The controversy over the ownership of the Obajana Cement Company took a sad twist in the early hours of Monday, as arsonists, who the state believes to be agents of the Dangote Group, stormed the State House of Assembly Complex and set it on fire.
The arsonists were suspected to have been sent to burn the Complex in an attempt to possibly destroy evidence relating to the ownership tussle between the Kogi State Government and the Dangote Group over the Obajana Cement Company.
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, who had released a statement on Sunday, asking Dangote to come clean on the issue, expressed sadness over the recent turn of event, wondering how a business concern would go this low in an effort to twist history.
He called on security agencies to investigate the matter, pointing out that there was enough credible intelligence to show that the target of the arsonists was to destroy evidence relating to ongoing investigations on the Kogi-Dangote face-off over the ownership of Obajana Cement Company.
In a related development, security agents attached to the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, foiled an attempt to attack his home, an incident that had never happened before, according to him.
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The hoodlums, however, escaped with gunshot wounds.
When contacted, Fanwo accused Alhaji Aliko Dangote of “playing dirty and dangerous” over the Obajana saga, saying, “The resolve of the State Government to defend the people’s rights cannot be broken.”
He said, “The State House of Assembly was set on fire this morning. Remember we exposed plans to attack the Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly with fake soldiers yesterday.
“Having discovered that we exposed their satanic plans against the Speaker, they changed tactics to go and burn down the Kogi State House of Assembly. This is an attack on our institution and our people.
“Burning down our Assembly Complex will only further fuel our resolve to right the wrongs of the past. We will take back what legally belongs to us.”
Recall that the State House of Assembly has been at the forefront of efforts at reclaiming the state’s share of the company, which Dangote Group is claiming to own 100 per cent.
The disagreement reached a crescendo when the State House of Assembly ordered the sealing of the company, pending the presentation of the requested documents by the Dangote Group, with youths in the community trooping out to celebrate what they termed “the end of oppression”.
On Saturday, the Kogi State Government exposed certain fight back plans by the Dangote Group, including destabilizing the state and going after key government offices and officials.
The statement was signed by the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo.
Eagle
Five children trapped inside abandoned car in Minna die
Five children have reportedly died of suffocation in an abandoned vehicle in the Albishiri area of Minna, Niger State.
The children were said to have gone missing on Sunday morning before they were found dead at 6pm on the same day.
One of the children was said to be a child of the owner of the car while another one was the child of a neighbour.
The remaining three were siblings, belonging to one Abdullahi Etsu of Etsu-tasha, from the Albishiri area.
Spokesman for the police command in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday.
He said the children were between the ages of five and 13.
Abiodun said the children were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle in the area.
He stated, “On 21/4/2024 at about 6.30pm, based on information received at Kpakungu Div, five children of about 5-13 years of age were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna,” the statement reads.
“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various Parents, as Police visited the scene.
“However, the owner of the vehicle was invited for questioning, as the unfortunate incident is under investigation.”
FG summons Abuja Chinese supermarket owner to tribunal over discrimination
Director of Surveillance and Investigation at the FCCPC, Boladale Adeyinka, disclosed this on Monday after sealing off the outlet.
She affirmed that the owner of the supermarket, Cindy Liu Bei, had fled before the arrival of the agency’s officials.
The FCCPC officials stormed the supermarket on Monday, April 22, 2024, barely 24 hours after the discriminatory practices of the outlet were reported on social media by Nigerians.
Four vandalised towers disrupt power supply to Gombe, Yola, Jalingo
The TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this on Monday in a statement shared on the company’s official X handle, along with pictures of the vandalised towers.
According to the statement, the TCN noted that when the 330kV transmission line tripped, its operators attempted to restore it to service but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN lines men to trace the line to detect and rectify the fault.
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It said, “While fault tracing, TCN’s engineering crew discovered that towers 288, 289, 290, and 291 were vandalised and that some tower members were carted away. Also, the towers had equally collapsed as a result of the incident. Presently, bulk power supply to Gombe, Yola, and Jalingo substations have been disrupted, affecting bulk power supply to parts of Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution Companies’ franchise areas.’’
The TCN however stated that it was trying to first backfeed Gombe through its 132kV transmission line from Bauchi and subsequently Ashaka, Potiskum, Damaturu, and Billiri/Savannah, to mitigate the effect of the incident on electricity consumers affected by the incident.
The company assured that it would do everything to ensure restoration of electricity to the affected areas, while efforts were made to reconstruct the four vandalised towers.
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