Author: Lekan Adeyeye

THE Ogun State Waste Management Authority has sealed off two Chinese companies for allegedly contravening the environmental laws of the state. In a statement on Sunday, the Authority said it took the action after several warnings to the companies fell on deaf ears. The government said the companies also refused to engage accredited waste collectors to properly manage their waste. The companies are Yibao Industrial Limited located at Bara Village along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway and Ronchang Industrial Park, opposite Julius Berger yard Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The Managing Director of the Authority, Abayomi Hunye, led an enforcement team to seal the companies.…

The Ogun State Government said it has revoked the provisional licences granted to 20 private orphanage owners operating in the state, due to non-compliance with regulations and laws prioritising the well-being and safety of vulnerable children in their care. The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Adijat Adeleye, disclosed on Friday during a meeting with members of private orphanage homes at the ministry’s conference room, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, in the state capital. The commissioner expressed displeasure over some private orphanage owners’ activities, stating that the state would not tolerate shady practices involving illegal adoption, child trafficking or maltreatment of…

OPERATIVES of the Department of State Services have arrested an investigative journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka. Soyinka, who is the Regional Editor of The Conversation Africa, was arrested at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sunday. A distress message sent to this newspaper by one of his friends stated that Soyinka was picked up shortly after arriving from the United Kingdom. The friend in the message said no reason was given for his arrest and Soyinka had been held incommunicado. The message read, “Adejuwon Soyinka has been detained by officers of the Department of State Security at the Muritala Muhammed…

ISAAC Omodewu, chairman of the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is dead. He was said to have died in the United States of America (USA). Omodewu had left Nigeria in November 2023 for a medical trip. He, however, succumbed to death after close to a year, receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment in the USA, where he was a citizen. Olawale Sadare, the APC Publicity Secretary in Oyo State, confirmed the development on Monday. “Our chairman is dead,” he simply said. Omodewu, who hailed from Otu in Itesiwaju Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State, served…

FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo, for the first time, reacted to the claim of his Igbo paternity, declaring that such insinuation made him laughs. The disclosure came even as the former President said he doesn’t believe anybody in Nigeria should be driven away from any part of the country declaring that, “we own this country together.” The former president made this known when he received in audience the leadership of Ndigbo Amaka Progressive Market Association, an umbrella body of major markets in Lagos state held at the boardroom of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Thursday. In…

SEVERAL shops have been affected as fire ravaged a seven-storey building in Lagos. The incident happened early Friday on Sanni Adewale Street in Lagos Island Local Government Area of the state. Confirming the incident in a statement, the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said firefighters from the Ebute Elefun, Sari, and Lekki 1 stations were dispatched immediately after receiving a distress call and arrived at the scene by 5:33 a.m. She said the fire which started around 5:17 a.m. caused panic in the area as residents scrambled for safety. But emergency officials were on…

A LAGOS-BASED school owner, Paulin Eboagwu, and her husband, Daniel Eboagwu, have filed an N11bn suit against the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and six others before the Lagos State High Court over the alleged demolition of their school’s landed property in the Ilasan Lekki area of the state. In the suit No LD/15612LMW/2024 dated July 16, 2024, and filed through their lawyer, Babatunde Ademoyo, the educationalist claimed that the land was delineated on Survey Plan No.KCO/902/006B (613/2018/LA) with the governor’s consent. Other defendants in the suit are the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the General Manager of the…

THE Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted 12 containers of illicit drugs, unregistered and expired pharmaceutical products worth N1.8 billion at the Apapa seaport in Lagos State. Unveiling pharmaceutical products in 12 containers on Thursday, the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, reiterated that the service is resolved to prevent any importation that could be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of Nigerians. “I am here to present seizures made by our officers at the Apapa port command, which comprise expired and controlled pharmaceutical products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.8 billion,” he said. “One of the seized containers,…

A BUS Rapid Transit (BRT) bus was attacked, with passengers aboard robbed in broad daylight by thugs in the Orile-Alaba Suru area of Lagos State. ‬ An X (formerly Twitter) user made this known through a viral video on Thursday. The Lagos State owned BRT bus with registration number 2163 was coming from the Mile 2 area and heading to Lagos Island before it was suddenly attacked by the thugs. The narrator in the video said, “This is the bus 2163 that was attacked while we were coming from Mile 2 and going to the Island. He explained that incident…

SOME aggrieved women in the Uba-Oka Akoko community in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State have staged a peaceful protest to condemn the incessant killings by suspected Herdsmen in the area, calling on the government to salvage them from the invaders. Their clamour follows the recent murder of a farmer called Sunday Ayeni on his farm in the community. The corpse of Ayeni was found on his farm, with machete wounds and his intestines exposed, indicating that he was brutally stabbed to death by his attackers. The incident occurred just a few days after the deceased received…

A COURT of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State capital on Tuesday reinstated Hon. Iroju Ogundeji as the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly. In a unanimous decision, Justices Oyebisi Omoleye, Frederick Oziakpono-Oho and Yusuf Bashir upheld the judgment of Justice Akintan Osadebey that reinstated Ogundeji. The State Assembly had in 2020 suspended Ogundeji, who represented Odigbo Constituency 1 in the House as a member and eventually removed him as the Deputy Speaker. Ogundeji, through his lawyer, Oluwanike Omotayo Esq, approached the court for the nullification of his suspension as a lawmaker and removal as the Deputy Speaker.…

TWELVE passengers have been burnt in an accident along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The incident involved a Mazda bus with registration number DDA733 XA around Malo in the Ogere area of the expressway. A spokesperson for the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun State, Florence Okpe, in a statement on Tuesday, said four other passengers were injured. She said that the injured persons were taken to Patmag Hospital, Ogere. According to her, the suspected cause of the lone crash was wrongful overtaking by the bus driver, which led to the loss of control and the bus hitting the road divider…

A NIGERIAN woman named Favour Igiebor, who tore up her husband’s passport at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, could face a jail term as punishment for her actions if found guilty, according to the Nigeria Immigration Service Act of 2015 (as amended). The NIS had on Monday revealed that it had launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of a man’s passport by his wife, identified as Favour Igiebor, stating that she had been summoned for questioning. In a statement, the spokesperson for the NIS, Kenneth Udo, described Igiebor’s action as a violation of Nigerian law. The investigation…

TROUBLE broke out during the annual new yam festival of the Ibule-Soro community in the Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State. The ceremony was disrupted by sporadic gunshots. The crisis was said to have been sparked off by the dispute between the supporters and opposers of the town’s monarch, Oba Oluleke Ogunlade, whose selection process is being challenged in court. The king had fixed the new yam festival on August 25 to coincide with the first anniversary of his coronation. However, this did not go down well with some of the indigenes who believed there was a particular date…

THE Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has denied taking part in the ₦570bn hardship grant claimed to have been given to the state governments by the Federal Government. President Bola Tinubu while addressing Nigerians in a broadcast during the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, said the government has disbursed ₦570bn to the 36 states. Tunubu also said that Nigeria spends ₦2tn monthly to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, and Automotive Gas Oil, otherwise known as diesel. He disclosed that ₦9.1tn was accumulated as total fiscal revenue to the Federal Government’s coffers during the first half…

THE “Giant of Africa” Nigeria, ranked 9th among top African investment destinations, with Seychelles and Mauritius topping the list. According to bloomberg, the report assessed 31 nations on the continent, evaluated economic performance, market accessibility, investment climate, and social and human development. Nigeria, along with Ghana and Kenya, is considered an emerging market with significant growth potential. ‘’In addition, there are a number of emerging markets with significant growth potential, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. Despite facing challenges such as political instability and infrastructural deficits, these countries offer substantial opportunities due to their large and youthful populations, improving business climates,…

THE Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, has stated that more than 30 million phone lines are not properly linked to a National Identification Number and remain at risk of disconnection. He said these lines are mainly in car trackers, MiFi units, WiFi devices, and Point of Sale machines “The numbers are staggering. We are looking at potentially over 30 million SIM cards, including those in various digital devices, that have not been properly linked to the NIN. Many of these SIMs are in car trackers, POS machines, MiFis, WiFis, and many other devices…

POLICEMEN tear-gassed defiant #EndBadGovernance protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos on Thursday morning. THE Lekki Tollgate, now symbolic for civil demonstrations following the #EndSARS nationwide protests against police brutality in 2020, was initially deserted on Thursday morning as protesters marched against hunger and hardship in different parts of Nigeria. However, around 11 am, protesters emerged at the Lekki Tollgate bearing placards with different inscriptions that conveyed their dissatisfaction against the current administration of President Bola Tinubu. Chanting solidarity songs, the protesters lamented the hunger in the country and urged the government to do something as quickly as possible. “We…

THE Gubernatorial candidate of Young Progressive Party, YPP, Ondo State, John Akinmurele has described the planned August 1st nationwide protest as a prelude to ballot revolution in the state. Akinmurele made the remark in a press statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, Akinmurele/Obe Givernorship Campaign Organisation, Dotun Ojon, on Monday. According to the statement, for the people of Ondo State, this protest is a prelude to the ballot revolution that will shape the future of the state in the November 16th governorship election. “We stand in solidarity with all Nigerians demanding an end to economic hardship, hunger, hyperinflation, corruption,…

PRESIDENTIAL Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in last year’s general elections, Peter Obi, has thrown his weight behind the planned nationwide protest over the current economic hardship. Some youths are planning a nationwide protest between August 1 and 15 against the rising cost of living and economic hardship. Speaking on Sunday after a meeting with Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, Obi, however, said protesters must carry out the act within the ambit of the law. He also charged security agencies to be law-abiding, saying protest is allowed globally. The former Anambra governor said: “Within the Nigerian constitution, protest…