metro

Ahead of Buhari’s visit, Lagos announces traffic diversions

Published

2 months ago

January 21, 2023

President Muhammadu Buhari

The Lagos State Government has announced that traffic will be restricted and diverted on Monday 23rd January and Tuesday 24 January on the Island in preparation for the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos State on a two-day working visit.

In a statement by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, the Commissioner for Transport, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde assured that alternative routes have been mapped out as well as the deployment of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA to manage traffic flow during the two-day visit.

Explaining the routes that would be manned by the LASTMA personnel, the Commissioner stated that; “on the first day which is Monday 23rd, movement around Lagos Rice Mill, Imota in Ikorodu, and the Lekki Deep Port Sea axis will be restricted.”

He continued; “while on the second day which is Tuesday 24th, movement around Eko Hotels and Suites, Ahmadu Bello Way, J-Randle through to Broad Street and Outer Marina will be diverted from 6.00am to 3.00pm.”

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Pleading with motorists for their cooperation, Oladeinde highlighted the alternative routes made available as options for motorists depending on the desired destinations.

The options, according to the movement plan, will have motorists diverted from Ahmadu Bello Way, Ademola Adetokunbo and Akin Adesola Street to Falomo Bridge (Five Cowries Bridge), to Alfred Rewane Road to connect their desired destinations, while motorists that are Onikan bound from Ozumba Mbadiwe and Bonny Camp are enjoined to make use of Falomo Bridge (Five Cowries Bridge) or Awolowo Road.

The Transport Commissioner further stated that motorists from Awolowo Road heading to Onikan Roundabout, Tinubu Square or any other part of the inner Island will make use of Falomo Roundabout to link Alfred Rewane to further their journeys.

Another diversion option made available according to the statement is for motorists from King George V Road to connect Moloney Street and then Obalende for their desired destinations, or alternatively link Turton Street through Moloney Street to Lewis and Sandgrouse Streets.

For the motorists from Eko Bridge trying to link Marina, they will be diverted to Elegbata, Ebute Ero to Police Post to link the 3rd Mainland Bridge (Adeniji Adele) to further connect their desired destinations.

While stressing that all the adjourning streets leading to the dedicated routes for the movement of Mr. President will be temporarily closed, Oladeinde assures motorists of a well mapped out strategy to minimize delays and inconveniences of road users.

Eagle

metro

Iwuanyanwu respects Yoruba, will never call them rascals; Ohanaeze denied the viral video

Published

2 hours ago

March 26, 2023

Trends Admin

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has said its Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, did not call Yoruba rascals as being reported.

In a statement by Dr Chiedozie Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary, Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, the group said Iwuanyanwu referred to political thugs that attacked Igbos in Lagos as rascals, adding that that the elder statement would never call Yoruba rascals.

The statement reads, “Our attention has been drawn to the fake news making the rounds that the Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, CFR (Ahaejiagamba) referred to the Yoruba as political rascals.

“This is a typical falsehood, fabricated by social media entrepreneurs, decorated with wings, expanded with venoms, injected with ethnic nuances, and propelled to fly to various corners, fronts, and heights in order to create inter-ethnic mistrust between the age-long partners in the social, cultural, religious and economic development of Nigeria. Indeed it is a lie from the pit of hell.

“Speaking in Awka, Anambra State on Saturday at the event to mark the one year in office of Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra state, Chief Iwuanyanwu drew the attention of the audience and the general public to the fact that Ndigbo and Yoruba people are neither quarreling nor fighting, implying that the Yoruba are a friendly group of people.

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“According to Iwuanyanwu, “I want to tell those in Lagos to realize that there is no war between us and the Yoruba”, adding that “those who attacked Ndigbo in Lagos recently are rascals who should be arrested”.

“This has mischievously been twisted to imply that “Yoruba people are political rascals and that we will fight them”.

“This is quel dommage!’ It is from the insidious minds that wish to create a rift between the Igbo and the Yoruba ethnicities.

“At any time in history, there is often a tug of war between two major groups; mostly the good people with conscience on one hand and the devious insidious minds on the other. However, the moral force of the godly will always countervail the unconscionable.

“This helps to keep the world in an ontological equilibrium. So, as much as some mischief makers will twist the speech by Iwuanyanwu, the truth remains that Ahaejiagamba holds the Yoruba in very high esteem and he used the Awka event to express it.

“The emphasis is that we must not attribute the ugly event in Lagos to the good people of Yoruba ethnicity, rather, it was the handiwork of rascals, hooligans, spivs, charlatans, miscreants, and dregs of Lagos society.

“It is important to highlight that Chief Iwuanyanwu is a renowned patriotic detribalized Nigerian. He enjoyed the fidelity, confidence, solidarity, and support of the Yoruba when he was in active business and politics.

“He would recall with deep emotional attachment the cordial relationship he had with the Yoruba when he contested for the presidency of Nigeria in 1992; similarly as an Executive Chairman/Publisher of Champion Newspaper Limited, Chairman of Oriental Airlines Limited, Chairman of Oriental Shipping Lines Ltd; among others.

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“Iwuanyanwu in all his private and public discussions has often commended the profound Yoruba cultural values, intellect, and hospitality. He applauds the cordial relationship between the Igbo and the Yoruba, citing that several Igbo are an integral part of various Yoruba communities.

“The depth of the roots of the intermarriages that have taken place between the Igbo and the Yoruba is transcendental, eternal, and can no longer be uprooted. The successful marriages of Yoruba daughters by frontline Igbo sons; Chief Emeka Anyaoku; Asagba of Asaba, Professor Joseph Chike Edozien; Professor Vincent Ike, Professor Okey Ndibe, etc, and vice versa, exemplify the irreproachable similarity in the Igbo Yoruba cultural values and cosmology.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Ohanaeze Ndigbo will resist any attempt to paint the 2023 presidential election with an ethnic tar. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Peoples Congress and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party enjoyed the support of eminent Igbo sons and daughters. It is also on record that the emergence of Peter Obi and the success he recorded in the presidential election was by Nigerians of all ethnicity, class, and creed. This accounts for why the Ohanaeze was about the last to adopt Peter Obi as a presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

“Ohanaeze rather re-affirmed and indeed reaffirms its stand on the position of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) led by Chief E K Clarke and Chief Ayo Adebanjo.”

metro

No war between Igbo, Yoruba in Lagos – Ohanaeze

Published

6 hours ago

March 26, 2023

Trends Admin

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu

The Chairman, Council of Elders, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has condemned individuals described as political rascals for the ethnically charged rhetoric against the Igbo in Lagos State.

In the midst of the elections, particularly last Saturday’s governorship election, incendiary dialogue led to targeted attacks on voters of southeastern extraction.

“I want to tell those in Lagos to realise that there is no war between us and Yorubas. They are just political rascals, and we’re going to handle them,” Iwuanyanwu said Saturday at a ceremony in Anambra State to commemorate Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s one year in office.

“The elders have directed the secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, [Okey] Emuchay, to set up a commission of inquiry to find out things destroyed; people are going to pay.”

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The Igbo elder stated that he convened a meeting of the Ohanaeze Council of Elders worldwide, who X-rayed the events in Lagos during the meeting held on Wednesday.

“I want to tell you that people who attended from our branches in America, Canada, Europe, London and Nigeria have resolved and I want those from Lagos to go home and tell those in Lagos,” he said.

“We have resolved that never again can we allow anybody to take the life of any innocent person. All of us are going to fight the person. Never again!”

The Ohanaeze leader asserted that southeastern natives were fellow Nigerians who had “so much” investments in the country. Reacting to the rhetoric ordering Igbo sojourners to leave other regions, he said, “We are not going anywhere.”

metro

Govt rescues 12-year-old girl allegedly defiled by her father

Published

19 hours ago

March 25, 2023

Trends Admin

THE Anambra State Government said it rescued a 12-year-old girl, alongside her two younger siblings, from their father, Arinze Obiwenite, who allegedly defiles her.

Mrs Ify Obinabo, the state Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, told newsmen on Saturday in Awka that the children were rescued on Monday, during a raid at Abacha town in Idemili North Local Government Area, following a tip off.

Obinabo said she visited the Traditional Ruler of Abacha community, Igwe Nwabunwanne Odiegwu, to notify him of the raid before taking action.

She said that during the visit, Igwe Odiegwu revealed that the accused, Obiwenite, presented himself as a Christian who helped people solve their spiritual problems without knowing that he had other motives.

“The traditional ruler told us he knew about Obiwenite’s alleged escapees when he accused some young boys in the community of raping his daughter.

“He was summoned to the palace on several occasions to state his case, but failed to honour the royal invitation which made the youth of the community troop to his residence but were disappointed at what they saw.

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“The youth discovered that he locked up his three children in a room, including the 12-year-old girl, whom he alleged that some young men of the community had raped.

“When questioned, the daughter revealed that her father had locked them up in the room for five years and that he always had carnal knowledge of her while he fingers her two younger siblings,” she said.

The Commissioner said they raided Obiwenite’s residence and rescued the 12-year-old girl and her two siblings, who had been taken to the hospital for medical examination and treatment.

She assured that the children would get justice and a conducive environment for growth and proper care.

“When we raided the house, we also discovered that the accused uses diabolic means to run a ministry, known as ‘Holy Trinity Healing Ministry’, where people come to get solutions to their problems.

“When he was interrogated, he denied all the allegations but was quick to ask the traditional ruler to forgive him and help find a way of resolving the issue outside the court, which the Igwe blatantly refused.

“Some fetish items, hollow grave at his backyard, a paper with a long list of names of those he had killed and will kill, were discovered at his house and he was made to destroy them in the presence of the villagers.

“The accused also stated that he was married to 11 wives but does not live with any of them,” she said.

Obinabo said that Obiwenite had been arrested by the police and transferred to the State Criminal Investigative Department in Awka.

She said that Obiwenite would be arraigned before the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate’s Court. (NAN)