Somalia car bomb, shooting hits Kismayu hotel, nine dead – Newstrends
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Somalia car bomb, shooting hits Kismayu hotel, nine dead

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MOGADISHU, Oct 23 (Reuters) – A car bomb and shooting attack on a hotel in the Somali city of Kismayu killed nine people on Sunday before security forces ended the siege at the hotel and killed the attackers, a regional official said.

Gunfire erupted after an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the gate of the port city’s Tawakal Hotel. The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group said it had carried out the attack.

“In the explosion, nine people including students and civilians were killed and 47 others were injured, some of them seriously,” Yussuf Hussein Dhumal, Security Minister for Jubbaland, told Reuters.

“The hotel where the explosion happened was near a school, so many students were injured.”

Security forces killed three of the attackers and a fourth died in the bomb blsat, Dhumal said.

Before the attack, a meeting was being held at the hotel to plan how to fight al Shabaab, Farah Mohamed, a security officer, told Reuters from Kismayu.

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Mohamed Nur, a police captain, and Farah Ali, a shopkeeper in Kismayu, told Reuters the blast at the hotel preceded the gunfire.

Video footage from the Somali National Television posted on its Twitter account showed security personnel load one of the wounded into an ambulance.

Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesperson, said the group was behind the attack, which he said had targeted Jubbaland region’s administrators who work from the hotel.

Kismayu is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al Shabaab.

Al Shabaab was driven out of Kismayu in 2012. The city’s port had been a major source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and other illegal imports.

In 2019, a similar attack at another hotel in Kismayu killed at least 26 people.

The group is battling to topple Somalia’s central government and impose its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. It has killed thousands of Somalis and hundreds of civilians across East Africa in a decade-long insurgency.

Somali security forces say they have made gains on the battlefield against al Shabaab in recent weeks while fighting alongside local self-defence groups, but the group has continued to carry out deadly raids.

Reuters

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Man arrested in Lagos for vandalising electronic road sign

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Lekan Olanrewaju

Man arrested in Lagos for vandalising electronic road sign

The Lagos police command says its operatives have arrested a man named Lekan Olanrewaju for allegedly vandalising one of the electronic road signs installed on the Five Star Bridge in Oshodi.

In a post on its X page on Monday, Nov. 18, the command said men of the rapid response squad (RRS) arrested the suspect last Wednesday, Nov. 13, while he was removing the battery cables of the electronic sign.

“Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) arrested a man last Wednesday for vandalising one of the electronic road signs installed on Five Star Bridge, Oshodi, to caution road users to slow down,” the post reads.

“The suspect, Lekan Olanrewaju, 30 years old, was arrested around 2:00 a.m. while removing the battery cables of the electronic sign.

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“Vandals had a week before stolen the battery of one of the two road signs installed at the inward Apapa end of the bridge to caution motorists.”

The police said the suspect’s arrest came after Shola Jejeloye, the RRS commander, deployed a patrol team to combat traffic robbery and safeguard public infrastructure.

The command said operatives recovered cables and pliers from the suspects, adding that he has been charged and sentenced to one and a half years in prison.

Police arrest 30-year-old man for ?vandalising electronic road sign? in Lagos

Man arrested in Lagos for vandalising electronic road sign

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EFCC says Nigerian lawyers, Int’l investors colluding to loot national treasury

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Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede

EFCC says Nigerian lawyers, Int’l investors colluding to loot national treasury

EFCC chair Ola Olukoyede says no mega financial fraud, especially illicit financial flows, is possible without lawyers’ collusion.

Mr Olukoyede stated this during the opening of the sixth Annual Criminal Law Review Conference in Abuja.

According to the EFCC chairman, lawyers aid in the transfer of huge funds into offshore accounts, preferably in tax havens.

“The most traumatic discovery of the EFCC in recent years was the subjugation of national interest and well-being to personal interest by lawyers who aided briefcase foreign investors to fleece the nation in dubious transactions. The P&ID scam, the Mambilla Power Project, and Sunrise issues are cases in point,” the EFCC boss said.

He said that while the anti-graft agency had had cause to prosecute judicial officers and senior lawyers, his respect for the bench and senior members of the bar remained undiminished.

“However, based on the unique experiences of the EFCC in the prosecution of corruption cases, I am particularly interested in systemic reforms in our justice delivery system that capture the process for the discipline and regulation of judicial officers, the regulation and discipline of legal practitioners, ethics, values and standards of legal practice.

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“These are essential to me because the job of EFCC is ensuring that the corrupt do not find space in our national life. When they do, to make them pay for their deeds,” said the anti-graft chief.

Mr Olukoyede urged the judiciary “to address the issue of obscene legal fees senior lawyers earn from political office holders, particularly the manner in which they collect such fees which clearly conflicts with existing statutes.”

“If a lawyer would not care about the source from which a sitting governor or any other public servant pays him millions of naira to defend him in the electoral tribunal, the lawyer must necessarily be mindful of the fact that the only proper way to collect such humongous amounts is through the financial system.

“Aside from violating money laundering regulations, hauling millions of naira of professional fees from public office holders in liquid cash as senior lawyers do is only aimed at tax evasion.

“It is needless to stress that the best act of mentoring from leaders of the bar to the younger generation of lawyers is by living out the ethical demands of the profession,” added Mr Olukoyede.

AGF Lateef Fagbemi said these challenges “demand innovative, practical and collaborative approaches to ensure” the justice system “remains robust, fair and effective.”

EFCC says Nigerian lawyers, Int’l investors colluding to loot national treasury

(NAN)

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Lagos declares movement of wet sand by trucks illegal

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Lagos declares movement of wet sand by trucks illegal

The Lagos State Government has declared the transportation of wet sand in tipper trucks illegal, citing its adverse effects on road infrastructure.

Ekundayo Alebiosu, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, issued the warning on Monday, emphasizing the need to comply with road safety and infrastructure preservation laws.

“Driving tipper trucks filled with wet sand on the road is highly illegal,” Alebiosu stated in a release shared via the ministry’s social media platforms.

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He explained that wet sand significantly increases a truck’s weight, exacerbating road damage. “The excessive weight causes cracks, potholes, and ruts, accelerating the degradation of roads not designed to handle such stress,” the commissioner said.

Tipper operators were urged to allow dredged sand to dry completely before transportation and to adhere to legal weight limits to avoid penalties.

The ministry reiterated its commitment to safeguarding Lagos roads and ensuring safer transportation across the state.

 

Lagos declares movement of wet sand by trucks illegal

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