A one- storey building on Saturday morning was engulfed by fire.
The building is located at 10 Moliki Street in the Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State.
It was gathered that the fire started around 8am and destroyed the entire first floor of the residential building.
Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nosa Okunbor, confirmed the incident to newsmen.
He said the cause of the fire is still known but rescue operation is ongoing.
About 15 shop owners were said to have collapsed due to the wildfire that razed Amu Timber, a Lagos popular plank market on Saturday morning.
Residents were divided over when the fire started.
Some said the fire started around 11pm while others said it was around 12am.
Goods worth hundreds of billions were lost to the inferno and houses got burnt.
The shop owners, some of who live in far places, could not salvage any of their goods.
None of those on ground knew the cause of the fire.
“It couldn’t have been from the electric distribution because we don’t use power from either Ikeja Electricity Distribution or Eko Disco.
“We all use generating set in this market, ”a trader told The Nation.
Some residents noted that the fire service didn’t respond on time and when their vehicle arrived, it came with half tank water.
“It took another one hour before three more vehicles arrived. I think the state fire service could do better, ” Femi Akiola told newsmen.
Acting Head of Lagos State Fire Service, Mrs. Margaret Adeseye blamed the crowd for the delay in putting out the fire.
“Our men responded swiftly to the emergency call with a vehicle.
“On getting to the scene, he called for more support and three additional vehicles were deployed to the scene.
“But we faced similar challenge of crowd control. Our men couldn’t get to the fireplace.
“We had to call on the police to help push clear the way before the firefighters could access the place, ” Mrs Adeseye said.
The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Mr Adedamola Kuti, on Thursday expressed worry at drain-stuffing by some residents of the state especially in Mushin.
Kuti told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that such residents deposit various wastes into drains, blocking them and increasing flooding.
He said that the situation had resulted in the degeneration of a section of the Moshalashi-Agege Motor Road.
Kuti told NAN on telephone that logistics had been provided for rehabilitation of the section as soon as rainfall would subside.
He expressed sadness at the constant failure of the portion due to drain stuffing and its attendant flooding.
“Another round of drains cleaning will begin immediately to cart away debris to pave way for rehabilitation works on the highway.
“Once this rain stops, the contractor will move to site to begin rehabilitation of the road.
“The other time we worked on that Idi-oro section, we de-silted all the drains but within a short time, the drains were blocked again.
“The people on that axis will testify that we did major de-silting.
“Our people have messed up the drains; they dump plastics, refuse and all manner of wastes, which are doing so much damage because water is emptied constantly on the road to spoil it,’’ he said.
The controller said that blockage of drains caused water to be on the road daily.
“I have already taken note of the problem. We are going to begin desilting the drains again.
“The media and the local government (Mushin) should help us to sensitise the people to the dangers of their attitude,’’ the controller said.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who toured the road, reports that gullies have cut off a section of the road at Idi-oro on the Oshodi-bound carriageway, causing gridlock.
The gridlock is compounded by driving against traffic done by tricycle riders, who also use inner roads in a bid to avoid the craters, near an NNPC Filling Station.
The bad stretch accommodates flood waters from blocked drains and surface run-offs from rainfall.
Some road users and traders from the Idi-oro Market, who spoke to NAN, called for an urgent government intervention.
Not less than five people including a student and a policeman were feared killed in cult-related violence in Mushin area of Lagos on Monday and yesterday.
Two traders were killed inside Ladipo International Market on Monday evening by suspected cultists. A policeman, a hoodlum and a pupil died during a clash at Idi-Oro area in Mushin.
The pandemonium was reportedly occurred after police team raided a shop on Elegba Street, where some hoodlums sold hemp. The hoodlums attacked the policemen with broken bottles and stones in retaliation.
The cops, who retreated, reportedly returned with reinforcements and engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle.
TheNewsGuru.com learnt that the police shot tear gas canisters into Ansar-Ud-Deen Secondary School.
A witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the police shot tear gas canisters into two private secondary schools –Ansarudeen Comprehensive College and Amazing Grace Secondary School – where some pupils were choked.
A pupil of Amazing Grace, Samuel Okechukwu, who was asthmatic, reportedly died.
The source said, “The police had been raiding Akala and Idi-Oro for some weeks now and carrying away bags of hemp. The hoodlums believe that the police resell them. They had been planning to fight back.
“Last night (Monday), a man on Elegba Street took delivery of hemp worth N7m and the police got information about it. Around 11am, the policemen, led by the Area Commander, Area D Mushin, Akinbayo Olusoji, headed for the shop and seized the hemp.
“The residents, who had been enraged by previous raids, mobilised and launched an attack. They threw stones, broken bottles and other items at the policemen.
“The policemen returned with reinforcements. Three people were shot dead. They fired two tear gas canisters into Ansarudeen Comprehensive College on Alhaji Lasisi Street and another one entered into Amazing Grace Secondary School on Elegba Street. Many of the pupils were affected. A boy died in Amazing Grace.”
Two persons were reportedly killed on Thursday at Ojuwoye Market junction in Mushin by an operational van belonging to the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC).
It was learnt that a combined team of LAGESC and the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit had raided the area around 9am to arrest motorcycle riders.
The deceased were identified as one Medinat, an apprentice hairdresser, and an elderly woman, who was passing by.
Three others, including a trader, also reportedly sustained injuries.
Recall that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had earlier launched the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) to take up responsibities from the now defunct Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI).
Details later…
The police in Lagos on Thursday said that five persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the lynching of two suspected ritualists in Mushin area of the metropolis.
The spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, who confirmed the arrest, said the suspects would be charged to court for jungle justice once the investigation was concluded.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that another ritualists’ hideout was uncovered in a tunnel at the Challenge area of Mushin, Lagos on Wednesday.
Sources said that two of the three suspects found at the hideout were lynched by a mob before the arrival of policemen.
“The hideout used to be the sewage tunnel of a moribund company in the area.
“Syringes and needles were also found in the hideout,” a source said.
Two similar ritualists den had been discovered in different parts of the state in the last two months, resulting in the death of suspected ritualists through jungle justice.
On Aug. 9, two people were set ablaze by a mob in the Obadeyi-Ijaiye end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway for allegedly operating a ritual den in the community.
Two days after, a man was also killed at the Ile Zik bus stop, Ikeja Along end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, over a similar allegation.
Another ritualist’s den on Wednesday was discovered in a tunnel at the Challenge area of Mushin, Lagos State, TheNewsGuru.com can authoritatively report.
— Adeleke Ismail Seun (@seunny2020) August 30, 2017
TheNewsGuru.com reports that one of the suspected ritualists was burnt alive, while two others were rescued by the Police.
The tunnel where they were found leads to a moribund company.
Happening now at Challenge bus-stop Mushin a kidnapper caught inside the canal @lindaikeji @channelstv pic.twitter.com/hxqJWXEJAf
— Obiaso Blessing (@blessing_obiaso) August 30, 2017
Syringes believed to be used in injecting their victim with sedative drugs were discovered in the hideout.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the discovery is coming some few weeks after a similar hideout used for heinous crime was uncovered in the Ijaiye area of the state.
Details later…
Hundreds of All Progressives Congress, APC members converged on the Bishop Aggey Sports Centre in Mushin, Lagos on Monday where one of the party chieftains, Dr Muiz Banire, was expected to appear before a Ward disciplinary committee.
The crowd, however, waited in vain to see Banire, as he failed to show up before the committee.
Ward C, Alafia/Adeoyo in Ilasamaja, in a letter dated July 10 and which was circulated Aug. 10, had asked Banire to meet the committee at the venue on Monday.
The ward, in the letter signed by Badru Olaide, the ward secretary. said Banire should come and answer questions and allegations against him by some party members.
The Ward had invited interested members of the public to the event and urged guests to be seated by 9.45 a.m.
After a long wait with no word from Banire or a representative at the venue on Monday, the four-man committee headed by Mr Bolaji Abbas, decided to kick-start the proceeding.
The secretary of the committee, Alhaji Laide Badru, told the gathering that Banire was duly served invitation to appear and that the committee got proof that the invitation was received.
“We sent the invitation to him by DHL and we got a receipt, which is proof that he got our invitation.
“Also we published the invitation in major newspapers as well as other prominent platforms. So we are sure he is aware,’’ he said.
Dr Wunmi Bewaji, a former member of the House of Representatives and counsel to the committee, assured that the committee would be fair, even in Banire’s absence.
“We will be fair even though we cannot force anybody to appear before the committee. We will be fair,’’ he said.
Mr Olukayode Tolu, one of the two members who had petitioned against Banire, said during the hearing said his action had become inevitable.
He said though he co-wrote the petitions that led to the setting up of the committee, all members of the ward supported his action.
Tolu said members of Banire’s ward were tired of his activities in the state and the party, hence the petition.
“The ward is the most important component of the structure of any party. Yes, you can be at the National level, but the ward is the most important.
“Banire has not attended any meeting at the ward for the past two years and he has not paid any dues.
“Also, his activities shortly before the last council election in the state, smacked of anti-party,’’ he alleged.
Tolu said that Banire was not bigger than the party and should be disciplined.
“On behalf of all APC members in Mushin Ward C, I pray the committee to suspend him from the party for 10 years and that he should never be allowed to hold any post in the party again,’’ he said.
A large number of people at the gathering rose in support of the prayer even as the second petitioner, Mr Ayodele Adebayo, endorsed everything Tolu had said.
Bewaji struggling to control anti-Banire chants that had rent the air, said the committee would deliberate on the issue and come up with a recommendation.
He said the committee would do a thorough job based on the facts on ground.
Bewaji said the committee would do its work without let or hindrance and that the recommendation would be out soon.
The party in the ward had a few weeks ago announced the suspension of Banire over the same allegations.
The National Working Committee of the party, however, nullified the suspension, saying the ward executive committee lacked the power to suspend a national officer.
Banire, who is the party’s National Legal Adviser, had also described his suspension as `laughable,’ saying it was aimed at stopping him from insisting on internal democracy in the state chapter.
Suspected member of Badoo cult has been caught after he stole into a nursery school in Mushin, Lagos State.
The suspect, an 18-year-old man, Fred Minima, reportedly had the logo of the cult on his left hand.
He allegedly entered the premises of the nursery and primary school with the intention to kidnap some pupils.
He was charged before an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Monday, for allegedly belonging to a cult group, Badoo.
Minima, who resides at Akala area of Mushin, is facing three counts of attempted kidnap, belonging to an unlawful society and stealing.
He pleaded ‘not guilty’ to all the charges.
But Police Prosecutor, Maria Dauda, insisted that the accused committed the offences on July 26 at 11.10 a.m. at No. 25, Akinola St., Mushin.
The Magistrate, Mrs. O.O.A. Fowowe-Erusiafe, in her ruling, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000, with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case until August 29 for mention.
Some members of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the Mushin area of Lagos, on Tuesday protested to the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa, Ikeja, demanding the expulsion of the APC National Legal Adviser, Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), from the party.
Recall that TheNewsGuru.com had earlier reported that Banire who is dissatisfied with the inner operations of Lagos APC, said the leadership of the party was not allowing popular candidates to represent the APC in Saturday’s local government election.
Banire in the said report alleged that one Seyi Oladejo, a commissioner in the state, had concluded plans to mobilise a rally against him for his principled stance.
