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Tag: Lagos

  • Lagos arrests 30 cart pushers for dumping refuse on road medians

    …Vows to prosecute saboteurs of New Waste Management Policy

    The Lagos State Government on Monday arrested 30 cart pushers for dumping refuse indiscriminately on road medians in some areas of the State in the middle of the night.

    Chairman of the State’s Task Force on Environmental and Other Special Offences (Enforcement Unit), SP Olayinka Egbeyemi who spoke to journalists, said the arrest was in line with the recent ban on the activities of cart pushers and wheelbarrow operators by the State Government.

    Egbeyemi, who affirmed that the activities of cart pushers in the State are illegal, said investigations found them culpable in dumping refuse on the roadside especially at night thereby sabotaging efforts by the Government to keep the State clean.

    He said the Government is poised to go all out to prosecute any persons found to be working against the new waste management policy encapsulated in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), saying the programme is designed to revolutionalise waste administration in line with global best practices when fully operational.

    “There are reports that refuse are littering the Lekki, Victoria Island, Ajah and other parts of the State and investigations reveal that it is the handiwork of unscrupulous elements within Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and their outside sponsors who are not comfortable with the new arrangement for the management of waste in the State and are hell-bent on sabotaging government effort and frustrating them from carrying it out.

    “The State Government has vowed to go all out against the saboteurs and after their sponsors and punish them in line with the laws of the State.

    “We also need to let Lagosians know that it is illegal to use cart pushers to evacuate refuse and they should stop encouraging it. There are PSP vehicles that come around to pack refuse and they are the ones they should patronise and not these cart pushers.

    “We want to notify all these cart pushers that their activities are illegal in Lagos. Lagos is a megacity and we have all it takes to collect refuse. So, the issue of going to the streets and collecting refuse and then dump same on the road is an act of sabotage to the government,” he said.

    Egbeyemi said the suspects arrested would soon be charged to court for prosecution, just as he assured that Government would leave no stone unturned in keeping the State safe and clean.

    Besides, the Task Force Chairman said that the enforcement would continue across the State until the activities of cart pushers and other unscrupulous elements found to be frustrating government’s efforts are completely brought to a halt.

    “For the past two to three weeks, we have been noticing refuse on the roads and investigations have revealed that part of those carrying out such act and sabotaging government efforts are these cart pushers and probably there might be some people behind them,” Egbeyemi said.

  • BREAKING: Two burnt to death as gas plant explode in Lagos [Photos]

    Two persons were feared dead in a reported fire outbreak in Second Coming gas plant in Magodo area of Lagos State.

    While the immediate cause of the inferno remains unknown as at press time, the fire is said to have spread to other properties in the neighbourhood and other persons are said to have been injured as a result of the fire.

    A brief statement by the spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, said the fire at the 2nd Coming Gas plant has spread to other properties in the neighbourhood.

    Mr. Kazeem ‎advised motorists to seek other routes to avoid the area.

     

  • UTME: Police arrest two over alleged illegal registration in Lagos

    UTME: Police arrest two over alleged illegal registration in Lagos

    The Police have arrested two men in Lagos for allegedly engaging in an illegal registration of candidates for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The Lagos State Coordinator of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Mr Sunday Aladegbaye, confirmed the arrest on Sunday in Lagos.

    “Two men and co-owners of a computer-based test centre, Vision Computer Academy, were on Saturday night arrested for allegedly engaging in the illegal registration of candidates for the 2018 UTME.

    “The Academy is located at No. 1, Ganiyu Adeboyejo Close, Eputu London, Eputu Bus Stop, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.

    “The arrest, carried out by men of the Nigerian Police from Adeniji Adele Police Station, Lagos Island, was made possible after a tip-off from members of the public.

    “We were informed that the Lagos Island Primary School, Sura was allegedly being used for the illegal registration exercise.

    “These suspects, whose CBT centre was legally accredited for the exercise, had moved a router and computer systems to an illegal location to engage in fraudulent practices and extortion of candidates,’’ Aladegbaye told NAN.

    According to him, the board’s preparations for the 2018 UTME is in top gear.

    He warned that the examination body was determined to fish out bad eggs that may try to frustrate its efforts at standardising the conduct of examination and admission processes in Nigeria.

    NAN reports that the board had postponed 2018 UTME mock earlier scheduled for between Jan. 22 and Jan. 24, to the first week of February.

    It had cited the ongoing strike by the non-teaching labour unions of universities as being responsible for the postponement.

    The board explained that many of the accredited centres were located in the institutions where the strike is taking place nationwide.

     

  • Lagos slams celebrity tax defaulters, prosecutes Davido, AY

    The Lagos State Government has slammed entertainers in the state who are purported to be tax evaders despite the income they make from their business.

     

    Punch reports that the state government had prosecuted Nigerian pop star, Davido, for alleged tax evasion.

     

    The ‘Fia’ crooner who also happens to be the CEO of HKN Music, Lagos, has been charged before a Lagos High Court in July 2017 and risk a jail term if sentenced.

     

    In the same vein, Nigerian comedian, AY has a longer history in court against the state as he was charged to court in 2016 for failing to file his tax returns as required by law.

     

    “Notable among these alleged tax offenders are two of Nigeria’s celebrated artistes –Davido and AY, the comedian. Both artistes have had a long standing battle with the Lagos Internal Revenue Service for tax evasion.

     

    “Davido, who has record deals with Sony Music Entertainment and endorsement agreements with various companies in Nigeria, has not filed his tax returns or remit any taxes to the Lagos State Government,” the source said.

     

    A source revealed to Punch that Davido had defended his action, claiming that he paid taxes to Osun State since he is an indigene of the state.

     

    “AY too said the same thing. The comedian claimed to be paying his taxes to Ondo State, where he hails from. It seems these celebrities don’t understand that the tax law stipulates that you must pay your tax to your state of residence.

     

    “Anyway, we are already in court. Others will soon appear in court if they don’t obey the state tax law. You can’t be making money in Lagos and refuse to pay tax” the source added.

    Revealed: How hoodlums attacked Instagram comedian, Ogbeni Adan

     

  • Alleged N338m fraud: S’Court orders re-trial of former Lagos Speaker, Ikuforiji

    Alleged N338m fraud: S’Court orders re-trial of former Lagos Speaker, Ikuforiji

    A five-man panel of the Supreme Court has ordered the re-trial of a former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who was charged with an alleged N338 million fraud.

    The court gave the ruling on Friday. It was to rule on whether Mr. Ikuforiji should be tried anew as ordered by the Court of Appeal.

    The panel headed by Justice Mary Peter-Odili unanimously ruled that the case be re-assigned to another judge of the Federal High Court instead of Justice Ibrahim Buba, who had earlier absolved Mr. Ikuforiji of the charge.

    Justice Buba had, in a ruling in September 2014, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, failed to establish a case against Mr. Ikuforiji and his former aide, Oyebode Atoyebi.

    The judge had also dismissed the 56-count charge raised by the EFCC against Mr. Ikuforiji.

    Dissatisfied with Justice Buba’s ruling, the EFCC appealed to the Court of Appeal, which upturned the ruling.

    The Appeal Court also ordered both Mr. Ikuforiji and Mr. Atoyebi to be tried by another judge.

    However, in 2016, the accused persons approached the Supreme Court, where they filed separate appeals against the decision of the Court of Appeal.

  • Lagos Police Command arrests kidnappers

    Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police has arrested two notorious kidnappers at Elemoro, Ajah-Lagos after the kidnap of one Mrs. Mildred Mbajiorgu.

    Speaking on the incident, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Ajah, SP Mohammed Shehu Limawa, said he received a distress call from a lady who told him that she heard the voice of a woman crying for help in a dark blue Gulf 3 car with the registration KRD 845 EC.

    The DPO then alerted one of the Anti-Crime patrol teams along the route taken by the kidnappers and instructed the policemen to slow down traffic to about 20km per hour.

    According to the DPO, the directive slowed down the hoodlums’ vehicle which ensured their arrest by the policemen who were in the waiting for them. The victim was rescued and taken to the hospital to treat the injury inflicted on her by the kidnappers.

    Meanwhile the suspects – Igwe Sunday, 28 and Chukwuemeka Bright, 21 years have been handed over to the operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) for further investigation.

     

  • Lagos generated N503.7bn in 2017 despite recession – Ambode

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Thursday said the state generated a total of N503.7billion revenue in 2017 despite the harsh economic climate in the country.

    Ambode spoke at the state’s first quarter 2018 Town Hall Meeting in Ikeja.

    The governor said he would vigorously pursue all infrastructure projects and remain focused to the task of building a virile Lagos.

    “Despite the harsh economy, our state budget performed at 82 per cent.

    “Total revenue generated was N503.7bn representing a performance of 78 per cent; total recurrent expenditure was N281.33bn representing a performance of 92 per cent, while total capital expenditure was N387.60bn or 76 per cent performance,” the governor said.

    Ambode said the state was entering into the New Year with confidence of being on a solid prosperity footing, with interesting prospects for all Lagosians.

    He said it was gratifying that the support of the people enabled government to achieve a lot and commence the transformation of the landscape of the state.

    Ambode listed some of the key projects delivered last year to include the new Tafawa Balewa Square Bus Terminal, new Ojota Pedestrian Bridge, Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge and adjoining inner roads.

    He cited others as Ojodu Berger Slip Road and Pedestrian Bridge; Jubilee Bridges in Ajah and Abule Egba; Freedom and Admiralty Road in Lekki; new Lands Registry; newly upgraded Jubilee Chalet in Epe, among others.

    Giving a report of activities of his administration in the last quarter, Ambode said the state government commissioned the first state-owned DNA Forensic Centre.

    He said in the coming weeks, he would sign a contract to upgrade the facility to offer toxicology services.

    “In fulfilment of our promise to our students in tertiary institutions across the state, this administration disbursed a total sum of N635.5million to 8,419 students across the state.

    “Our government acquired healthcare equipment worth N2.5 billion.

    “The equipment will strengthen the capacity of our health facilities to render improved health services and also facilitate smooth take-off of the Lagos State Health Scheme, which is designed to enable residents enjoy unfettered access to qualitative healthcare,’’ he said.

    Giving an outlook on 2018, Ambode promised that he would sustain the momentum of development and vigorously pursue all ongoing projects, with special focus on health and education.

    In the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N1.046 trillion awaiting approval of the House of Assembly, the state government has earmarked N92.676 billion for health, representing 8.86 per cent.

    The state also earmarked N126.302 billion for education, representing 12.07 per cent of the budget.

    Ambode assured the residents that the state government, in the coming weeks, would pay compensation to all those whose structures gave way for construction of the 1.4 kilometre Pen Cinema Flyover/Bridge.

    He said the government would also pay compensation to those affected in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Owutu and other areas where construction activities were ongoing.

    The governor, who entertained questions from residents, ordered the Public Works Corporation to immediately move in to fix bad roads in Computer Village, Abesan Estate, Oriade, Abule-Egba, among other areas.

    Ambode also revealed that the Market Development Board would be inaugurated in coming weeks.

    He expressed optimism that when functional, the board would address issues of market relocation for developmental projects, just as he said that the Onikan Stadium would be ready in January 2019.

    Ambode urged all taxpayers to be alive to their responsibility of fulfilling their obligations to the state, saying regular payment of taxes remains the major source of funding infrastructures.

    He assured the people that the government, on its part, would judiciously utilise the taxes to make life comfortable for the people.

     

    NAN

  • Lagos experienced steady economic growth while Nigeria was in recession – Ambode

    …urges Lagosians to brace up for more milestone development in 2018

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has said the state experienced stable economic growth while the nation slipped into recession last year.

    The governor attributed this to the prayers offered by the state to God at the beginning of every year since the inception of his administration Grace of God

    Ambode also assured residents that the state will experience more development milestones in 2018.

    The governor spoke on Sunday at the 2018 annual thanksgiving service at the Lagos House in Ikeja, the capital.

    At the service, with the theme: Ceaseless Praise, Ambode noted that despite several economic and security challenges in some parts of the country, Lagos had continued to experience peace and prosperity.

    He attributed the steady progress to divine intervention and the grace of God.

    The governor hoped that the state would record more landmark achievements this year.

    Ambode said: “Since the inception of this administration, we have been calling on God at the beginning of each year and our prayers have been prophetic as He always granted our desires beyond our expectations. At a time when the nation was in recession, our state was experiencing economic growth, and while there was insecurity in other places, Lagos remains calm and peaceful. This is not as a result of what the government has done but by the special grace of God. And all we need to do is continue to give Him praise and thanksgiving and He will continue to bless and provide for us as Lagosians and a state.

    “In this New Year, we submit to Him again. I am confident that irrespective of whatever is happening elsewhere, our state and all our people will continue to excel in peace, good health, prosperity, love and joy. God will continue to shower His blessings on us as a state and our families, and homes will experience new and wonderful milestones by His grace.”

    According to him, the annual thanksgiving presents an opportunity to commit the state to God by acknowledging His supreme power.

    Ambode said: “It is my prayer that as we come to His gates and courts with thanksgiving and with praises today, He will release His blessings upon us, guide and direct our path and lead us through the year successfully.”

    The governor expressed appreciation to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, and his wife, Pastor Folu, as well as other religious leaders for their prayers and support for the state since inception of his administration.

    He said: “I offer my sincere gratitude to all our religious leaders for your presence and continued support for the peace and progress of Nigeria and Lagos in particular. God bless you all.”

    Pastor Adeboye urged Nigerians to draw closer to God.

    The cleric assured them that when they do so, they will continue to enjoy special favour and blessings from God.

    Other dignitaries at the service include the governor’s wife, Bolanle; first civilian Governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande; his wife, Abimbola and Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Opeyemi Oke.

    Others are: Chief Rasak Okoya, Prof Pat Utomi, Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo, Pastor Ituah Ighodola, Rev Adebola Ademowo and Bishop Mike Okonkwo.

  • Water Corporation urges Lagosians to use water wisely

    Water Corporation urges Lagosians to use water wisely

    The Managing Director of Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), Mr Muminu Badmus, on Friday urged Lagosians to imbibe the culture of water conservation.

    Badmus gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    He said that the global water scarcity threat necessitates wise usage of water by consumers.

    According to him, any consumer that uses water wisely will appreciate the metering system the corporation has adopted to protect the interest of residents.

    ”The metering system has made water consumers to be aware of how much the corporation charges per cubic meter, which is equivalent to 1000 litres.

    ”For clarity, low density areas pay N200, high density areas, N250 and commercial users N350 per cubic meters respectively.

    ”This is the cheapest rate you can find in any country,” he said.

    Badmus said that the Corporation has metered about 32,000 properties in the first phase of the exercise.

    According to him, 24,000 pre-paid meters, 6,000 old meters and 2,000 mechanical meters have been installed in Lekki axis, Victoria Island Annex, Surulere, Omole and Ikeja among others.

    Badmus said that the metering of houses would continue to other communities not yet covered once there was delivery of additional meters.

    He enjoined the residents not yet metered not to relent in paying their water bills.

    The managing director said that those metered would be recharging their cards when they run out of water.

    Badmus said that the corporation was working relentlessly to have potable water to supply to areas not yet covered in its network.

  • Updated: Fire guts 20 vehicles, several bags of rice at Customs warehouse in Lagos [Photos]

    Updated: Fire guts 20 vehicles, several bags of rice at Customs warehouse in Lagos [Photos]

    A warehouse belonging to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A was yesterday razed by fire.

    20 vehicles, consisting of six articulated vehicles, 12 cars and two minibuses, and a fully loaded truck with seized foreign parboiled rice at the NCS’ warehouse were affected in the inferno

    The intervention of firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service and men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency was said to have curtailed the spread of the fire.
    The exact cause of the fire, which started around 2pm, could not be ascertained as of press time, as there were conflicting accounts of what started it.

    While authorities at the customs service said the fire started after the gas cylinder of an impounded truck exploded, one of the emergency workers said it was caused by bush burning.

    The fire was said to have quickly spread to vehicles in the warehouse before the firefighters intervened.

    The spokesperson for the NCS, FOU Ikeja, Jerry Attah, said three vehicles were burnt, adding that no life was lost or injury sustained.

    He said, “A section of the constructed annex warehouse was gutted by fire. It is not our main warehouse. There were two trucks that had been there for a long time. The trucks had gas cylinders which usually come with them. The fact that they had been there for a long time, coupled with the heat of the season, made one of them to explode. When it exploded, the fire spread. But we called in the state fire service and LASEMA. The fire was put out at 3pm. Only one truck and two cars were burnt.”

    However, one of the emergency workers at the scene said the fire started due to bush burning activities around the place where the vehicles were parked.

    He said, “We discovered that some people were burning bush around the warehouse and that was what started the inferno. No life was lost and no injury sustained.”

    The Director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe, said the agency deployed three water trucks from the Alausa, Ikeja and Ilupeju fire stations.

    He said, “When we received the alert, we activated our emergency response plan and deployed firefighters in the scene. We had seen the fire from our office and with the support of our sister agency, LASEMA, we did not allow the fire to go beyond where we met it.

    “The fire, however, destroyed six articulated vehicles, 12 cars and two minibuses. There were many vehicles in the warehouse. We worked tirelessly to prevent the fire from spreading to other vehicles. If not for our prompt response, the damage would have been more.”

    The General Manager of LASEMA, Adeshina Tiamiyu, said the agency’s officials joined in putting out the fire, adding that 18 vehicles – 12 cars and six trucks – were gutted by fire.

    Tiamiyu noted that LASEMA would work with the customs service to investigate the cause of the fire to forestall a recurrence.

    [Photos] Vehicles, bags of rice destroyed as fire guts Customs warehouse in Lagos