The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogun

  • Fire control: Ogun wants laws domesticated

    Worried by the spate of flagrant abuse of the fire safety laws by owners of some petrol stations and companies across the country, the Ogun State Director of Fire Services, Mr. Akanbi Obiwunmi, has advocated the need for state governments to domesticate the recently approved National Fire Code Laws by the Federal Government in order to put an end to the fire menace.

    Obiwunmi, who disclosed that the Ogun State Fire Service within the last eight months recorded six deaths during fire fighting operations, and attended to 576 fire calls involving residential buildings, petrol stations and other infrastructure within the same period. The death recorded were of individuals and not officials of the service that were trapped in the fire incidents before the arrival of his workers

    The director, who was quoted in a statement by the spokesman in the  state’s Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ayokunle Ewuoso, said the call for the state governments to domesticate the  approved Federal Government fire code laws became imperative because the existing fire laws in some of these states have made fire service authorities “toothless bulldogs”.

    He said: “Fire service is not the only approving authority as regards allowing people to establish petrol stations or companies. We are just a part of the approving authorities. In most cases, these petrol dealers or owners of companies would have built their structures, commenced operations and even gotten approvals from other relevant authorities before coming to fire service which is completely illegal. We are expected by the laws governing their establishment to have visited the proposed location of the business to carry out site inspections and clearance before the establishment of such venture. The problem here is that once they have been given approvals by other relevant authorities it becomes difficult for us to sanction them.”

    “This arrangement has completely changed due to the recently approved National Fire Code by the Federal Government, this new code has given fire service authorities across the country the power to sanction any defaulter, but as we all know we are running democratic governance so such laws must be adopted at the different state levels before it becomes operational. It is not operational in Ogun State yet, but the Permanent Secretary in charge of the Ministry Of Works and Infrastructure, Kayode Ademolake has written a memo to the governor informing him about the new laws and the need of such laws to be domesticated, ” he explained.

  • Ogun council chiefs told to assist police

    POLICE Commissioner Abdulmajid Ali has urged the caretaker committee chairmen of 20 local government areas in Ogun State to assist the police rid their domains of kidnapping, cultism, ritual killings and land grabs.

    Ali spoke at his maiden security meeting with the chairmen in Eleweran, the command headquarters.

    He said the police was determined to tackle kidnappers, land speculators, cultists and operators of unregistered vehicles.

    Ali added that the police required the help of the council chiefs to succeed.

    The police commissioner noted that the command has been proactive on many security challenges and would continue to tackle them as they arise to ensure adequate security of lives and property.

    He encouraged the chairmen to be more involved in community policing, stressing that the command was ready to refer some community-based conflicts to them for resolution.

    Mr. Mojeed Ekelojumati of Ijebu North Local Government Council, who responded on behalf of his colleagues, said the security meeting would go a long way in promoting effective policing and peaceful coexistence among the people.

  • Ogun community protests land loss to grabbers

    Sympathisers who heard the ordeal of Toke Odusile and Rokibat Oyetunji could not help burst into tears, asking why the authorities had left the community at the mercy of land grabbers, notoriously called Omo Oniles.

    Five-year-old Toke and her neighbour, Rokibat, 3, were both living peacefully with their parents in a sleepy community called Ipetoro/Lowa in the Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State until December 3, this year when they were faced with forcible eviction from their home.

    Both Rokibat and Toke’s were sent on an errand when suddenly they started hearing gun shots in their community, followed by unusual sounds and they were left with no other choice than to scamper for safety.

    Toko turned back; unfortunately for her, she headed towards a wrong direction where she ran into a group of hoodlums preparing bonfire and this heightened her fears.

    Miraculously, both children escaped the attack but ran into the fire and were partially burnt; they were hospitalised for months.

    Toke and Rokibat were not the only ones who have witnessed the menace of suspected land grabbers at such a tender age. Four-year-old Aliat Sobajo also encountered this dastardly act. She was unlucky as she was killed by her assailants in the presence of her parents.

    Biodun Ore, 45, was not left out as he became a victim of forcible eviction when his wife needed him most. The expectant woman was in labour and preparing for hospital when the hoodlums struck.

    The husband escaped through the window with his wife but did not get to the hospital before both ran into the enemies. The woman was kidnapped but Biodun escaped.

    She was later released and delivered near a neighbouring community where she now resides. Strangely, her husband saw the baby for the first time on August 10.

    Those were some of the gory scenes in the Ipetoro/Lowa town that has produced dignitaries such as former Ayangburen of Ikorodu land, Oba Samusideen Oyefusi; Oba of Ikorodu Kabiru Shotobi and a Professor of Geological Sciences with the Federal University of Technology Kure (FUTA), among others.

    According to history, this community owned by Ipetoro/Lowa family was of three branches namely the Isanmolus, Orelades and Oluwatos and all had enjoyed peaceful co- existence until Wednesday, December 3, this year when suddenly there was invasion of suspected land grabbers and people began to run helter skelter.

    At the end of the day, many of them, including children and women, were forced to relocate to “nowhere” for the past eight months.

    Many, it was gathered, had died while others have resigned to fate. A good example is their traditional head that is currently undergoing treatment due to the shock of the incident; having understood that his subjects and residents were scattered all over based on circumstances beyond their control.

    On penultimate Monday, several months after, some of the displaced residents returned to the community only to discover that most of their properties had been encroached upon and vandalised by the assailants.

    Same day, some of the victims protested the activities of the land grabbers on their father’s land, urging both the Ogun State and the Federal Governments to bail them out.

    The protesters included men, women and children and all were with placards on which several inscriptions were written. They sang solidarity songs and their case is akin to those of victims of Boko Haram who became strangers in their own land.

    Also penultimate Monday, Biodun Ore, was able to reunite with his baby who was christened in his absence.

    The residents claimed the suspected land grabbers were led by a member of the zone’s O’odua Peoples’ Congress Dauda Olawale popularly called ‘’Authority’’ and since that day, the land had been under turmoil but Olawale dismissed the allegation, saying he had no portion in Ipetoro/Lowa land:

    ‘’Ipetoro/Lowa is in Gagamu while I hail from Oshun State. How come I am taking possession of another person’s land when I am not in the position to do so? ‘’ he queried.

    Spokesperson for Ipetoro/Lowa family, Jamiu Bamgbelu, said he gathered the assailants had been sending threat messages to the displaced victims during their eight months’ in exile.

    According to him, some unknown faces stormed the community on that fateful Wednesday with dangerous weapons and forced residents out of their land.

    ‘’Our case is peculiar in the sense that there were no internal crises because many of us are learned. Only God knows where the land grabbers came from. The most painful aspect of this incident is that our children have not attended school for the past eight months while the artisans among us have their jobs put on hold and the family has taken to begging as a way of survival simply because of lawlessness in Nigeria,” he said.

    He claimed that all efforts made to register their plight with the police in both Lagos and Ogun states failed as the leader of the suspected land grabbers have allegedly bought them over.

    On Tuesday last week, the assailants reportedly stormed the town again, killing three and injuring six others.

    Jamiu appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase and Governor Ibikunle Amosun to come to their aid.

    “How long can we continue like this? Our Baale has lost his health and is unwilling to come home as a result of the activities of the land grabbers. We appeal to our governor Ibikunle Amosun and IGP to help us. Both can do their findings about us and hold us responsible in case we are culpable. All we want is peace for the sake of our children,” he pleaded.

    The Vice-Chairman of the Ipetoro Community Development Association (CDA), Mr Fred Okorowo said the place had been peaceful until the crisis of December 3, last year and since then; things had not been the same.

    The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muyiwa Olujobi, denied knowledge of Tuesday incident, but added that the force was not unaware of the lingering crisis. He assured that the police were doing everything possible to end it soon.

     

  • Ogun tackles maternal mortality

    Ogun tackles maternal mortality

    A resident of Ilaro, Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State Mrs Blessing Andrew from Kogi State has recounted how a quick medical intervention saved her and her unborn baby.

    Mrs Andrew said about a year ago, Mrs Idowu Ajiboye, a Surveillance Supervisor with the primary health care centre took her off the street of Ilaro on a Thursday afternoon and took her to the state hospital, Ilaro.

    Upon examination, it was discovered that she had started manifesting signs of onset of Eclampsia. She was monitored, treated and had safe delivery.

    According to health experts, pre-eclampsia is pregnancy condition that presents itself during the second trimester – about 20 weeks of pregnancy, with symptoms of high blood pressure and protein in urine.

    It is one of the leading causes of maternal deaths in Nigeria and since its cause remains largely unknown, it exact its toll more on pre-eclamptic women in rural settings because of the unpredictable nature of the condition as well as ignorance and delay in seeking prompt and appropriate medical care.

    Blessing told Southwest Report that her problem began when her husband, a staff of the Dangote Cement Manufacturing Company in Ibese, Ogun State, lost his job about four months into her pregnancy.

    She said her husband, being the major source of the family’s income, the daily bout of anxiety that seized her with regard to how the family could cope without means of livelihood, brought about the high blood pressure and then the hypertension.

    According to her, she never knew she was already having a life-threatening health challenge until the community health workers discovered her and intervened by encouraging her to seek appropriate health care.

    Mrs Andrew is one of the 11 women who benefited from the one year Pilot CLIP trial in Yewa South, Imeko-Afon, Remo North and Sagamu local govetnment areas and who also praised the project as it entered the definitive CLIP trial, which is its third phase.

    CLIP is a clinical study in Ogun State that seeks to prevent neonatal and maternal deaths during pregnancy and it is being executed by the Centre for Research in Reproductive Health in collaboration with the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu and the state government support from the University of British Columbia, Canada.

    The chairman, Local Government Service Commission, Olatunde Okewole, whose office also played a collaborative role in the project, said successful implementation of CLIP would go a long way towards reducing maternal and infant mortality.

    Okewole also praised Governor Ibikunle Amosun for what he described as his “untiring efforts at uplifting the health care delivery service in the state,” saying the “enabling environment and other plausible logistics provided contributed to the progresses recorded.

    He said: “CLIP is an international intervention project for Pre Eclampsia/Eclampsia which is being undertaken to test the hypothesis of implementing a community-based package of care for reducing pregnant women with hypertensive disorder.

    “It is also targeted at reducing death of pregnant women and improving pregnancy outcome in Ogun State.

    “In this connection, successful implementation of CLIP is therefore a strategy at achieving reduction of maternal and infant mortality as it formed part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) components to improve health care delivery.”

  • Ogun: Price of development  

    SIR:  The provision of a good road network, especially in a city like Abeokuta and its environs, is certainly in the interest of its residents. Besides its necessity for easy access and communication across the city, it harbours a lot of economic benefits. As a result, the Ogun State government and Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure have embarked on massive reconstruction and expansion works in the city and the entire state to ensure smooth traffic and avert traffic bottleneck in the state and easy movement of people in the state.

    Contrary to the thinking in some quarters that the road reconstruction and expansion in the state is a total failure and waste of money, I make bold to say that the reconstruction and expansion of roads in the state under the administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun remains the most successful and uncommon programme ever run by the Ogun State Government since the creation of the state in 1976.

    Of recent, I have read several write-ups in the newspapers, where different kinds of unsubstantiated allegations of fund mismanagement, non-payment of compensation to those affected and non-provision of alternatives for displaced people, were made against the Ogun State government. Some have even gone to court to challenge the state government for demolition of their houses for the expansion and reconstruction.

    Well, I do know that many discerning and perceptive Ogun State indigenes and Nigerians generally, would agree with me that such argument and going to court are obviously illogical and therefore cannot hold water, because the gains of the reconstruction and expansion are there for everyone to see. Anybody who says that the funds meant for the road reconstruction in the state have not been judiciously applied may have deliberately blindfolded himself such that he cannot see the progress being made by the Amosun-led administration.

    Amosun got his mandate in whole or in part on his agenda “Rebuilding Ogun State” in five cardinal areas: Affordable Qualitative Education, Efficient Health Care Delivery, Increased Agricultural Production/Industrialisation, Affordable Housing/Urban Renewal, Rural and Infrastructural Development/Employment Generation.

    In construction terms, to rebuild, you have to destroy – read demolish – some or all of existing structures. It is in this light that one can situate the road dualisation projects at Abeokuta, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ota, Igua, Ijohun, Papalanto, Ilaro and many more roads. There is no way rebuilding these roads will not involve destruction/demolition of existing structures of private citizens in the public interest. Apparently public interest has to override private interest in this matter of developing the society.

    The same is applicable to urban renewal, which it must be noted is visible in Abeokuta, the state capital; and also in Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu, and Sango-Ota and Yewa axis. Except the Rock City, as Abeokuta is known, wants to maintain its old and rustic look with ancient family houses and compounds, then some structures have to give way for modern structures and facilities to spring up in the state.

    The concept of rebuilding in policy terms assumes that there are structures on ground to be rebuilt. That assumption is fundamental to the concept for, without it, the concept falls flat on its face.

    It must be pointed out, however, that in the provision of new infrastructure and amenities, the people have to be carried along to minimise the negative impact of unintended consequences. One is talking about sensitisation and mobilisation. A 6-lane road, flyover and foot bridges are certainly novel things for many motorists and pedestrians and enlightenment is needed for the people to appreciate that these facilities require new attitudes and modification of behaviour.

    • Ademola Orunbon, Federal Housing Estate, Olomore,

     Abeokuta, Ogun State

  • Ogun customs seizes hundreds of smuggled cars in raid of syndicate

    Ogun customs seizes hundreds of smuggled cars in raid of syndicate

    A cross-border  car smuggling syndicate has forfeited hundreds of exotic cars to the Ogun Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service for allegedly bringing them in illegally from neighbouring Benin Republic.

    The vehicles were seized during a massive raid at the border town of  Idiroko,Ogun State.

    Also impounded during the raid were  cartons of frozen turkey and dozens of motorcycles  used by rice smugglers.

    Spokesman for the command, Abubakar Usman said the operation was made possible by ” the   vigilance of our men who took  proactive measures to contain the errant smugglers.”

    Usman said the smugglers resorted to firing at the Customs men   once they were intercepted but could not match the superior firepower of the law enforcement officers .

    “Many of the vehicles you are seeing here were intercepted from the notorious syndicate who resisted our men. They were  overpowered  and had to flee abandoning the vehicles,” he said.

    ”We  also seized many motorcycles from rice smugglers, and  cartons of turkey from illicit traders who tried to bring them from the Benin Republic into our territory through the bush .”

    The command said  it generated N3,401,647,417.34 as revenue in the first half of this year  as against   the N2,543,266,323.43 it realized within the corresponding  period in 2014.

    “Our command was able to record 515 seizures with Duty Paid Value(DPV) of N445,399,838.00; as against 733 seizures with DPV of N880,002,012.00 same period in 2014.The difference is 218 seizures with DPV of N434,602,174.00,”  he said.

    He added:“the formidable mechanism put in place by the Customs Area Controller, Mr. Haruna Mahmud, to curtail the menace of smuggling activities in the area led to the successes recorded so far.”

  • Suspected hoodlums spark fear in Ogun community

    Suspected hoodlums spark fear in Ogun community

    There is fresh apprehension   in Ijoko  community, Ogun State, following what residents call the return of some hoodlums who were arrested a few months ago.

    The suspected hoodlums were  arrested in connection with the  mayhem which engulfed the  community on December 23, 2014 during which many vehicles and  buildings including the palace of a traditional ruler  were razed.

    Nine persons were arrested  at the  time.

    T he police also recovered assorted guns, cutlasses and charms said to belong to the suspects were recovered from their  alleged base at  Alasia area of  the community.

    Two groups, Ijoko Youth Forum and Concerned Citizens of Ijoko,want the state government to save residents from the suspects alleged to  have  been harassing residents  since their return.

    In a petition to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, spokesmen for the groups  Musbau Olatidoye and Kafayat Shokunbi, said the men  “have been harassing, molesting, killing, looting and destroying innocent people’s property. They have been using an uncompleted building at Alasia area of Ijoko which serves as their armoury.

    “Sometime last year, some anti-riot policemen came to the same uncompleted building and 12 locally made   guns, two pump action guns,191 cartridges, two cutlasses, one axe, charms and masquerade clothing among others were recovered but surprisingly they secured their freedom in the court. Since they returned and resumed their hostility in Ijoko, all of us have been living in fear.”

    The groups said the situation might escalate if the men are not called to order immediately.

    The petitioners added: “No fewer than 13 people have been killed by the hoodlums since they started terrorizing the community. We want to urge the police, Department of State Security Service (DSS) and other law enforcement agencies to come to our rescue from the grip of the heartless thugs.”

    A community leader who simply identified himself as Elder Lande said: “We have been living in fear since the boys returned from detention. They would drink and smoke cannabis and beat up people with impunity.They should be checked  in the interest of  peace in this community.”

  • One feared killed in Ogun dispute 

    One person was feared dead and others injured yesterday during a confrontation between suspected land grabbers and residents of Oke-Ore community in Atan, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Council of Ogun State.

    It was gathered that the suspected land grabbers had stormed the rustic community with weapons, ostensibly to enforce a court judgment over a controversial land.

    But a detachment of soldiers stormed the area and arrested the suspected leader of the gang, identified as Mutairu Owoeye.

    He was handed over to the police.

    A leader in the community, Chief Amosun Yomi, told reporters on phone that a fight ensued when Owoeye led his gang in company of some policemen to the area to enforce the court judgment.

    He said: “We were not aware of any court judgment. The development unsettled us as they started shooting indiscriminately. A stray bullet hit one 18-year-old Bidemi Akinde, who went to eat and he died immediately.

    “A relation of the boy, who is a captain in the Army, was contacted and his arrival paid off as Owoeye was arrested. With the dead boy’s body, we went to the Police Area Command at Ota.

    “As it is now, we are in fear of another attack by Owoeye’s boys on the community.”

    The community’s Iyalode, Chief Olufunmilayo Idowu, who decried the incident, pleaded with the state government and security agencies to come to the aid of the residents.

    Police spokesman Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed the incident, said preliminary report indicated that Owoeye and his boys stormed the community.

    He said those found culpable would not escape justice.

     

  • Ogun condemns SERAP over petition to UN Rapporteurs

    Ogun State Government has condemned the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) over its petition to the United Nations (UN) Rapporteurs on the state’s sacked education officials.

    In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, the government accused SERAP of jumping the gun and crying more than the bereaved.

    “Had SERAP examined and understood the facts that led to the decisions of the Ogun State Civil Service Commission, it would have appreciated  they were not even remotely connected with the constitutionally-guaranteed rights to freedom of thought, conscience and expression or academic freedom, which formed the kernel of its petition to the UN Special Rapporteurs,” the statement said.

    The state government wondered if  SERAP had studied the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in relation to disciplinary control over civil servants.

    “Had SERAP looked before leaping, it would have realised that by virtue of Paragraph 2, Part II, Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun,  could not have played any role in the disciplinary measures against the workers,” Adeoluwa said .

    “In the light of the foregoing, government  advised the civil society group  to approach the Ogun State Civil Service Commission for relevant information in order to be well guided,” he added.

  • Ogun to resume rehabilitation of rural roads

    The Ogun State government has assured rural dwellers that it will re-embark on the rehabilitation of rural roads in the state as soon as the rains subside.

    The Permanent Secretary. Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Kayode Ademolake, made this known in a  statement signed by the agency’s Press Officer, Mr. Ayokunle Ewuoso.

    According to the statement, government has already rehabilitated over 1,235 kilometres of rural roads with culverts across the 20 local government areas of the state.

    “A lot has been done on rural roads, there is heavy down pour, most rural roads are hard tones and if you grade rural roads during the rainy season it would amount to waste of public funds. Immediately the rain stops we would move in and start grading of all these roads,” the statement read in part.

    Ademolake assured that the Ministry would continue to carry out construction and rehabilitation of roads within the state, adding that 30 kilometres road in Ijebu-Ode-Epe garage passing through Idowa to Ilese had been rehabilitated.

    “We have moved to the junction at Sagamu-Benin Express road and Ogbere this is a distance of about 10 kilometres. In recent times too we have had cause to carry out palliative works in Abeokuta metropolis which included Adatan to Lafenwa road and others too numerous to mention in order to ensure that our roads are motor able this rainy season,” he explained.

    He said the state, through the ministry, is trying to repair the damaged portion of the bridge at Adigbe road in Obafemi- Owode Local Government Area, which links Obada across the river Ogun. The damage occurred as a result of river Ogun’s encroachment on the embankment of the bridge.