THISISLAGOS MIDDAY NEWS UPDATE JULY 3, 2018
A youth can become next President – Reps (Punch)
The Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Down Stream), Mr Joseph Akinlaja, says youths can defeat President Muhammadu Buhari and other contenders in the 2019 elections, adding that the odds were in their favour. Akinlaja, who noted that the current politicians did not have the wherewithal to win elections, however, said for Nigerian youths to succeed, they must be united in their goals. The lawmaker spoke on Monday at the South-West Youth Development Summit in Lagos, with the theme, ‘Youths Social Inclusion and Economic Freedom: Challenges and Prospects.’ Read more
Lagos cooperatives investment hits N152 billion (Guardian)
Ahead of the 2018 United Nations International Day of Cooperatives, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, has disclosed that Cooperatives investment has risen to N152billion Addressing journalists in Lagos yesterday, she said the importance of Cooperatives to the growth and development of the economy cannot be over emphasized. She noted that the decision of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s decision to realign the Cooperatives Department, hitherto domiciled in the Ministry of Agriculture, was to fully unleash the economic potentials of the Cooperative sub-sector for increased contributions to the state’s economy. Read more
Lagos, foreign partners conduct heart surgery (Punch)
Some indigent patients have benefitted from the Lagos State Free Open Heart Surgery Mission sponsored by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, in collaboration with two American non-governmental organisations, Cardiostart International and VOOM Foundation, at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. The surgery, according to a statement on Monday, held between May and June 2018. Cardiostart International, an NGO based in the United States of America, carried out the free open heart surgery with surgeons and health care professionals of the cardiothoracic surgery unit in LASUTH. Read more
Atiku support group condoles with families of victims of Plateau killings, Lagos fire (SUN)
National President/Global Coordinator of Women and Youths Support Group (WAYS) for Atiku 2019, Kemi Adesanya-Eboda, has described the recent killings in Plateau State and the petrol tanker fire in Lagos as painful and a great loss to the country. Adesanya-Eboda commiserated with the families that lost their loved ones in the two separate incidents and called on the government to ensure the perpetrators, especially the Plateau killings, are brought to justice. She commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his timely visit to Plateau State to assess the situation himself, and called for immediate re-assessment of the country’s security apparatus to be more proactive, so that crimes can always be nipped in the bud. In the same vein, Adesanya-Eboda decried the loss of life and property in the Lagos tanker inferno. Read more
Otedola Bridge tanker fire: NGO lauds Lagos govt over survivors’ medical bills (Vanguard)
A Non-Governmental Organisation has applauded the decision of the Lagos State Government to write-off the medical expenses of victims of tanker explosion last Thursday on Otedola Bridge who are currently recuperating in various hospitals. “This singular effort by government of taking full responsibility for the treatment of these survivors struggling to recover emotionally and physically is commendable and heartwarming”, a statement by the Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa said on Monday. “Accident victims are vulnerable persons no matter how rich, powerful or poor the individual may be. We are glad government knows they could face significant medical bills especially for people who do not have health insurance. Read more
Fuel tanker incident: Lagos govt. to conduct DNA tests on victims, begins autopsy Tuesday (SUN)
The Lagos State Government has ordered a DNA test on victim of the ill-fated fuel tanker explosion that rocked the metropolis last week. The state government has also said it would begin autopsy on dead victims of the incident on Tuesday. The state government has also announced that the number of dead victims in the explosion has risen to 12. These were disclosed, on Monday, in Lagos, by Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, during a press conference. Read more
Pyrates seeks Compensation for Victims of Lagos Tragedies (ThisDay)
The Ikeja and Mainland Chapters of the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity have urged the Lagos State Government to quickly come to the aid of those who suffered losses in the recent tragedies that took place in the state. The association noted that on June 19 and 29, 2018 respectively, a truck conveying plywood while on the Ojuelegba Bridge in Lagos State emptied its contents on passersby below, killing three persons and injuring two in the process. It said 10 days later, a fuel-laden tanker on Otedola Bridge at the Ojodu Berger axis of the state, again spilled its contents causing a fire incident that killed nine persons, injured four and incinerated over 54 vehicles. Read more
Lagos Fire Disaster: Paseda tasks FG to revive Railway Transportation (Independent)
Rotimi Paseda, a governorship aspirant in Ogun State, has called on the Federal Government to expedite action at revamping the nation’s railway transportation system to reduce the carnage on Nigerian roads. Paseda’s call was coming on the heels of the fire disaster which occurred last Thursday afternoon at the Julius Berger end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in which no fewer than nine people died, while property worth several millions of naira were destroyed in the inferno. Paseda in a statement issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital by his media aide, Ogbeni Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji, said the governorship candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) during the 2015 general elections in Ogun State, emphasised that government should earmark more funds to the rail transportation system to avoid a repetition of the disaster. Read more
Lagos State to prosecute truck owner, driver in tanker explosion (Guardian)
The Lagos State government is perfecting plans to prosecute the owner and driver of the ill-fated fuel tanker, which exploded last Thursday on Otedola Bridge inward Ojodu Berger along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Imohimi Edgal, said yesterday. Already, the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, had at the weekend written to the CP to advise him on the relevant provisions of the law that could guide the ongoing investigation, which would lead to possible prosecution. Read more
Afrika Shrine: Macron to perform with Omotola, Rita Dominic, Ramsey Nouah, others (Nation)
The choice of the New Afrika Shrine as rendezvous for visiting President of France, Mr. Emmanuel Macron members of the creative industry may not be unconnected to the historical place of late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in the world of music. While raising concern about the size of the Afrika Shrine as venue of his meeting with stakeholders in the arts and entertainment sector, a source told The Nation that “Macron chose the venue himself.” Currently managed by Femi Kuti and Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti, the new Afrika Shrine is the replacement of the old Afrika Shrine created in 1970 by the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, founder of Afrobeat music, until it was burnt down in 1977. The new Shrine is an open air entertainment center located in Ikeja, Lagos State, and serves as the host location for the annual Felabration music festival. It is a tourist attraction that showcases photo galleries of Fela, with regular music performances by Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti. Read more
Court dismisses firm’s objection against ex-workers (Guardian)
The National Industrial Court Lagos, has refused and dismissed the preliminary objection filed by ENL Consortium Ltd against the suit of over 600 of its former employees who are pressing for the implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the parties. The over 600 former Dockworkers approached the court in a representative capacity. Counsel to the Dockworkers and human right activist, Toluwani Yemi Adebiyi said it is very sad that some of them who resumed work with ENL as able bodied men left the work deformed, which ranges from spinal cord injury, scapular dislocation, leg decapitation, total blindness etc all due to non-availability of protection Kits. Read more
Hoodlums attack man, British wife, daughter in Lagos (Vanguard)
Gbengà Tonade and his British wife Mrs. Amy Riley -Tonade are still in shock after suspected hoodlums attacked them and their one year old daughter in Lagos. Mrs. Amy Riley a British citizen residing in Birmingham West Midland in United Kingdom and the couple’s one year old daughter were visiting her husband Mr. Gbengà Tonade in Lagos but the happy moment the family was spending together turned sour when suspected hoodlums attacked them with dangerous weapon along Ladipo/Mushin Road in Lagos. Read more
Vandalism, poor pipeline network as trigger for tanker explosions (Guardian)
The time was at about 5:30p.m. that fateful Thursday evening of June 28, 2018 when the beautiful skyline overlooking the Otedola Bridge on Lagos-Ibadan expressway suddenly turned black after a volley of fireballs and plumes of dark smokes trailed a tanker explosion. Just before the moment everything went ugly, traffic was expectedly building up on the bridge and like most commuters would do, Michael Simon had his attention divided between watching the traffic ahead and enjoying the World Cup commentary on his car radio. Something abruptly caught his attention, it was a petrol-laden tanker some few metres ahead moving in an uncontrollable manner. Read more
Lagos confirms 12 died in tanker fire (Nation)
The Lagos State Government yesterday confirmed that 12 persons died in last Thursday’s tanker fire on the Otedola Link Bridge of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The government will prosecute the tanker owner and driver over the incident. Commissioner for Health Dr Jide Idris and Commissioner of Police Imohimi Edgal made these known at separate briefings in Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday. Idris said 10 of the victims including a minor, died at the accident scene; the others at the hospital. He urged private hospitals with the accident victims to provide such information to his ministry for proper collation. Read more
Endless wait for solution to Lagos truck menace (Guardian)
Three days after the tragic explosion on Otedola bridge that claimed lives and property, the Lagos State government on Sunday restricted tankers to designated trailer route and also gave a 30-day ultimatum for articulated vehicles to obtain road worthiness certificate. It is now mandatory for all articulated trucks coming into Lagos to obtain the Ministry of Transportation’s Road Worthiness Certificate at any of the designated centres within the next 30 days. Addressing a joint press briefing at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa after meeting with all the relevant stakeholders, including Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Association of Maritime Truck Owners, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, National Association of Transport Operators, and Container Truck Owners Association of Nigeria, among others, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Ladi Lawanson, said the decision became necessary following preliminary investigations into the Otedola bridge incident, which revealed a combination of vehicular defect and human errors. Read more
Landlady removes house’s roof, tenants lament property loss (Punch)
Tenants of a building on Ijero Road, Apapa, Lagos State, have lamented the loss of their property after their landlady allegedly removed the roof of the house. The landlady was said to have been represented by the caretaker, Mrs Tawakalitu Omotosho. Punch Metro gathered that the exercise, which started around 6am on Sunday while it was raining heavily, led to the destruction of the property of the tenants. The tenants had reportedly been issued notices to quit by their landlady through the caretaker. One of the tenants, Mrs Taiwo Akintola, said the notice came about nine days to the renewal of rents, adding that a one-month extension was later agreed upon at the office of the Lagos State Mediation Centre. Read more
Man mistaken as Rival Cult, Stabbed to Death in Lagos (Independent)
Two suspected cultists — Samuel Stanley and Wisdom Peter — who allegedly stabbed a man to death with a knife, were on Monday remanded in prison on the orders of an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos. The men had mistaken the victim, Adedeji Femi, for a member of a rival cult. The duo of Stanley, 28, and Peter, 19, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder. According to the Police Prosecutor Maria Dauda, the duo accused stabbed him on the chest with a knife in an attack they launched on people they thought were members of a rival cult. She said the offences were committed on June 1 about 8.30 p.m. at Agbaro-Ojo, Ikorodu in Lagos State. Read more
Man held for suicide makes second attempt in police cell (Guardian)
A Secondary school dropout, Owolabi Ogunwande, who allegedly attempted to hang himself at a tollgate and in a police cell in Lagos State, was yesterday brought before an Igbosere Magistrates Court, Lagos. Ogunwande, 27, was arraigned on a two-count charge of attempted suicide before Mr. Aro Lambo. Prosecuting Inspector Cyriacus Osuji said Ogunwande committed the offence on June 28 at about 1:30p.m. at Toll Gate, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, in Eti-Osa local government area. He also committed the same offence at about 11:30a.m. on Monday, in a cell at Maroko Police Station, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. On both occasions Ogunwande tried to hang himself on the neck with a rope, the court heard. Read more