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FG grants Globalcom approval to reconstruct 64km Ota-Idiroko road

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The Federal Government has given telecoms company, Globalcom, an approval to reconstruct 64km Ota-Idiroko road in Ogun State in 2022, under its Tax Credit Scheme.

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this during an inspection tour of the ongoing reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Wednesday.

He added that the FG had no contract yet for the route but was contacted by Globalcom’s management to construct the road under the new tax scheme.

Fashola said, “From Ota to Idiroko, we don’t have a contract there, but Chief Mike Adenuga of Globacom has offered to construct that road using the tax credit system.

“So, that has also started, they are doing the design and hopefully, by sometime early next year, they should mobilize to site. The real reconstruction is going to happen if we have a deal with Glo.”

The Federal Government said last month that about 794 kilometres of road had been prioritised for construction by eligible companies through Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

This came after the approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for a number of key infrastructural projects to be undertaken by some companies in place of their tax obligations under the Tax Credit Scheme.

The FG identified the companies that had taken the advantage of the initiative as Dangote Industries, Unilever, Julius Berger, MTN, BUA Group of Companies, Access Bank, Transcorp Group, Lafarge and GZI Industries.

Fashola said that FERMA had gone to take measurements there and would move there from the end of September.

He said they would also remove all the squatters, traders and settlers on the road and help manage traffic.

The minister said that the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road contract was first awarded in the year 2000 but now worth about N56 billion.

“This administration has revived the contract and that is why it is fifty something billion naira because at that time when it was a lot less, they didn’t fund it,” he said.

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Brazilian Returnee Arrested With Cocaine In Private Part, NDLEA Seizes London-Bound Consignment

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5 hours ago

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June 28, 2022

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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Brazilian returnee, Uche Benson Igwedum
Igwedum was nabbed at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos with pellets of cocaine concealed in his private part, NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi said.
The NDLEA spokesman in a statement on Sunday noted that Igwedum was nabbed at the Lagos airport on Monday 20th June upon his arrival on Ethiopian Airlines from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa.
“Preliminary investigations reveal the suspect had swallowed 50 wraps of cocaine before departing Brazil and excreted 48 pellets in Addis Ababa where he handed them over to another person,” the statement read.
“He, however, claimed he was unable to excrete the remaining two wraps at the hotel room in Addis Ababa before boarding his flight but later excreted them in the aircraft restroom during the flight from Ethiopia to Lagos.”
Similarly, NDLEA operatives apprehended a drug kingpin, Onyekachi Chukwuma MacDonald, after three weeks of painstaking investigation and tracking.
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He is accused of being behind attempts to export 40 parcels of Methamphetamine popularly called Mkpuru Mmiri locally to London, United Kingdom through the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport.
MacDonald was arrested at Manacola Estate, Alakuko area of Lagos at the weekend, three weeks after his Mkpuru Mmiri consignment weighing 2.05 kilograms was intercepted at the airport and his freight agent, Peter Christopher Anikan arrested on 7th June.
“During his interview, the suspect said he’s from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state and had lived in Dubai, UAE for 10 years before returning to Nigeria in 2019.
“He stated that after his return to Nigeria, he opened a phone accessories shop in Sango Otta, Ogun State but the business collapsed. He then started sending cigarettes to London and decided to conceal the illicit drug in the consignment after advice from a friend.
“Closely related is the seizure of another consignment of 2kg Mkpuru Mmiri at a courier house in Owerri, Imo state. The cargo seized on Wednesday 22nd June had ankara and lace fabrics in which two cylindrical cellophanes containing the drug heading to Hong Kong were concealed,” the statement added.
Also at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Friday 24th June intercepted 500,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg packed in 10 cartons and labelled Tramaking imported from Karachi, Pakistan on Emirates Airline. The consignment weighing 407.60kg was seized during a joint examination with Customs and NAFDAC officials.
The same day, a Dubai, UAE-bound passenger, Alegbeleye Taiwo was arrested at the departure hall of the MMIA with 40 ampoules of pentazocine injection. The 21-year-old suspect claims he’s from Osun state.
Meanwhile, two kingpins behind the importation of two recent drug consignments from Canada concealed in vehicle containers through the Tincan seaport in Apapa, Lagos have been arrested by NDLEA operatives.
One of them, Gboyega Ayoola Elegbeji was arrested at his house, 14 Bakare Street, Idi Araba, Lagos on Wednesday 22nd June, for importing a 40ft container TRHU7874497 containing 33 parcels of cannabis indica (Colorado) weighing16.5kg.
The second suspect, Sunday Joe Oyebola, (aka Otunba) was arrested on Thursday 23rd June. He’s linked to the importation of a 40ft container MEDU4389887 containing four vehicles used to conceal 290 parcels weighing 145kg cannabis indica (Colorado) from Montreal, Canada. He had been on the run since March and had in the course of the investigation attempted to bribe officers with N10million to influence the case.
In his response, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Tincan, and Imo state Commands of the Agency for the drug seizures and arrests, especially of those who thought they could evade the long arm of the law. He encouraged them and their compatriots across other formations to intensify their efforts toward achieving set goals.
HERALD
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Bauchi man lures teenager to farm, plucks out eyes for ritual

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5 hours ago

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June 28, 2022

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The Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a suspected ritualist, Isaac Ezekiel, for allegedly plucking the eyes of a 16-year-old boy, Uzairu Salisu.

Two accomplices, Nensok Bawa, 38, and Yohana Luka, aka Doctor Samu, 52, were also arrested in connection with the crime, which happened at Yelwa community, in the Bauchi area of the state.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident happened around 9am on June 24 when Ezekiel lured Salisu to do a casual job for him on a farm in the community.

Salisu was said to be doing the job when the suspect allegedly used a wire to strangulate him till he lost consciousness.

Afterwards, the 32-year-old reportedly used a knife to pluck out the two eyes of the minor and abandoned him on the farm.

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The ward head, Mohammed Lawal, who was among the people who found the minor writhing in pain, alerted the police to the incident.

The victim was said to have identified Ezekiel as the culprit, leading to his arrest.

In a statement on Monday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Ahmed Wakil, said Ezekiel and his accomplices had been arrested, adding that the victim’s eyeballs were also recovered.

He said, “Sequel to the case of a suspected ritualist who plucked the eyes of a minor, the suspect, Isaac Ezekiel, 32, of Rafin Zurfi, Yelwa, Bauchi metropolitan, has been arrested, and he voluntarily confessed to the crime.

“A prompt search of his house by the police led to the recovery of Uzairu Salisu’s eyeballs. Exhibits recovered from the suspect are the two human eyeballs in a calabash, the cable wire used in perpetrating the heinous act and a travelling bag containing some native medicine.”

Noting that Bawa and Luka connived with Ezekiel to perpetrate the crime, the PPRO said all the suspects would be prosecuted at the completion of investigation.

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Make Judicial Reform Your First Task, NBA President Urges Acting CJN Ariwoola

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5 hours ago

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June 28, 2022

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Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, has called on the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, to reform the nation’s judiciary and restore public confidence in the third arm of government.
Mr Akpata made the call on Monday in a statement while reacting to the resignation of the former CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad.
He reiterated the need for urgent reforms in the judiciary, urging the incoming chief justice to make judicial reform and the restoration of public confidence in the judiciary his first task upon assuming office.
The NBA president pledged the readiness of the Bar to work together with Justice Ariwoola in cleansing “the Augean stable and addressing the ills that have continued to plague not just the judiciary but the entire legal profession”.
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He also thanked the outgone chief justice for the cordial working relationship between the bar and the bench during his tenure and wished him a quick recovery and well-deserved peaceful retirement.
“It is, however, impossible to consider his lordship’s retirement in isolation of the recent unprecedented developments at the Supreme Court where 14 justices of the court censured the outgone Chief Justice of Nigeria over his lordship’s handling of their welfare and related issues,” said Akpata.
President Muhammadu Buhari had sworn in Justice Ariwoola to replace Justice Muhammad who resigned as the CJN on Sunday night on grounds of ill-health.
News of Muhammad’s resignation broke barely a week after 14 justices of the Supreme Court wrote to him to lament the dilapidated state of affairs in the apex court.
In a leaked letter, the justices alleged that Justice Muhammad failed to address the issues raised despite drawing his attention to them, among other claims.
But these allegations were denied by an aide to the former CJN.
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