Ilogbo to other areas like Ota, Iju and old Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway are in bad shape.

    “We were relying on this road linking us to Ota, until last Wednesday when the bridge collapsed. Now we are totally cut off from our neighbours. The economic activities of my people are affected. I could no longer travelling to Abeokuta to attend meetings. It is that bad.

    “I have already contacted the state government, and I believe they will intervene in reconstructing the bridge.”

  • Pest attack fears on farms in Lagos, Ogun

    Pest attack fears on farms in Lagos, Ogun

    •Don explains water hyacinth on river

    Massive clumps of the notorious water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, are responsible for the partial “sealing” of the Ogun River at Kara on the Lagos-Ibadan Express Road, near the boundary between Ogun and Lagos states, an investigation by The Nation has confirmed.

    But the massive weed infestation has raised fears of a possible massive locust-type attack of farmlands in and around Lagos and Ogun states.

    The uncommonly heavy clogging of the river surface by the water weeds, has virtually turned the surface of the river near the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way into a massive land of green vegetation.

    Environmental journalist O’seun Ogunseitan, who spoke  to The Nation in Lagos, last night said the clogging could get worse and cause massive flooding of land areas west of the river.

    Ogunseitan, who incidentally broke the story of the first water hyacinth infestation in Nigeria 30 years ago at The Guardian, has been to the Ogun River site at Kara. He identified a huge population of the notorious water weed.

    Ogunseitan confirmed the water weed as the cause of the blockage and advises very quick response from Environmental Protection Agencies in Lagos and Ogun State to prevent a new and totally unknown environmental threat to Agriculture in the Nigerian South West.

    Ogunseitan said he identified huge populations of a particular moth and some grasshoppers already feeding voraciously on the water weed and he fears for the local plant population in the area been able to resist the insects, should they be allowed to spread.

    Live samples of the unusual grasshoppers feeding on the water weed will be delivered to Scientists at the University of Lagos today.

    The notorious aquatic water weed, Eichhornia crassipes came into Nigerian waters from the Republic of Benin, through the Lagos lagoon  in 1985. Efforts were made by the federal government back then, to prevent the weed crossing the Lagos lagoon, where salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean killed the weed and kept its spread in check.

    The weeds which have been reported to be capable of covering hundreds of kilometres of fresh water surface within days, overan the Yewa and Ologe lagoons in Lagos in the 1980s and crossed into the Mahin Lagoon from where it reached other fresh water bodies in Ogun, Ondo, Edo and other states in south eastern Nigeria and the middle belt.

    A lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr Olusola Shonubi, said hyacinth increases in population as a result of low salinity, adding that it has  strong roots that intertwine to form a carpet.

    “The water hyacinth normally comes up when the salinity of the water is low; so it is easy to propagate very fast.  The root of the hyacinth is fibrous so they lock strongly.  In areas of Ondo, fishermen cannot paddle their canoes when there are lots of water hyacinths,” she said.

  • Clearing of hyacinth-infested Ogun River begins today

    Clearing of hyacinth-infested Ogun River begins today

    •Keep off, govt tells public
    •People besiege ‘scene of miracle’

    The long bridge on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway yesterday remained a sightseeing of sorts as people trooped there to behold the drying up of Ogun River near the Kara Cattle Market.

    Some motorists parked to the picturesque scene, others watched from their cars, causing a huge traffic.

    Many came with their cameras and phones to take the picture of the river which has been covered with sea weed, popularly referred to as water hyacinth.

    Some jumped into the hyacinth injected river singing, playing, praying and dancing. Yet, some fell on their knees, marvelling at what they described as “a miracle.”

    Others laid on the grass, rolling on it as they wondered how the river suddenly dried up.”

    Last night, the Ogun State Government warned the public from commuting on the river “because of the inherent danger.”

    Its commissioner for the Environment, Mr Bolaji Oyeleye, said on The Channels Television primetime news that excavation would begin on the site today.

    Dredgers, excavators and workers, he said, would be mobilised to site to begin work, though he noted that such mobilisation “takes time”.

    Water hyacinth, he said, was not new to the country, pointing out that many were referring to what happened at the river as a “miracle or mystery”.

    Oyeleye said the police would be drafted to the site to stop people from going there for their own safety.

    He said: “Water hyacinth is not new; it simply means the water body is low at this point in time. People are not supposed to walk on the place. It allows dangerous animals to inhabit the place. River Ogun is important to us. It drains into the Lagoon. We can’t have this for a long time because it is going to affect a lot of things.”

  • Police uncover warehouse for stolen goods in Ogun

    … Arrest two Beninese owners, recover truck, others

    The Police have uncovered an illegal warehouse in Ogun state owned by two Beninese and suspected to be safe haven for goods stolen from hijacked trucks on the highways within the state and beyond.

    The illegal warehouse is at a remote Daguja Village along Sagamu – Papalanto road in Obafemi Owode Local Government area of the state.

    The owners of the warehouse, Somabe Romai, and Yahaya Konie, were arrested while an Opel Omega car with marked LAGOS KTU 125 AC and the truck were also recovered.

    Police Operatives attached to the Owode Egba Division of the Ogun State Police Command made the discovery last Wednesday while investigating a case of a truck with marked SME 410 XG.

    The truck was loaded with 2, 800 cartoons of Maggi at the time it was hijacked off Alapako (Ogun) stretch of the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway but the Operatives tracked it to the illegal warehouse where many other goods suspected to have been stolen from hijacked trucks were housed.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the arrest, said the Command have made several recovery of trucks in recent times that were highjacked off the Expressway by hoodlums.

    Adejobi added that this efforts followed the directive of Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, to Divisional Police Officers and Operation Officers to go after hoodlums and stop truck hijacking on the major highways in the state.

    According to the Police Image Maker, the case of the highjacked truck would be transferred to the Special Anti Robbery Squad(SARS) for proper investigation and possible arrest of other members of the syndicate since it’s an organized crime.