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Category: Politics

  • 18 die, 12 injured in Kano auto crash

    18 die, 12 injured in Kano auto crash

    *Corpses given mass burial – FRSC

    Eighteen passengers were killed in an auto crash at the weekend at Zakirai town on Kano-Ringim Road in Gabasawa Local Government Area of Kano State.

    Twelve other persons were also injured in the crash while five escaped unhurt, FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, has said.

    Some of the corpses were given mass burial at the accident scene, while others were handed over to their relatives.

    Abdullahi confirmed in a statement issued by the sector’s spokesman, Mr. Abdullahi Labaran that the accident involved two commercial vehicles.

    “We received a call about the accident at about 8:35 p.m. on Friday and dispatched our personnel to the scene to rescue the victims,” Abdullahi said.

    He blamed the accident on excessive speeding, dangerous driving and overloading which led to a head-on collision and the bursting into flames of one of the vehicles.

    “The accident involved a total of 35 passengers in two buses, out of which 18 were burnt beyond recognition while 12 others sustained serious injuries,’’ he said.

    Ibrahim said the injured victims were taken to Murtala Mohammed General Hospital, Kano.

    He advised motorists to avoid over speeding, overloading, wrongful overtaking, dangerous driving and any infraction that could lead to road crashes.

    The sector commander expressed regret at the magnitude of avoidable road crashes recorded in Kano State in the past week.

    During a visit to the crash scene on Saturday, he warned motorists, particularly intercity and inter-state drivers to desist from overloading, excessive speeding, wrongful overtaking and other traffic violations.

    Abdullahi assured that the FRSC would intensify public enlightenment and undertake stringent patrol interventions, including operation of mobile courts to stem the rising tide of intercity auto crashes. 

  • Construction firm’s truck kills 4, injures 16 in Kwara

    Four persons were killed and 16 others injured in a lone accident on Olooru-New Jebba Road in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara at the weekend.

    Sector Commander of the FRSC in Kwara, Mr Frederick Ogidan, stated in Ilorin on Sunday that the vehicle belongs to Chinese construction firm, CGC Construction Company.

    He blamed the accident, which occurred at Olooru on over-speeding.

    Ogidan said relatives of the deceased had claimed the corpses while the injured were taken to a hospital at Kambi Village in the area. 

  • Plastic wastes pose danger to human life – FCT Perm Sec  

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Adesola Olusade, has described plastic waste as a major threat to human health.

    Speaking during a road show to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day, with the theme: “Beat Plastic Pollution”, Olusade, said that the production, usage and disposal of plastic materials were not only polluting ecosystems, but endangering human and animal health.

    Represented by Mr Osi Braimah, Director of AEPB, the Permanent Secretary added that plastic pollution also destabilize the climate

    World Environment Day is marked on June 5 of every year.

    He further stated that globally, the plastic waste situation had assumed a worrisome dimension.

    “It has also become endemic, with drainage channels, canals and waterways littered with various plastic wastes.

    “This contributes significantly to climate change, which results in short term damage, such as erosion and flooding, due to blockages of streams and waterways.

    “This is why the matter is of utmost priority, as the world marks yet another World Environment Day in 2023,” Olusade said.

    The Permanent Secretary said that it was pertinent to bring to the fore the awareness of plastic management as an adaptation strategy to climate change.

    “Only an integrated systemic shift from a linear to a circular economy can keep plastics out of our ecosystems and bodies.

    “The recent United Nations Environmental Report laid out key elements of the required market transformation, rethinking and redesigning products, reusing, recycling, reorienting and diversifying markets,” he said.

  • NDLEA parades 24 suspects, seizes 15.6kg of hard drugs

    NDLEA in Ondo State paraded 24 suspects on Friday in Akure for their involvement in selling and using psychotropic substances like Indian hemp, cocaine and tramadol. One of them is female.

    NDLEA commander in Ondo State, Mr Kayode Raji, said the suspects were arrested during raids on black spots in the state during which 15.6kg of psychotropic substance were seized.

    He added that the raids became necessary to ensure peace in the state as drug users usually constituted a nuisance to the state.

    Raji advised parents to ensure that they monitored their wards properly and ensure that they kept off drug abuse.

    In his remarks, Deputy Zonal Commander, Zone J of the NDLEA, Mr Andrew Idele, assured that the NDLEA would rehabilitate those arrested to ensure that they lived better lives.

  • Kidnappers kill 2, abduct 2 others in Ogun farm

    Gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, on Wednesday shot dead two people and also abducted two others at a farm in Awo Village in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun.

    One of the deceased was an area commander of Ogun security outfit, So-Safe Corps, identified as Saheed Ogunrinde.

    The kidnappers were said to have appeared in camouflage and invaded a popular farm in the village which had more than 200 workers.

    The kidnappers were reportedly trailed by combined team of policemen and So-Safe Corps operatives.

    Confirming the incident, the Commander of So-Safe Corps, Soji Ganzalo, said his men participated in the operation to salvage the situation after the suspected kidnappers had invaded the village.

    “A distress call was made to Owode Area Command by the DPO Owode Division that two people were killed and two others were kidnapped in Abule Awo, Orile-Imo on Tuesday.

    “The Owode Area Command of So-Safe led by Saheed Ogunrinde moved to the affected location to salvage the situation.

    “On getting there, a joint operation was carried out by our men and Nigeria police and all efforts to track the kidnappers proved abortive.

    “The following morning, on Wednesday, when our men resumed with the police to search the location which led them to the Interchange Area.

    “On sighting our men, the kidnappers opened fire and their bullet hit Ogunrinde, who died in the process.

    “His body has been taken to his house at Ajura and buried. His rifle and phone were taken away by the kidnappers,” Ganzalo said.

    When contacted, the state police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident.

    Oyeyemi said one of the suspects had been arrested and that others were being trailed by operatives of the joint operation.

    “Two people were shot and one of them died on the spot. They also kidnapped two,“ he said.

    Oyeyemi disclosed that one suspect had been arrested. 

  • NDE disburses soft loans to traders in Akwa Ibom

    National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has commenced disbursement soft loans to petty traders, comprising youths and women, in Akwa Ibom.

    Coordinator of NDE in the state, Mr Obegolu Obiora, said on Wednesday during the orientation and loan disbursement exercise that the loans would be refunded after the three-month moratorium in order to allow others to benefit.

    The soft loan, which is under the Micro Enterprise Enhancement Scheme (MEES), will be given to 74 beneficiaries at N20,000 each, totaling N1,480,000.

    Obiora commended the Federal Government for the initiative, adding that the funds were given to only those who were already in business to help strengthen its financial flows which would lead to business expansion and job creation.

    He said that the Director-General of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Fikpo, had assured of continuous implementation of the laudable empowerment programmes that would help in raising the employment index in the country.

    “This initiative is part of the federal government’s efforts at addressing the continuous rise in the unemployment rate in the country.

    “The director-general has reiterated the commitment of the directorate to its mandate through the implementation of empowerment programmes, aimed at generating jobs, creating wealth and enhancing capacity building for unemployed persons.

    “This move will boost the economy through access to finance for petty traders and other small business owners, and enhance the operational capacity of existing micro enterprise owners to expand their businesses and, in turn, improve their earnings.

    “The director-general declared that 74 youths and women-beneficiaries will go home with N20,000 each, totalling 1,480,000, and further advised them to make judicious use of the fund to expand their businesses,” he said.

    One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Abasifreke Handson, thanked the federal government for the loan, saying that the fund would help in boosting her perfume and bag-making business.

    Another beneficiary, Mr Kenneth Bassey, also commended NDE and the federal government for their efforts at tackling unemployment in the country.

  • NSCDC parade suspected child rapist, vandal in Cross River

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps on Wednesday in Calabar paraded a man suspected to have raped two siblings aged six years and 11 years.

    The Commandant of the NSCDC in Cross River, Mr Samuel Fadeyi, told newsmen that the suspect was arrested following an alarm raised by neighbours.

    He said the suspect allegedly drugged the two minors who were hawking cow skin “Ponmo’’ by giving them soft drinks which he had spiked.

    He explained that immediately the drug in the soft drinks started having effect on the children, the suspect allegedly defiled them.

    “Luck ran out of the child rapist and when we tried to arrest him, his colleague, a suspected cultist and phone snatcher whom we had arrested earlier, tried to help him to escape.

    “The suspected cultist was arrested anew alongside the suspected rapist.

    “The suspected rapist, however, said he did not commit the crime though he had engaged in such activities in the past. He said he was being accused on account of past incidents.

    “We have taken the children to the hospital where they were confirmed to have been sexually-abused,’’ Fadeyi said.

    The corps also paraded a suspected vandal, aged 29 years who confessed that he committed the crime and that it was his third time.

    Fadeyi said the vandal was arrested in Calabar South for vandalism of electrical installations and theft of armoured cables which he sold to scrap metal dealers.

    “The suspected vandal confessed to the crime and he will lead us to his patrons.

    “He claimed that he vandalised the installations and stole the armoured cables to be able to feed and begged for forgiveness,’’ the commandant said.

    Fadeyi added that both suspects would be arraigned soon. 

  • Zamfara airlifts 2500 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia

    The Zamfara Hajj Commission has airlifted 2,500 out of the 3,100 intending pilgrims from the state to Saudi Arabia in six flights.

    The Secretary of the commission, Alhaji Anas Shuaibu, confirmed this to newsmen on Wednesday in Gusau, after releasing six flights to Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto.

    Shuaibu said the commission had secured Visas for all the 3,100 state intending pilgrims, adding that the remaining pilgrims will soon be airlift to the holy land for the exercise.

    He also said that the state government had sensitised the pilgrims on what was expected of them during the pilgrimage.

    The secretary further explained that each flight consisted of Hajj officials from the state, medical personnel, scholars and other stakeholders, and each pilgrim had been vaccinated while females were tested for pregnancy before their departure.

    According to him, Federal Government agencies, including NDLEA, Immigration and Customs, have also educated the pilgrims on dangers attached to carrying prohibited items.

    He however disclosed that only one woman had been sent back to Nigeria based on Passport issue, but she had returned to Madinah for the exercise after resolving her challenge.

    He urged the intending pilgrims to fear Allah in all their dealings while in the holy land and beyond.

    Shuaibu explained that the state government had put everything in place to ensure safety, comfort and welfare of the pilgrims in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in which decent accommodation was secured in Madinah and Makkah.

    He therefore called on the pilgrims to be good ambassadors of the state and the country by avoiding any act that could tarnish their image and that of the nation.

    Shuaibu said their current challenge was the hike in petroleum price as they had to transport the pilgrims from Gusau to Sokoto because of the absence of an airport in the state.

    The scribe commended the efforts of the state government along with security agencies, first aid groups, individuals and other organisations for their support and cooperation towards ensuring a successful Hajj operation.

    The six flights were recorded on Thursday.

  • EFCC nabs 17 suspected internet fraudsters in Enugu

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFC C) on Tuesday arrested 17 suspected internet fraudsters in a sting operation in Enugu.

    Its Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The suspects, according to him were Okechukwu Onah, Ezuma Nnaemezie, Onodugo Oji, Ojioche Nzesinachi, Okii Emmanuel, Ojioche Collins, Usulor Reuben, Thadeus Jude, Okoloeze Emmanuel, Ani Chinaza, Ani Daniel, and Amos Ozoemena

    “Others are Ani Nnamdi, Thomas Ekene, Ani Charles, Ezike Chinecherem and Nwose Peter.

    “Items recovered from them include two exotic cars, 26 mobile phones and four personal computers.

    “The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigation is concluded,” he said.(

  • Kwara Gov cautions marketers against fuel hoarding

    *Dep Gov to lead task force to filling stations
    •Govt to revoke CoO of erring filling stations

    Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Chairman and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has cautioned oil marketers to avoid imposing needless hardship on the citizens through creation of artificial fuel scarcity in the state and beyond.


    “The Governor is seriously concerned about reports of sudden fuel scarcity in different parts of the state. This is totally uncalled for. He asks fuel marketers to immediately discharge fuel to the public under the normal pricing system since they had bought what they currently have at subsidised rates,” according to a Government House statement on Tuesday morning.


    “Creating artificial scarcity amounts to intentional misrepresentation of the statement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on the question of fuel subsidy. The people should not be made to undergo any hardship.


    “The Governor urges the marketers to desist from anything that qualifies as economic sabotage of the people. Hoarding fuel bought at subsidised price and creating panic in the state is opportunistic and will not be condoned.

    *His Excellency the Deputy Governor Mr. Kayode Alabi will be leading a task force to ensure that no fuel marketer causes undue hardship to the citizens in Kwara State.


    “Fuel stations are to note that the Task Force will dip into their pits. Any filling stations found to be hoarding fuel will have their Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) revoked, among other penalties.”