Five dead, 15 vehicles destroyed as phone call triggers Lagos gas explosion – Newstrends
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Five dead, 15 vehicles destroyed as phone call triggers Lagos gas explosion

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Five persons were confirmed dead on Tuesday in a gas explosion on Ojekunle Street, off Ladipo Street, in the Mushin area of Lagos State.

No fewer than 15 vehicles were also destroyed by the explosion, which damaged many houses in the area.

One of our correspondents, who visited the scene, observed that the site was a mishmash of shattered blocks, wood, iron, cars, and hundreds of gas cylinders.

The workshop where the explosion occurred housed mechanics, panel beaters, gas retailers and other traders.

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Eyewitnesses, who spoke to PUNCH Metro, said the incident happened when a woman, identified as Mama Emma, was frying puff-puff around 7.30am.

Our correspondents learnt that around the same time, a gas retailer, identified as Sodiq, was dispensing gas from a cylinder to another for a customer. Sodiq usually sold gas to panel beaters in the workshop.

Witnesses said while dispensing the gas, his customer received a call, which triggered the explosion.

Sodiq, the customer, Mama Emma and two others were burnt to death, as their remains were bagged and handed over to their families for burial.

Many traders, who wept at the scene, described the gas retailer as a hard-working man who did not deserve to die in such a cruel manner.

Over 15 vehicles on the premises were shattered by the blast.

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PUNCH Metro counted at least 15 vehicles of different brands whose engines were

destroyed by the explosion.

Some of the vehicles were buried in the rubble caused by the blast, as sheds used by mechanics were uprooted and fell flat on the shattered vehicles.

A mechanic whose workshop was on the site, Tajudeen Olorunwa, told PUNCH Metro that his car, a Toyota Highlander, and four others belonging to his customers, were affected.

Olorunwa said he had never experienced such losses in his 24 years at the workshop.

Speaking in Yoruba, he said, “I thank God for the preservation of my life.  I had a vehicle in my workshop when the explosion happened and four others belonging to my customers. The vehicles were for repairs, but I have informed their owners and they have asked me to send photos of the damage.”

He noted that one of his apprentices was severely injured and had been rushed to a nearby hospital.

Another mechanic, who identified himself only as Ahmed, said he was at the workshop around 7am shortly before the blast.

He said, “I was here sleeping in one of the vehicles when one of us was hit by a motorcycle. I and another apprentice rushed the victim to a nearby hospital and on our return, we saw that the explosion had occurred.

“I could have been burnt too if I didn’t rush the victim to the hospital. I used to sleep in one of the cars now destroyed by the blast. I will thank God forever for creating a way for my escape.”

An eyewitness, Juliet Nwokedi, who worked opposite the scene of the incident, said the body of the gas retailer was shattered by the explosion.

Another eyewitness, Pastor Micheal Ogunremi, who claimed to live close to the scene of the incident, said the workshop was once shut by the state government, but the lock was broken.

The South-West Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said 121 cylinders were recovered from the scene.

He said, “An LPG domestic retailing centre located on Ojekunle Street, Ladipo Spare Part Market, exploded and resulted in casualties. Four adults – three males and one female – were recovered dead, while a 10-year-old boy rescued alive died before getting to the hospital.

“The scene was said to have been sealed because the side of the street was dedicated as a mechanical village on which no other user was allowed. But after some time, the seal and lock were removed before the incident occurred.”

The Director-General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Oluwafemi Oke-Osanyintolu, while speaking at the scene of the incident, said a panel would be set up to investigate the cause of the incident.

He said, “After a rigorous and aggressive response, we put out the fire after one hour and we were able to bring out 10 injured persons, who were treated on the spot and discharged. But it is pathetic that we recovered five bodies, four males and one female. Recovery is ongoing and we are going to get to the root of the matter.”

The Chairman of the Mushin LGA, Emmanuel Bamgboye, who also visited the scene, said the council would set up a committee to investigate the incident.

The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, urged residents to stop receiving calls around gas depots.

He said, “This is a disaster that is completely avoidable; this is human negligence because what we heard was that the thing blew up when someone was trying to refill a gas cylinder while making a call.”

Also, an official of the Department of Petroleum Resources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “We gathered that a lady was frying early in the morning and that prompted the explosion in the gas depot.

“But what we observed was that the cylinders stacked there were not in tandem with what we use in the industry.”

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Police rearrest popular singer, Speed Darlington

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Speed Darlington

Police rearrest popular singer, Speed Darlington

Police rearrest popular singer, Speed Darlington

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Hamdiyya Sidi makes U-turn, apologises to Sokoto gov over video on insecurity

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Governor Ahmed Aliyu and Hamdiyya Sidi

Hamdiyya Sidi makes U-turn, apologises to Sokoto gov over video on insecurity

In a significant development, a Sokoto-based rights activist, Hamdiyya Sidi, being prosecuted by Governor Ahmed Aliyu-led Sokoto government for allegedly making inciting statements, has made a U-turn and issued a public apology to the state government.

Sidi was reportedly arrested for “embarrassing” Governor Aliyu, on social media.

She was subsequently arraigned secretly without having access to a lawyer nor family members, a source had said.

The woman had in a video lamented the insecurity in the state and demanded an end to the incessant killings by bandits.

She had reportedly revealed how gunmen took over villages without any restraint and added that displaced women seeking refuge in the state capital were being sexually exploited due to abject poverty.

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But in a new video shared on social media, Sidi stated in Hausa, “My name is Hamdiyya Sidi Sheriff from Sokoto state, Wurno Local Government Area.

“I am the individual who recently created a video highlighting the pressing issues of insecurity and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sokoto State.

“I’m apologising as a woman and a Muslim from Sokoto because I used some words in the video when I made reference to the governor’s wife and his family.

“The words are too heavy considering my age. The words weren’t supposed to have come from me.

“And the other comment I made that the IDPs should move into government facilities and occupy them, I regret saying that too.

“Please for God’s sake, I’m sorry, nobody has the right to move into or occupy a government facility without due process and permission.

“For the government, governor and anyone that my comment has affected, I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

Sokoto is one of states in Northern Nigeria plagued by bandits who raid and loot villages, kill residents and burn houses to the ground.

 

Hamdiyya Sidi makes U-turn, apologises to Sokoto gov over video on insecurity

(SAHARAREPORTERS)

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Customs officers, smugglers clash in Ogun, onlooker killed

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Customs officers, smugglers clash in Ogun, onlooker killed

A bystander was fat@lly struck by a stray bullet when some Nigerian Customs Service officers and smugglers clashed in the Obada Idi-Emi area of Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State on Monday, Nov. 25.

The violent confrontation began earlier in the day, with gunshots ringing out, throwing the community into panic.

As both sides exchanged gunfire, a resident identified as Kazeem was k!lled by a stray bullet.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ogun Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Services, Hammed Oloyede, confirmed the incident to Punch. Oloyede said officers of the command had received intelligence about a smuggling activity of some foreign rice and they trailed the vehicle.

He added that when the driver of the vehicle observed that he had been trailed, he abandoned the smuggled item and the vehicle in a bid to evade arrest and fled the scene.

He said: “On Monday, November 25, 2024, at about 1109hrs, the operatives of Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun Area 1 Command received credible information on a Mazda 323 laden with bags of Imported rice. A surveillance team was deployed in a private vehicle to trail and give real-time updates on the Information.

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“Upon confirmation, The team with the official patrol vehicle swung into action along the bush paths of Owode-Obada and intercepted one MAZDA 323 loaded with foreign rice of 50kg each at the said Owode Obada axis. The driver abandoned the vehicle upon sighting the official patrol vehicle and managed to evade arrest.

“While conveying the intercepted vehicle with foreign rice to the Government Warehouse for documentation, the intercepted vehicle broke down at Obada town. Given the volatile nature of the area, the team leader directed that the intercepted rice be evacuated into the official patrol Hilux.”

He added that some suspected hoodlums attacked the officers while they were transloading the seized contraband which led to a free-for-all between the officers and the hoodlums.

The Ogun Customs PRO added that during the ensuing melee, the customs officers fled the scene to ensure their safety. One officer (pictured above) was injured.

Oloyede said that an investigation has commenced into the matter.

 

Customs officers, smugglers clash in Ogun, onlooker killed

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