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Senate demands ₦300bn emergency fund for deplorable Niger roads
The Senate has urged the Federal Government to deploy an emergency intervention fund of N300 billion for critical roads in Niger State linking economic corridors in the North and South.
It lamented the deplorable state of critical roads across the country and resolved that a national legislative roundtable discussion on the state of infrastructure be convoked.
The proposed roundtable talks would bring all critical stakeholders in the transport and logistics industries together with a view to identifying urgent actions needed.
The decision was reached based on a motion by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC, Niger North).
The senator called attention to ugly scene playing out in Niger State since February 24 to September 2021 in which heavy trucks and tanker drivers blocked all entry and exit roads to protest the horrible state of federal roads passing through the state.
He said, “Recall that Niger State has the longest federal roads network of 2, 263 km out of a total of 32, 000 km of federal roads. The federal roads in Niger State stretch from the Abuja-Kaduna end to the Jebba-Mokwa-Makera Tegina-Birnin Gwarimpa-Kaduna Road to the Mokwa-New Bussa Agwara-Kigera end, which lies on the border with the Republic of Benin.
“Overall, the following are critical linkage roads within Niger State that provide logistical and vehicular movements between the North and South , especially the South West and North West corridors.”
He also said, “Because of the massive land area of Niger State at 76, 363 km (representing about nine per cent of the total land area of the country ), all movements from North to South substantially traverse the state.
“Indeed, the massive haulage of heavy industrial goods such as petroleum products, iron rods, cement, finished manufactured goods, machines and equipment, electronic materials and goods, building materials etc., in which trucks and tankers are overloaded seriously devastate the roads .
“Cursory observation and reports indicate that many trucks and tankers are loaded with up to 90,000 tonnes of goods and all vehicles are consistently loaded well above their approved tonnage.”
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Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’
A soldier of the Nigerian Army, Lcpl Ojo Tope has died in an accident in Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State.
According to a report by SaharaReporters, multiple sources said the deceased attached to the 322 Artillery regiment in Benin City was on his way to meet policemen who had allegedly arrested his brother illegally.
The incident occurred around 10 pm on Wednesday.
The policemen attached to Ikere Area Command had reportedly illegally detained Ojo’s brother and after talking to him on the phone, Ojo was asked to come to their checkpoint and identify himself as a soldier.
SaharaReporters learnt that on his way to the checkpoint, Ojo was involved in an accident.
A relative of the deceased told the online newspaper that : “A soldier (Ojo Tope) serving in Benin City came home on a pass in Ikere Ekiti. Around 10 pm on Wednesday, he realised there was no fuel in their generator. So, he sent his younger brother who has a car to get fuel for him.
“However, on his way to get the fuel, the guy met some policemen on the road and they arrested him illegally. They asked him why he was driving at that time and asked him to unlock his phone as well but he refused.
“He pleaded with them that it was his soldier brother who sent him to buy fuel but they refused to let him go. So, he later called the soldier to talk to the policemen and one of them asked him to come and meet them. Sadly, on his way there on a bike, he had an accident.
“After the accident, people rushed him down to where the policemen seized the brother’s car and they pleaded with them to release the car so they could use it to rescue the soldier to the state hospital in Ikere but they refused to release the vehicle.
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“They later got another one to carry the soldier to the hospital. Unfortunately, before they would get to the hospital, the soldier gave up. His body is now in the morgue.”
The family source said some residents who heard about Ojo’s death got angry and wanted to protest against the actions of the policemen but the family calmed them down.
When SaharaReporters contacted the spokesperson for Ekiti State Police Command, DSP Sunday Abutu, denied the role allegedly played by the policemen in the death of Ojo.
He said, “This could be termed ‘a lie from the pit of hell’ as no such incident or report was made in any of our stations across the state, not even the headquarters.
“The only vehicle that was confiscated by our surveillance team from Ikere Area Command on Wednesday night was an unregistered Toyota Camry 2006 model car. The driver had no document and could not give satisfactory proof that the vehicle belonged to him, but then offered to go home and get the documents.
“Up till this moment, the driver did not bring the car documents or come for his vehicle. It should be noted that our surveillance teams do not have or create checkpoints.
“No soldier’s death was reported by anybody or family or the military authority in the state in Ikere Area Command or any of our divisions or formations across the state in recent time and nobody has come to solicit for the release of the said Toyota Camry car.”
“Meanwhile, anyone with any genuine complaint against the conduct of our men should feel free to approach the nearest police station, formation, office of the PPRO or office of the Commissioner of Police for necessary and immediate action,” Abutu added.
Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’
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Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many
Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many
Rampaging bandits operating in North-West Nigeria have attacked Maradun town, the headquarters of Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara, killing one person and kidnapping several others.
Maradun is the hometown of Bello Matawalle, the former governor of the state and present Minister of State for Defence in the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.
Although, police authorities in the state are yet to comment on the latest incident an indigene of the town Nura Maradun told Channels Television that the bandits stormed the town around 1 am on Friday with sophisticated weapons.
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He said they fired indiscriminately to scare residents. According to him, the bandits went from house to house to abduct residents of the town.
“They came in around 1 am and operated till 4 am unchallenged. They went on to search house by house looking for people to be kidnapped,” he said.
“From what I can confirm to you now, one person was killed, and about eight persons most women have been taken away. Some of the women kidnapped are daughters of the Emir’s brother.”
Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many
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Eight illegal security guards arrested in Anambra
Eight illegal security guards arrested in Anambra
The Anambra command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), says it has arrested eight suspected unlicensed private security guards with four pump action guns.
During the parade of the suspects in Awka, the state capital on Thursday, Olatunde Maku, the NSCDC state commandant, said the arrest was made in response to intelligence reports.
Maku added that the suspects are currently undergoing investigation, after which they would be charged to court and prosecuted.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that some of the suspects were impersonating the Anambra Vigilance Group while others were hired by hotels to provide security services, in spite of knowing that the outfits were not licensed or registered,” NAN quoted the NSCDC commandant as saying.
“Meanwhile, four pump action guns with 16 live cartridges were also recovered from them.
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“All the suspects are currently undergoing investigation, after which they would be charged to court and prosecuted.
“This raid is in continuation of the execution of the NSCDC mandate and we will not leave any stone unturned in discharging our responsibilities.
Maku said that the NSCDC is the only agency responsible for licensing, monitoring, and supervising private securities companies in Nigeria, and the raid aims to prevent illegal security outfit proliferation.
The commandant urged licensed private guard companies to adhere to the law and report any suspicious activities or security outfits to the Corps for prompt action.
“I want to put all illegal security outfits on notice to dismantle their operations or face the consequences.
“We will clamp down on any illegal outfit, arrest and prosecute their operators, and recover illegal weapons in their possession.
“This is to restore sanity in the operations of the private security sector and ensure the safety and security of residents.”
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