The Nation Newspaper

Tag: vehicles

  • Eight persons feared dead as vehicles plunge into river in Warri

    No fewer than eight persons were feared killed Saturday afternoon when two vehicles rammed each other into a river along the ever-busy NPA Expressway in Warri metropolis.
    Eyewitnesses informed that the two vehicles were on the same lane of the dual carriageway, around the Ekpan community axis of the expressway when the accident happened.
    The Nation gathered that one of the two vehicles, a sports utility vehicle (SUV), rammed into a commercial bus, which was reportedly parking on the side of the road to pick a passenger, plunging the two  and all the eight persons aboard into the river.
    “The bus was picking a passenger around that spot when the Jeep (SUV) on high speed ran into it and pushed the bus and itself into the river. Eight bodies were recovered from the wreck inside the water”, an eyewitness said.
    It took the intervention of sympathisers as well as officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, Ekpan Divisional Headquarters, to recover the corpses and evacuate the vehicles from the scene of incident.
    When reached for confirmation and comments, the spokesman of the Delta state police command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, said he was yet to get a situation report on the development, although he been informed of it.
    “Yes, I have heard about it, but I am yet to get a situation report from the new Ekpan DPO. We will have to talk later,”, Aniamaka said.

  • Customs impounds N2.75b rice, vehicles

    • Two suspects held

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operation Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja,  has impounded 66 trucks loaded with foreign rice , 34 vehicles, 3,79kilogrammes of Indian hemp and other contraband valued at N2.75billion.

    Comptroller Aliyu Mohammed told reporters yesterday, that two suspects were arrested over the smuggling of Indian hemp valued at N379.2million.

    He said the bags of Indian hemp were smuggled inot the country from Ghana by unscrupulous Nigerians.

    Also, he noted that between August 17 and December 10, 2018,  FOU intercepted various contraband with a duty paid value (DPV) of N5.1billion.

    He listed the seized items to include: “24 units of seized vehicles and 34 exotic vehicles on detention (58), 39,664 bags of foreign parboiled rice (equivalent of 66 trailers), 3,252 frozen poultry products, 2,887 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 3,792 parcels of Indian hemp, 5x20feet containers of unprocessed wood, 2,520 bales of used clothing, 710 cartons of tramadol, 510 kilogrammes of pangolin packed in 17 sacks, 180 pieces of compressors, among others.

    “The 58 vehicles under detention/seizure are: 3bullet proof vehicles including 1 Lexus Jeep LX570 (2016) and 2 Land Cruiser Jeeps (2017/2018), 6 Toyota Camry, other vehicles include: 2 Toyota Hilux (2017), 2 Toyota Land Cruiser (2016), 2 Nissan Navara (2016) among others.”

    The comptroller stressed that  the anti-smuggling units also intercepted some motorcycles laden with bags of rice from unapproved routes, creeks and border communities.

    Mohammed  said: “ The drive and desire to compliment the Comptroller General’s policy of entrenching transparency and integrity while enforcing the core mandate of the service is the determining factor for his uncompromising stand to succeed at all cost.

    Speaking on seizures of rice, the comptroller said proactive steps of enforcement were  achieving the desired result. He said the agency was working in line with the policy of the Federal Government in sustaining agriculture and self-sufficiency in food production, revamping the economic recovery plan, protecting national security and ameliorating the potential health hazards of the negative impact of smuggled items to the average citizens.

    Mohammed said as a unit that requires and ensure total compliance to all clearance procedure and extant laws, the non-compliance of stakeholders who chose to abuse these procedures would always fall victims of FOU.

    He said the greatest new year gift the FOU Zone A was offering Nigerians was the modest contribution of sacrifice that officers and men went through to combat the menace of these illicit substances.

  • Alleged N4.7b fraud: ‘Ladoja didn’t buy vehicles for lawmakers to avoid impeachment’

    A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday heard that former Governor Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja did not buy any vehicle for 14 lawmakers loyal to him in 2005 to escape impeachment.

    A former Oyo State House of Assembly Deputy Speaker Titilola Ademola Dauda told Justice Mohammed Idris that the vehicles were the products of a contractual relationship they had with a firm, VT Leasing.

    Dauda testified as the first defence witness in the ongoing trial of the ex-governor and one of his former aides, Waheed Akanbi, for alleged fraud of N4.7 billion by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    He said: “I had a contractual relationship with VT Leasing, an incorporated company, on a car supplied to me. The agreement was that I should pay a particular percentage upfront and thereafter on rentals.

    “I entered into agreement with VT Leasing. I paid both my contribution and rentals. I am not owing VT Leasing. No member of the Assembly was given any vehicle. Each of the 14 members benefitted from the VT Leasing arrangement.”

    The witness faulted claims by a prosecution witness, Chief Adewale Atanda, that the vehicles were bought for them by Ladoja to save him from impeachment.

    Atanda, who was a Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to Ladoja, told the court that he used his assets and personal guarantee to secure an N80 million loan from Wema Bank Plc to buy the vehicles.

    But Dauda said the agreement that led to the delivery of the vehicles to him and 13 others was not guaranteed by Atanda.

    The witness averred that he personally paid all his expenses in his four-month stay at Heritage Court and Inns, a hotel owned by Atanda, after he relocated to Lagos with his colleagues for fear of being killed, if Ladoja was impeached in December 2005.

    Responding to a question during cross-examination by EFCC’s lawyer Olabisi Oluwafemi, the witness denied receiving any money from Atanda throughout his stay in the hotel.

    A stockbroker, Tajudeen Ajani Bayonle, also testified during yesterday’s proceedings.

    The witness, who told the court that he was not familiar with the facts of the matter, said he was invited by one of the defence lawyers because of his technical knowledge of stockbroking business.

    Further hearing in the trial continues today.

    Ladoja and his co-defendant opened their defence, following the dismissal of their “no case” submissions by the judge.

    They were, for the second time in about two years, re-arraigned on November 5 by the EFCC on an 11-count charge of N4.7 billion money laundering and unlawful conversion of public funds.

    They pleaded not guilty.

     

  • Commuters warned against disposing of waste from vehicles

    The Lagos State Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has warned commuters against throwing waste out of moving vehicles.  It said it could cause accident.

    An officer of the command, SP Adedotun Abayomi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday at Ago Palace Way in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government that it was a bad habit that could lead to accidents and maybe, fatalities.

    He spoke against the backdrop of a quarrel between a commercial bus driver and a car owner, whose vehicle was affected when a passenger threw out of the window, a black nylon bag containing the waste of what she had consumed.

    The bag fell on the windscreen of Mr. Chinedu Okafor’s car, which almost caused an accident.

    The FRSC official, an assistant patrol commander, said it was wrong for people to drop things off from a moving vehicle because it was likely to cause accident.

    “Dropping off things from a moving vehicle is wrong. It is an offence known as “Failure to cover unstable materials’’, and it attracts N5,000 fine.

    “People need to stop throwing things off moving vehicles. Drivers should encourage their passengers use the dustbin in their vehicles, instead of throwing waste out of the buses,’’ he said.

    Okafor, who struggled to control his car when the object hit his windshield, told NAN he was sad about the development and advised people to stop the habit.

    “It is becoming a norm for people to drop things off while in a moving vehicle. It almost caused an accident for me today.

    “These days you see people throwing what they have eaten off their vehicles. Sometimes it is sachet of water, gala nylon, or even empty water bottle and so on.

    “Everyone should cultivate the habit of putting dirt in the dustbin of the vehicle to avoid dropping them off, which may cause accident and litter the environment,’’ he said.

  • Vehicles without number plates

    Recently, I featured an article on “Divers without Driver Licence”, which is very common on our roads and fuelling the rate of accidents.

    In this article, I would like to draw the attention of the relevant government agencies and other Nigerians to the dangerously increasing trend of vehicles without plate numbers.

    It has become a common trend seeing commercial buses, cars, tricycles and motorcycles moving on intra city and inter-state roads without number plates, particularly at the back.

    Fundamentally, number plates on a vehicle play very vital roles in identifying genuinely acquired vehicles and for the tracking of runaway vehicles involved in road accidents as well as vehicles that committed an offence or crime. Many vehicles operate on the road today without plate numbers while some are operating with wrongly fixed, faded and even borrowed plate numbers thereby fuelling criminality on Nigeria roads.

    This wicked and dangerous trend is surprisingly more common in Abuja, the seat of power. Last week, I decided to go round Abuja metropolis to investigate this problem and my findings are more than I can say in this article. Within 30 minutes of my stay at any point in Abuja, I saw not less than 10 vehicles without either the front, back or both plate numbers.

    Some of the drivers I interviewed told me that it is the Police and other government task force officers that removed their plate numbers because they were accused of committing one traffic offence or the other.

    I have been an active operator in transportation and road safety issues, but I have not seen any portion of the National Road Traffic Regulation that prescribed the removal of number plates as one of the punishment for committing traffic offence.

    If any of these drivers operating on the roads without number plates committed any offence and sped off, it will be difficult to track them for arrest.

    With this loophole already created by the police and task force, including the government revenue collectors, some criminals can deliberately remove their number plates to perpetrate any form of crime to avoid being apprehended through  their number plates.

    I hereby implore all the relevant government agencies in all the states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to desist from this dangerous practice of removing the number plates of the vehicles of offending drivers. They should carry out their duties as spelt out in the relevant Acts and traffic or revenue regulations. The lives of Nigerians are precious and should not be endangered on and off the roads.

  • Stop overloading your vehicles, drivers warned

    The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) has warned truck drivers to desist from overloading their vehicles or risk the wrath of law.

    TRACE Corps Commander/CEO, Seni Ogunyemi, gave the warning in his office at Abeokuta, the state capital, why briefing reporters about the traffic situations within the state.

    He said the warning is highly imperative to prevent incessant crashes, arising from the disobedience to traffic rules of articulated vehicle drivers causing crashes and loss of lives and property in the country.

    The TRACE boss said: “There is a National Road Traffic Regulations (2013) that stipulate that no vehicles should load more than 600 bags of cements, but reverse is the case as the majority of the vehicles load over 900 bags just for their selfish interests, forgetting the adverse effects on the roads and to other road users.

    He said: “Overloading of vehicles is a common feature of these trucks which contributes to brake failure that sometimes leads to road crashes”.

    Commander Ogunseni implored truck drivers “to ensure that they properly hook or lash their containers to the frames and desist from extending the capacity of their vehicles”.

    Ogunyemi added that TRACE operatives are now equipped with modern devices to detect erring truck owners and arrest them immediately.

    He admonished motorists to comply with the traffic rules at the Owode and Ijako areas of the state where road construction is ongoing, saying  motorists caught driving against traffic at all the road construction areas  would face the wrath of law.

  • Customs seizes vehicles, goods worth over N1b

    Customs seizes vehicles, goods worth over N1b

    Officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja,  Lagos, have seized different types of expensive vehicles and contraband goods worth over one billion naira in Lagos.

    Arrested in connection with the seized items were 17 suspected smugglers.  Customs, it was learnt, accosted some of the smugglers along Ijebu-Ode Expressway. Among the suspects is a Chinese National Mr. KO Sing Ying.

    Addressing reporters in Lagos, the Area Controller Mohammed Uba, said 18 assorted vehicles and 4,201 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice were parts of the items seized from the smugglers.

    The vehicles, according to the controller, include one Escalade, one Rolls Royce, one Chrysler, one Audi Q7, one Land Rover HSE, one Toyota Venza, one Ford Taurus, one Honda Cross Tour, four Mercedes Benz and three Kia Rio, among others.

    The vehicles range from 2008 to 2015 model.

    Uba said his men seized about seven trailer loads of bags of smuggled parboiled rice, with a duty paid value (DPV) of over N51million.

    Other seized items  include 2619 cartons of frozen poultry products, 1,105 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 2,637 pieces of used tyres, 1,333 bales of used clothing, 2,001 kg of Pangolin and 343 kg of Elephant Turks  among others.

    It was gathered that the value of the Pangolin shells is over N408million, while the Elephant Turks valued over N85million and the two items have been handed over to the officials of the Nigeria Environment Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA).

    Findings revealed that the Warehouse Operation Team led by Assistant Comptroller Mutalib Sule raided an apartment at No 38, Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, busted the house where the suspected smugglers kept the Pangolin shells and the Elephant Turks.

    It was also, gathered that some of the dealers in Lekki used the Lagos sea port stickers and used number plates on some of the vehicles as a decoy to beat Customs’ checks. But unknown to them, Customs officials had been monitoring their movement for days before swooping on them.

    Uba vowed that the unit is determined to make all the smugglers in their area of jurisdiction bankrupt if they continue with their illicit business.

    The value of the contraband seized by the unit in the month of February, according to him, is N1,035,232,046.13.

  • 4 -year-old killed, others injured as truck rams into vehicles

    4 -year-old killed, others injured as truck rams into vehicles

    A four- year-old girl was killed and several others wounded when a truck carrying bags of oranges had a brake failure and rammed into vehicles and motorcycles at a traffic light in Lafia town, Nasarawa state.

    The incident, which occurred around 3:32pm yesterday, at the Lafia Township stadium junction would  have been avoided if the truck driver was not over speeding, eyewitnesses say.

    An eyewitness, who spoke with our correspondent, lamented the truck was approaching the traffic light at a very high speed before ramming into other automobiles awaiting for the green light to move.

    Eight motorcyclists, private vehicles and a passenger bus were involved in the accident where the four -year-old died on the spot of the incident.

    Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) stationed at the junction to check the excesses of motorists immediately evacuated the injured to Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia.

     

  • Volkswagen delivers 10.7m vehicles

    Volkswagen delivers 10.7m vehicles

    The Volkswagen Group delivered more vehicles than ever before in the 2017 fiscal year, with 10.74 million customers worldwide chosing a vehicle from the Volkswagen Group.

    As a result, the Group deliveries rose by 4.3 percent compared with the previous year. At almost one million units, deliveries in December were up by  8.5 percent.

    The company’s Volkswagen Group Chief Executive Officer Matthias Müller said: “The all-time record for deliveries is attributable to a strong team performance by all Group brands and employees. We are grateful to our customers for the trust these figures reflect. We will continue to do everything we can in 2018 to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers all over the world.”

    The Group handed over 4.3 million vehicles to customers in Europe in 2017, representing growth of 3.3 percent; 338,700 new vehicles were delivered in December of which 97,500 were handed over to customers in the home market of Germany.

    Read Also: Volkswagen partners Aurora for self-driving cars

    Recovery in the Russian market had a positive impact on the performance in Central and Eastern Europe, and led to growth of 13.2 percent for the full year 2017. 21,000 vehicles were delivered to customers in Russia in December.

    The Group deliveries in the North America region rose by four percent to 976,400 units in 2017, of which 625,100 vehicles were handed over to customers in the United States (U.S.) market. In line with the overall trend on the passenger car market in the U.S., Volkswagen Group deliveries in December were down 2.7 percent to 91,500 units. In Brazil, 24,700 customers took delivery of a new Group vehicle. Driven by the recovery in the Brazilian market, deliveries by the Volkswagen Group in the South America region for the full year 2017 were 23.7 percent higher than 2016.

    Group deliveries in the Asia-Pacific region in 2017 rose by 4.3 percent compared with the previous year to 4.5 million, of which 4.2 million new vehicles were delivered to customers in China during the 12-month period. There was a strong boost in deliveries in the largest single market at the end of the year: 460,100 new vehicles were handed over to customers in China in December – an increase of 17.8 percent.

    “We are making decisive investments in the mobility of tomorrow, using funds from our own resources: in e-mobility, autonomous driving, new mobility services and digitalisation. At the same time, we continue to systematically develop present technologies and vehicles. The excellent delivery figures confirm that this is the right approach,” Müller added.

  • Police seize vehicles with imported rice, frozen foods

    Police seize vehicles with imported rice, frozen foods

    The police yesterday impounded six vehicles allegedly carrying smuggled rice and frozen foods.

    The vehicles were intercepted on Daleko Bridge in Mushin by the Area D Commander, Akinbayo Olasoji, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).

    According to the police, three persons were arrested over the matter.

    Four of the vehicles had about 220 bags of rice; the other two carried several cartons of frozen chicken and turkey.

    The command’s spokesman, Chike Oti, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said : “A team of policemen led by the Area Commander were on the bridge to ensure one-way driving was discontinued when they sighted the suspicious vehicles.

    “Upon interrogation, it was discovered that the vehicles were carrying smuggled rice and frozen foods. Smuggling of contraband is a serious economic crime.

    “The Federal Government has placed a ban on importation of rice and frozen foods but some people still engage in it illegally, especially this during this festive period.

    “Such people are warned to desist from such acts. The Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi has made it clear that criminality would not be tolerated.

    “Those who have been engaging in such acts should stop or relocate from the state. The suspects and items were handed over to the Nigerian Customs Service  (NCS) for further action.”