Lagos to crush over 4, 000 impounded commercial motorcycles

The Lagos State government has revealed that it has concluded plans to crush and recycle over 4, 000 impounded commercial motorcycles popularly called Okada, in line with the provisions of the State Traffic Law 2012.

A statement by Habib Aruna, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, quoted Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, as saying that recent clampdown on commercial motorcycles in the state was a fallout of the government’s resolve to address the security concerns posed by their operations, saying that criminals were in the habit of using Okada to perpetrate crime and get away.

The Lagos Traffic Law 2012 prohibits the operations of Okada and tricycles also known as Keke Marwa from operating in certain routes and areas across the state.

He said the state Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, had directed that the police and other security agencies concerned redouble efforts to ensure the law was complied with, while giving assurance that the clampdown would be sustained vigorously on a daily basis.

He said: “So far, we have impounded about 500 motorcycles since we started our renewed efforts and we now have a total of about 4, 000 bikes ready to be crushed. The law made provisions on how those motorcycles should be handled and the law also made provision on how to handle those that have flouted the law itself.”

According to Owoseni, the decision to crush and recycle the impounded motorcycles was in accordance with the provision of the law.

Owoseni said aside impounding the motorcycles and tricycles, the enforcement would also clampdown on the operators and residents who patronise them, adding that mobile courts would be instituted to try arrested offenders.

“The operators of the commercial motorcycles and those patronising them, with time, you will get to see the Mobile Court going around to try some of those that have been arrested.

What we are saying here is that we want people in Lagos to know that there is a law and the law is made for a purpose and if all of us obey the law and conform, the better for us,” he said.

Besides, Owoseni said that due to the constant challenges of enforcing the law, the state government was already considering an outright ban on Okada operations in some areas of the state starting with the Lekki and Victoria Island axis.

Corroborating him, Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Olanrewaju Elegushi, said the administration of Governor Ambode recently warned all commercial motorcycles to steer clear of restricted routes, as the clampdown on defaulters would be total.

“We have an enforcement unit led by the Commissioner of Police, the Task Force on Environmental and Other Special Offences, the Divisional Police Officers and the Area Commanders. They have started enforcement and we came to see how far they have gone,” Elegushi said.
Source:The Sun

Expect 100% fare hike: Domestic airlines tell Nigerian travellers

A typical case is that of C-check on a Boeing B737, which is the most common of the aircraft used on domestic routes in Nigeria. Such regular c-checks used to cost about $500,000 (about N75 million previously), but if operators don’t have access to forex at official rate and have to buy at over N500 for such checks, then they might end up spending about N250 million.

Fearing a public backlash should they come out openly to announce increases in air fares, most airlines have opted to such subtle measures as raising fares on competitive routes (like the Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja) or those routes that they enjoy a sort of monopoly, while lowering fares on those with fewer number of passengers.

But a spokesman for one of the local airlines who wouldn’t want to be named said the solution lies in a collective decision of the airline industry to raise fares by more than 100 per cent.

“We do aircraft maintenances in dollars, buy spares in dollars, pay for insurance in dollars, and even buy fuel in dollars. What the CBN supplies is still not sufficient for us.

Most of us still get dollars at the parallel market. And by the time the time we are converting earnings in naira into the dollars, it becomes very obvious in simple economics that the current fares have to go up by more than 100 per cent if airlines must continue to fly and be profitable,” said the airline spokesman.

“To be honest, the cheapest or most realistic fare Nigerians should be paying on any route within the country should be N40, 000,” he added.

Operators contemplating air fare increases enjoy the backing of a key stakeholder in the industry like the Managing Director, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Mr. Nobert Bielderman, who came out openly to caution the industry against allowing airlines to continue to charge existing or current fares which everyone knew was not realistic. He warned that safety could be compromised along the line by the airlines.

“Domestic airlines would be worst hit because of current ticket prices are not in sync or responsive to current realities and this is due to unhealthy price wars and pursuit of market dominance at the domestic side of airline business,” said Bielderman.

“Domestic air tickets are still significantly low despite increase in airport charges, taxes etc. These domestic carriers still maintain their aircraft in USDollars and aviation fuel has not significantly been reduced if at all.

In our opinion, we suggest that these domestic airlines come together and agree a base rate for air tickets in order not to compromise safety and the regulator would do well to step in and analyse their current book positions and act accordingly.

“Aviation business like any other business is set up to make profit and to create shareholder value and these negative supervening factors may lead to cost saving methods that may compromise service standards and safety. This is asides the sector’s relevance in relation to GDP Nigeria cannot afford another air mishap,” he added.

Shrinking passenger challenge

According to the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muktar Usman, the forex crisis is having a dire impact on airlines operating in the country.

According to the NCAA boss, while an average of 700 aircraft flew out of various airports in the country daily in 2015, the figure had reduced to 597 daily flights in 2016.

In the same vein, he disclosed that while airlines sold tickets estimated at N385billion in 2015, there was however a slide in 2016 as operators were only able to sell tickets valued at about N330billion.

Asked what was responsible for both passenger and revenue drop, Usman said it was the ongoing economic recession in the country as well as the scarcity or high cost of forex that had marred the ability of a lot of potential air travelers from buying air tickets.

A growing number of Nigerians now resort to road transportation to destinations hitherto undertaken by air in a bid to save cost. Keeping fares low certainly ensures more patronage of those whose disposable incomes still allows them to fly. But increasing fares has the potentials of scaring away passengers.

One challenge therefore that airlines planning to hike fares by 100 per cent would face is the shrinking number of passengers that now patronize airlines.

Air Peace receives 12th aircraft, plans Sokoto route
 The aircraft, which landed at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos over the week threw staff of the airline into an ecstatic mood.

The airline said the arrival of the aircraft will greatly boost its expansion drive. Air Peace it would be recalled had commenced its daily Lagos-Accra-Lagos flight operations on February 16.
Air Peace is also planning to start flight operations to Sokoto in a few days’ time.

In a statement announcing the arrival of the latest aircraft, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide said: “Our customers are our greatest asset. Their support and loyalty have ensured our rapid growth, expansion and choice as Nigeria’s preferred airline.

Our banks and other creditors have also been very supportive because of our integrity.”
The airline, she added, was uncompromising in the maintenance of its aircraft to guarantee the safety of its customers.

“Two of our aircraft are also arriving from C-check. We insisted on the regulatory heavy maintenance in accordance with Boeing requirements. We insist on very high safety standards because we greatly value the lives of our esteemed customers”, Olajide said.
She enthused: “The coming  of our new aircraft will infuse new energy into our expansion drive.

“On February 16, 2017 we commenced our daily Lagos-Accra-Lagos operations. Any moment from now, we intend hitting more regional and international destinations, including Abidjan, Douala, Niamey, Dakar, Johannesburg, South Africa, Dubai, Mumbai, Guangzhou-China, Atlanta and London.

“We will also be covering more local destinations in a matter of days. Already, we are set to commence flight operations into Sokoto.

So we are getting more aircraft and doing heavy maintenance of our fleet to sustain the high safety standards we have been known for since we started commercial flight operations.”
Source:The Sun

I spent my share of our ransom on my wedding –Kidnap suspect

With the way they stood side by side and were collectively dreading the cameras, one could safely assume that they already have some regrets for what they had done.

Until their recent arrest by the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team, the gang members had kidnapped several individuals and collected millions of naira as ransom from families of their victims.

According to the police, those earlier kidnapped by the suspects include a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bagudu Hirse, who was kidnapped on November 20, 2016 and was released after six days; a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Kaduna State, Dr. Abdulmalik Durunguwa; a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly and Durunguwa’s wife who was again abducted by the suspects after the husband had regained his freedom.

But nemesis caught up with them when the IRT and STS operatives in Kaduna moved in on them and arrested no fewer than six of them.

One of them is 35-year-old Ifeanyi Chukwu, who hails from Abia State and was arrested in a hotel in Aba. He confessed to being one of those who kidnapped Hirse and many others across the country, including Imo, Rivers, Delta, Abia, Kaduna states and the Federal Capital Territory.

During interrogation, Chukwu said he went into kidnapping in 2015 and that it was his share from the ransom that he used for his wedding ceremony on December 29 (2016).
“I used my share of the ransom from the Kaduna kidnapping for my weding on December 29,” he said.

Meanwhile, another member of the group, Jato Peter, 29, was a policeman before he was dismissed after killing someone. Given that he still had his uniform, Jato said he would always wear his police uniform anytime they were taking their victims to where they would be kept.

He claimed he didn’t know what the gang was into initially, but the first time he accompanied their victim, he was given N50,000. He said, “Two days later, we kidnapped someone and I was given N200,000. We did the second one and they gave me N400,000. 

And then they asked me to come to Kaduna; I escorted cars for them on the third occasion and that was when I was arrested and taken to prison.”
Other members arrested also included a 33-year-old HND holder, Dominic Nwanpaka, who hails from Abia State.

He said one Alhaji bought guns for them to snatch cars for him and that they snatched several cars for him. He recalled that one Ifeanyi introduced him to kidnapping and their first victim was an importer. He said N5m was collected from the man before he was released.

He added, “Then we kidnapped a medical doctor and kept him in the house of a gang member known as Uche. And N10m was paid before he was released. We also kidnapped another medical doctor and we collected N470,000 and his Toyota Sequoia sport utility vehicle.

Those were the jobs I did with Ifeanyi and his gang in Abia and I relocated to Kaduna because people started looking for kidnappers in Abia.”

On getting to Kaduna, he said one Balla brought to him another deal to kidnap Abdulmalik, from whose family they collected N5m before he was released.

He said, “We also kidnapped a member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly and he gave us N10m. We then kidnapped Dr. Abdulmalik’s wife, not knowing she was the wife of our first victim. When we realised that, we apologised to him and told him to give us whatever he had.

“Before we were arrested, we kidnapped an ambassador; we found him and two others at a gathering and we went after them. We kidnapped the ambassador and he gave us N1m before he was released.”
He said he was later arrested in Lagos and that he was shot on his two legs, while the car he bought was confiscated.

Other members arrested include 30-year-old Ballat Paul, aka Timberland, who was the driver of the gang, Ibrahim Samuel and 35-year-old Afini Paul, who is a sister to the driver and the girlfriend to the gang leader Dominic. She also rented a two-bedroomed flat at Marabarido, Kaduna State where they kept their victims. She was also the gang’s cook.

Vehicles snatched include two Toyota Corolla saloon cars and a Toyota Hilux, while the items recovered from them include two pump action rifles, 145 pieces of AK47 rifles, 21 cartridges, six pieces of 9mm ammunition, a complete camouflage police uniform, two army face caps, one anti-tracking device, mask and assorted charms.

A police source said apart from making N20m when they kidnapped two medical doctors in Aba before releasing them, they also kidnapped an unidentified man, whom they later killed in their den in Aba.

The source added, “Suspects confessed to the act and are helping operatives to arrest the fleeing gang members. Sani Ayub’s main duty was to ferry cars out of Kaduna State after snatching. Our investigation continues.”
Source:Punch

Isheri: Lagos community ruled by kidnappers

We’re at their mercy – Residents
Isheri North community, a sleepy town located at the boundary of Lagos and Ogun states, is on fire.

Formerly regarded as a ‘hideaway’ community by Lagosians, who want to avoid the bustle of the high-density Lagos metropolis, the neighbourhood has attracted attention of daredevil kidnappers and in the past two years has recorded an unusual prevalence and a new order whereby residents and homeowners have become cash-cow targets for kidnappers.

The abduction in that corridor on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, has brewed palpable fear that if the scourge goes unchecked, the once fast-developing community still wooing real estate investors and residents, will suffer a setback.

The community, comprising group of estates––Harmony, River View, Oshurun, Isheri GRA and Sheriff View, located on Catapillar road––once touted as ‘a place of rest and perfect security’ has become hunting grounds for kidnappers, who after turning the area into a goldmine, are not ready to relax their stranglehold.

Recently, a heavily armed 11-man gang abducted Dayo Adekoya, the secretary of the Isheri GRA estate. The kidnappers who stormed the estate at 10 pm on Wednesday, February 1, 2017, sporadically shot into the air for almost four hours before forcibly taking their victim away at 1 am, killing three of the estate’s security personnel who tried to prevent them.

Few weeks earlier, there was kidnapping at the Turkish International School when gunmen abducted five students and two staff, including a Turkish and held them hostage for two weeks until they were paid a princely ransom. In 2015, three landlords were whisked away while out on a Saturday morning keep-fit exercise.  The story of kidnapping in Isheri is chilling.

The audacity with which the abductors struck not only overwhelms residents with fear; it has pushed some of them to entertain second thoughts about their continuing stay in the neighbourhood.

A resident, who identified himself as Gabriel said he is also considering packing out. He affirmed that since the first day kidnappers struck in the community, some of the landlords “have sent their children away to boarding schools and have taken precaution to only spend their weekends here.”

The last straw was the latest abduction, an episode as frightening as to convince some of the homeowners to move their families. It is no longer news in the neighbourhood that many landlords have abandoned their homes for fear of being kidnapped.

The menace is as gripping as to condition landlords in Isheri who can’t abandon their property to move around incognito, some of whom readily flare at being addressed as “landlord” in the open.
Iya Saida, an indigene, confirmed the gradual exit taking root in the community.

“There is a friend of mine who told me that she was going to pack out. For a while now, I have not seen her and I think she has made up her mind. She lives close to Kara bus stop.

The increasing rate of kidnapping is frightening, but because we own the community, if we disappear who will tell visitors to stay and run their business?”

Her statement infers that entrepreneurs and business owners in the community are also bearing the brunt.  Chinedu Oke, who sells plastic water tanks, is a good example. 

When the Imo State indigene spoke to Saturday Sun, what came from him was a ballad of complaints of how the menace has indirectly crippled his business. Oke said he had been sitting idly in his shop all day, without a single customer.

“This thing is a problem. When I started this business, it was booming, but now it is not, the rate at which people are building here has reduced. They are not building because the area is becoming insecure.

Most of the people here now are landlords and indigenes. Hardly would you see someone working in Lagos who would now think of renting a room around here,” Oke said.

Another petty trader at Lekki Gardens said her business has been on the downturn because of a decrease in the number of customers, mostly contractors and manual labourers, who used to patronise her. Since kidnapping became the order of the day, the rate of construction of buildings has reduced, and the consequence is obvious.

“Before I used to make a lot from this spot, but right now I have to hawk to break even. I pray the government intervenes,” the 80-year-old woman lamented.

The scourge has also limited the social life of residents in what has become an axis of kidnapping. Saturday Sun gathered that most families do not allow their children to roam about and schools have banned their students from buying groceries outside their premises. 

An enquiry into the kind of precaution taken by the schools was met with an ‘off-limit’ rebuff. A source, however, assured that much have been put on ground for the security of their students.

“They have taken strict steps in safeguarding their students. They don’t allow public commuters to pick their students and they confirm their arrival everyday after schools,” the source stated.

What makes estates in the Isheri axis a constant target for kidnapping? The answer is in the terrain.  Isheri, unfortunately, sits a swamp linking Mile 12 and the notorious kidnap zone of Ikorodu.

About 90 per cent of the area is a swamp, a terrain that gives room for kidnappers to operate and escape with impunity using speedboats.

Developed areas of the community starts from the Isheri gate to GRA–– beyond that, there are only scanty new buildings.

The closest police station in the developed area is approximately10 minutes away. Shockingly, as much as the community needs the presence of the law, some of its members think police presence is bad news.

They think having police around will fester vices and deface the estate. One of the things police will bring to the area is packing impounded cars everywhere, one woman said.

“The police is needed in the estate, but you should consider other things about police. This is an estate; if you bring the police now you will bring other things and it will turn to another problem,” she said.

Olakunju, a member of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) vigilante in the community bemoaned their helplessness at combating the menace.

“It is not only one route that leads to the community. There are about four roads leading to the community. What makes it very dangerous is that the community is surrounded by water and those bad boys know all the roads into the community more than the owners of the houses, and even more than the OPC.

They have an area they stay in. It is called Abule Ijo. We were unaware of this until after the last incident,” he said.

He advocated a pragmatic approach to the problem: “We need government assistance to build a police station in the community. The government should also provide vans and motorcycles for the policemen so that they can patrol the environment and search every nook and cranny.

 Police should also work with the residents because they know those bad people in the community and they know the environment.”

Saturday Sun contacted Lagos and Ogun states police commands, but no response was forthcoming from them. However, the previous press briefings by their CPs said they were doing their best to return normalcy in the community.
Source:The Sun

Trending: LASU student brutalised by Task Force for videoing operation

A 500-level student of the Lagos state University, Sewuese Matthew, has been allegedly brutalised by members of the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit for videoing their operations with her phone.

The 28-year-old student of Business Administration at the school sustained a broken arm and some injuries on her face following the attack.

She was reportedly attacked at Durosimi-Etti Drive, in Lekki Phase 1 area when she began videoing the task force members who stormed the area to seize the machine of a vulcanizer tending to her deflated tyre on grounds that the machine was constituting environmental nuisance.

The report equally said her sister, Lilian Ifemeludike who had gone there with her was equally brutalized. “On Wednesday, February 8, my sister and I were going out of the estate in her car, when the car had a flat tyre.

While we were at the vulcanizer’s place trying to fix the tyre, the task force officials stormed the area and packed by the roadside.” “There was chaos and some people were filming what was happening.

I also tried to do so while my sister was pleading with them. A tall policeman among them walked up to me, snatched the phone and started punching me.” “I ran to my sister, crying. He smashed the phone on the ground and she picked it.

The officer and other policemen chased her and started hitting her until they collected the phone from her. I rushed there and pleaded with them to leave her.

They punched me in the mouth, face and neck. I also broke my hand.” She said they reported the case to the task force office in Oshodi where the force’s Chairman, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi vehemently condemned the assault.

However, she said, when the officials met them at the office, they told their boss that they(students) insulted them.

At this, SP Egbeyemi remanded them in Kirikiri prison. “But when the officials appeared before the chairman, they told him a different story, saying we insulted them. The chairman then vowed to deal with us and we were detained.

The next morning, they charged us to court in Ogba. I could not meet up my bail conditions that day, so I was taken to the Kirikiri Prison without my injuries being treated. I was released on Friday when the bail was perfected and I went to the Lagos Island General Hospital for treatment,”
Source:Vanguard

MMM VICTIM, WHO DRANK INSECTICIDE, DIES IN ABUJA

A ponzi investor identified as Ada Kole has died in Kubwa, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory after drinking insecticide following the crash of the MMM scheme.

The young man, whose wedding was rescheduled from December last year to May, 2017 reportedly died on Monday night following complications arising from the poison he took late last year.

Kole had reportedly invested about N750,000 in the scheme in November last year and was expecting to get his 30 per cent income when the MMM crashed and he lost his money.
A family source said Kole passed away after suffering from stomach complications as a result of the poison.

The source said, “Kole died yesterday (Monday) evening and his body has been deposited in a mortuary. He died from the complications he suffered from the poison he took last year. He had a terrible stomach ache and was rushed to the hospital where he died.”

Asked if the Benue State indigene was paid by the MMM before his demise, the source said, “No, he was not paid. In fact, he threatened to arrest his guider before the stomach upset returned last week and we rushed him to the hospital where he finally died,” he added.
It was gathered that his fiancée had been inconsolable since his passage.

Kole had earlier opened up on his predicament during a phone-in radio programme in Abuja last December where he admitted making profits from the scheme before it crashed.
He explained that he initially invested N20,000 and got 30 per cent interest few weeks later.

He said, “I came to Abuja from Benue few months back in preparation for my wedding and my friend introduced me to the MMM thing. He told me about the benefit involved, though I was a bit hesitant about it but he succeeded in convincing me to register under him.

“To be honest, I initially invested N20,000 into the scheme and I got 30 per cent the following month. The following month, I did N50,000 and I still got 30 per cent commission and my full investment back.”
Kole stated that he decided to increase his investment so he could make more money, but he apparently miscalculated.

He said. “This time, I believed it was real and I decided to increase my investment. Before then, my fiancée had warned me against it. So I went to my cooperative to obtain a loan and they gladly gave, thinking it was for my wedding.

“I put in N750k last month (November,2016) hoping it would yield 30 per cent income this month (December) only to wake up one morning to discover that my account has been suspended.”

The deceased had told his interviewer that he took the insecticide because he did not know how to tell his fiancée that he had lost the money for their wedding.

He added, “To be sincere, the best option I had then was to take my life, because I didn’t know how I was going to face my woman. I didn’t even know when I took the insecticide.”
The FCT police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah said Kole’s death had yet to be reported to the police.
Source:Punch

How we rob ATM users – Robbery suspect

A 25-year old armed robbery suspect has told operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command how his gang robbed about 35 Automated Teller Machine users in Alaba Rago Market, Ojo area of Lagos., the police said.

Gbenga Babatunde, who was arrested after a failed bid to rob a lady who withdrew an unspecified amount of money around 5:48 a.m. at an ATM point in Alaba Rago Market, was chased by the operatives patrolling the area, during which a ‘cut-to-size’ locally made short gun with two live cartridges were recovered from him, the police said.

In a statement on Sunday, the police said the suspect had an accomplice whose name was given as Samson Baba Ramadan, 28, who managed to escape after the botched operation.

The police said Mr. Babatunde owned up to the crime at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, adding that it was his accomplice, who is now at large, that introduced the crime to him.

“I have been in the crime since I met my colleague, Samson Baba Ramadan. I met him at Field Joint, Alaba, two years ago and since then we have been working together,” said Mr. Babatunde.

“We have robbed about 35 people together. We would have gotten to the ATM point by 4:00 a.m. We would hide inside the shop that is not open beside the ATM point.”

The suspect said as soon as a potential victim withdraws money, they would accost him or her, collect the money and escape.

“The last money we collected was N40, 000. Yesterday, we collected N12, 500,” he said.
“This morning, we wanted to collect money from a lady. That lady ran away. We thought she had gone, not knowing that she went to inform RRS. This was around 5:00 a.m. They pursued us and arrested me but my partner escaped.

“I don’t go home. I sleep in Osankwa Hotel, Alaba Rago. It is only whenever I don’t have money that I go home. I have no wife and no child.”

Also recovered from the suspect were a First Bank Mastercard belonging to one Iweka Christopher Uchenna and a Diamond Bank debit card owned by one Nkechi Esther Idoko.

The Lagos State Police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the arrest, noted that the police would leave no stone unturned towards ensuring that suspected criminals are brought to justice.

The case has been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation and prosecution, the police said.
Source:Premium Times

NAIRA PLUMMETS TO N520 PER DOLLAR IN BLACK MARKET

The Nigerian Naira has, again, crashed to a new record low at parallel market as it now trades at N520 per United States dollar, on Monday.

The Naira plummeted at the parallel market from N516/dollar on Friday, to a new record low of N520/dollar, on Monday.

The local currency also depreciated to N635 against the Pound sterling from N630 and crashed against Euro to trade at N545 from N540.

Economic and financial experts are divided over the outlook for the Naira this year but many have said the local currency may depreciate further in the coming months.

Economic and financial experts are divided over the outlook for the Naira this year but many have said the local currency may depreciate further in the coming months.

But according to a Bureau de change source, currency traders are trying to digest a new central bank decision to sell dollars to retail users through commercial lenders.

It was gathered that the Central Bank of Nigeria plans to sell $1 million weekly to each of the country’s 21 commercial lenders at a rate of 375 naira to clear a backlog of demand for retail users, and try to narrow the premium between the official and black market rates.

Retail currency users buy dollars from licensed bureaux de change (BDC). However, due to the central bank’s inability to meet dollar demand, BDCs have tended to source dollars from private sources and resell at a much higher margin, fuelling the black market.

Source:The Sun