Barely two days after a three-storeyed building collapsed in Lagos State, killing 20 people, another building has collapsed at the Bode are of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
According to reports reaching TNG, people are trapped and are still making phone calls under the rubbles, but there is no equipment to rescue them.
Details later….
A 42-seat mass transit bus was on Monday morning razed by a raging fire along the Lagos-Ibadan Express way our correspondence gathered that no life was lost due to the incident which started after smokes was discovered to be coming from the driver’s side of the bus.
According to some eyewitnesses who raised the alarm, the passengers in the bus escaped without after some minutes that the incident started.
The incident took place around Otedola Bridge area which is known for causing traffic along the Berger bridge area.
Some firefighting officials were at the scene of the fire to put it out and tow the bus as at the time of publishing this report.
One person was killed by some suspected hoodlums trying to snatch a ballot box during Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections in Ibadan.
An eyewitness, who identified the victim as Monsuru Hamzat, said the incident happened at Ward 2, Unit 13 and 14 Polling Centre in Ibadan South East Council area.
The eyewitness said the hoodlums came to snatch the ballot box while counting of votes was in progress.
Confirming the incident , the Oyo State commissioner of Police, Shina Olukolu, told NAN that the incident happened around 2:30 pm
Olukolu said it was alleged that a former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, came to the polling unit located in his family house with some hoodlums to disrupt the process.
“The hoodlums simply identified as Akin and Etiba, who were said to have come in company with Arapaja, fired a shot which hit one Monsuru Hamzat.
“Hamzat was rush to the hospital and eventually died,” Olukolu said.
He said that the police had protected the remaining ballot box and INEC staff at the polling unit.
The commissioner said another ballot box was snatched at Agodi area while one Adeyemi Ayomide in company with others were said to be involved.
He said Ayomide was arrested while the others escaped and the ballot box was recovered.
A killers den has been once again uncovered in Ibadan, Oyo state on Monday, February 11th.
According to reports, the killers’ den was uncovered by a resident who lives along Iwo road.
A resident of the area who just bought a piece of land around the newly built road safety station in Iwo road went to clear the bush on the land discovered the den.
The new landowner and those who went to assist him discovered a secluded portion where they found the remains of persons that have been killed on the land.
Among the remains of those found was that of a pupil of the Ayepe community school.
The police were immediately alerted and investigations have since commenced.
Watch the clips gotten from the scene of the incident below
There was pandemonium on Monday night near Bola Ige International market along new Ife-Ibadan expressway, Gbagi, Ibadan, Oyo state capital about 15 minutes to the new year as 30 reportedly died in a fatal motor accident.
It was gathered that the victims were crushed to death by an oncoming trailer from Iwo road axis which rammed into the commercial buses by the entrance of the market.
According to a report by The Punch, accident which occurred around 11:45pm, led to heavy gridlock which saw vehicles enroute Ife from Ibadan stranded for several hours.
Although, no eyewitness could say if the trailer suffered a brake failure or if the affected buses were parked on the road, sources confirmed that only two people initially survived the accident and many people were taken to a nearby hospital while other passengers were said to have died immediately.
A Toyota Camry and Nissan Micra cars were also said to have been crushed by the trailer.
Sources, however, hinted that many of the victims included people going to churches for the cross-over service at Iyana-Agbala and Egbeda Area of the capital city.
Victims included a pregnant woman, simply identified as Mrs. Funmilayo who was said to be on her way to visit her In-laws; a driver of a bus identified as ‘Orobo Baba Weather’; and many others that could not be identified as of the time of filing this report.
Confirming the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Adekunle Ajisebutu, puts the casualty figure at eleven, while another report obtained from the office of the Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mrs Cecilia Alao, indicated that 12 people died as a result of the incident and their corpses were deposited at the morgue of Oyo State Specialist Hospital, Adeoyo.
It noted that aside from nine who died immediately at the scene, additional three persons died on Tuesday morning out of the 10 injured victims who were conveyed to Toun Specialist Hospital, Iwo road area for medical attention.
Giving a witness account, a middle aged man who simply identified himself as Waris Olatunde said that a bus belonging to his boss named, ‘Orobo baba welder’ had loaded passenger at the spot and when it was about to embark on its journey, a trailer enroute Iwo-road from Ife axis crossed the road and wrecked the havoc.
Olatunde who claimed to be the conductor of the bus that was crushed further said that, he narrowly escaped the incident because the driver of the vehicle (Orobo Baba Weather) paid him N200 and asked him to go back instead of joining his boss on the trip.
He said, “It was only God that saved me. Usually, I use to collect money for him from the passengers before he leaves the park but in this case he said since it was late already, I should take N200 and leave.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday felicitated the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, on his 90th birthday holding on Sunday.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President congratulated the royal father for a life well lived as he turns a nonagenarian.
Buhari extended warm greetings to the monarch’s family, friends and entire domain who continue to enjoy the grace and wisdom of fatherhood and exceptional leadership.
The statement read, “The President affirms that Olubadan brought a rich background of business acumen to the throne of his fathers, and has successfully translated the wisdom of investments into leadership by encouraging both the young and old to start and own businesses.
“President Buhari extols Olubadan’s sense of patriotism and loyalty to the country, and his regular mobilisation of members of his community for civic duties, especially on issues that directly impact on good governance and the development of Nigeria.
“The President prays that the almighty God will grant the royal father longer life, and good health to reign on the throne of his fathers.”
Oba Lekan Balogun, the Otun Olubadan of Ibadanland has pleaded with the abductors of his 5-year-old twins to release them.
The kidnappers had on Tuesday stormed the Akobo residence of the Otun-Olubadan of Ibadanland, and made away with his set of twins, a not and a girl.
Sources closed to the family gave the hint on Friday, noting that the helpless family had resorted into intensive prayers for the release of the twins.
He made the plea while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Ibadan.
He appealed to the kidnappers to bear with him as he does not have the money being requested.
The kidnappers initially demanded N100 million ransom and later reduced it to N40 million.
Oba Balogun said he was able to offer them N5 million which was rejected.
“The kidnappers should please bear with me and return my kids, I am ready to do anything that will make them happy.
“I don’t want to endanger the life of my kids and I am not out to fight them because there is no reason for that,’’ Balogun said.
The mother of the kids was said to have been hospitalised since she received the news of the kidnap with doctors battling to save her life.
The Oyo Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the Oyo State Police Command was doing everything possible to rescue the kidnapped children unhurt and arrest the culprits.
“The Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Odude, has consequently directed the command’s anti-kidnapping squad and other special outfits to organise a manhunt for the suspects and rescue the victims safely.
“ We assure the parents and the public that we will succeed in this task,“ Ajisebutu said.
A frantic effort was made on Thursday by lawyers to get the Federal High Court in Lagos to move its sitting to Ibadan in the ongoing trial of former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Jumoke Akinjide for alleged N650 million fraud.
The judge, however, ruled that trial would continue on March 9 in Lagos.
Akinjide is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) along with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is said to be “at large”.
Also charged with them are a former Senator, Ayo Adeseun, and a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Olarenwaju Otiti.
The accused are charged with conspiring to directly take possession of N650 million which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of proceeds of an unlawful act and without going through a financial institution.
When continuation of trial resumed on Thursday, Counsel to the second accused, Mr Michael Lana, informed the court that a letter had already been written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for the court’s sitting to be moved to the Ibadan Division.
According to Lana, the second accused is charged with offences which consequently require the defence to produce witnesses in about 11 local governments areas of Ibadan, saying the defence has numerous witnesses to call.
“We are not seeking a transfer of this case to another judge or court; we are only seeking a change of venue for My Lord, Justice Hassan, to seat in Ibadan via a fiat.”
Besides, the defence counsel also told the court that he had also filed a motion dated March 7, seeking an order of the court, directing the complainant to supply those document referred to but not supplied in the proof of evidence.
Citing a Supreme Court decision in the case of Okoye Vs C. O. P as well as the provisions of Sections 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, he urged the court to hear his application before a further prosecution witness is called.
In the same vein, the third defence counsel, Mr Akinola Oladeji, indicated that he had an application seeking that the charges against the third accused be quashed, or in the alternative, that the case be transferred to the Ibadan Division.
According to him, the third accused intends to call at least 65 witnesses from nine council areas where she served, including party leaders, chairmen and other witnesses.
“I respectfully urge the court to be mindful of the Latin maxim “hastina litin” which according to him, means “hasten slowly”.
Olajide added that prosecution witnesses were intended to give evidences in connection with their investigations, adding that the defence was at a“complete loss”as to the document sought to be tendered, noting they were not attached to the proof of evidence.
He urged the court to be mindful of the position of the law.
In relation to defence’s application for supply of document to be relied on by prosecution witnesses, Counsel to the first accused, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN), also agreed with the submissions of other defence counsel.
He urged the court to exhibit caution in looking at the application before it.
Responding, the EFCC Prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, said he had yet to receive the motion referred to by the counsel to the second accused.
He said he was not aware of the letter written to the Chief Judge as stated by second defence counsel, adding that the instant charge which began in Ibadan was transferred twice at the instance of the defence counsel.
Oyedepo conceded that in line with Sections 379 of the ACJA 2015, the prosecution had duly complied with the provisions of the law by supplying the defence a summary of the statement of the proposed prosecution witnesses.
He referred the court to go through the proof of evidence.
In a short ruling, Justice Hassan held that the court had yet to see the application of the second accused or the letter, and so, could not make any pronouncement on same.
Meanwhile, the court held that in its view, the prosecution had complied with the provisions of the law since the document sought to be relied on by the second prosecution witness was listed in the proof of evidence.
The court then urged the prosecutor to call its second witness (PW2), who swore to the Holy Quran, and in his evidence-in-chief, he introduced himself as Mr Usman Zakari, an EFCC operative, who is saddled with investigations of economic and financial crimes.
Oyedepo asked: Do you know the defendants?
The witness replied in the affirmative and further explained that early 2015, the commission received a “Top classified category A intelligence”, stating that sometime in December 2014, there was a meeting at the residence of the then Minister of Petroleum Resources (Allison-Madueke).
Before the witness could proceed further with his evidence, the second defence counsel, (Lana) raised an objection.
“My Lord, what the witness has just said is completely not in the proof of evidence; there is no where it is mentioned in the proof of evidence.
“You see, this is what we were saying all along.”
The prosecutor urged the court to allow the witness to emphasize the “punch line” of his testimony before the defence’s objection.
The defence counsel on the other hand, maintained that a copy of the intelligence report referred to by the witness “must first” be made available to the defence before the continuation of his evidence.
Harping on his position, he cited Sections 36 (6) of the 1999 Constitution, insisting that the report should be produced.
Other defence counsel also agreed with Lana’s submissions.
In a short ruling, Justice Hassan adjourned the case until March 9 for continuation of trial and ordered the prosecution to supply the defence with all necessary documents.
He urged the defence to avail the prosecution a list of the documents so sought.
In a bid to rid the nation of the infamous activities of Wonder Banks popularly known as the Ponzi scheme, the EFCC in Ibadan Zonal Office has arrested 27 suspected operators of illegal financial institutions in Ibadan.
This was contained in a statement issued by Mr Ayo Oyewole, the Head of Public Affairs, Ibadan Zonal Office of EFCC, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday.
Oyewole said that the suspects had volunteered useful information to the operatives of the commission in their quest to unravel the extent of their illegal activities.
He said that investigations revealed that the operators were arrested for operating illegal financial institutions.
Oyewole said the operators allegedly gave loans to innocent and unsuspecting members of the public who register with them after 10 percent deposit of the total loans sum and charge 15 to 20 percent interest on all the loans granted.
He said that the commission also gathered that these companies had branches with thousands of customers spread across Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Kwara States.
Oyewole said several copies of hand flyers for advertisement of their activities and laptops were recovered from them at the point of arrest.
He stated that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation was concluded and a prima facie case was established against them.