10 burnt to death in Lagos-Ibadan expressway crash

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on Monday confirmed that 10 persons lost their lives in a motor accident along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The Commander of Olympic Unit of the commission, Mr Tanya Adeoye, who made the confirmation, told newsmen in Ibadan that the dead were burnt beyond recognition.
Adeoye said that four persons survived the crash which involved two trucks and one 18-seater Toyota Hiace commercial bus with registration number BDG 767 XB.
He said that the bus, which was travelling from Ibadan to Lagos was rammed into by a truck while it stopped to allow another truck with registration number SW 175 EPE to pull out of a quarry.
He attributed the accident to speeding and dangerous driving, saying that “the commercial bus immediately went up in flames and the flames later spread to other trucks.’’
He said that the four people who sustained injuries were in the trucks and had been taken to the University College Hospital, Ibadan for treatment.
“The victims who were burnt beyond recognition were deposited at the Adeoye State Hospital mortuary,” Adeoye added.
He disclosed that the commission was making efforts to contact the families of the victims through the driver’s manifest which was not burnt.

Immigration jobs tragedy: President queries minister, NIS boss

Paradang and Moro

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday queried the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro; and the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr. David Paradang, over the loss of 18 lives during the NIS recruitment on Saturday.

The 18 died during stampedes at the venues of the NIS recruitment in different parts of the country. The deaths have generated national uproar.

 The presidential query for the minister and the NIS CG came as the wife of the Senate President David Mark, Helen, denied reported relationship with the consultants than handled the exercise.

Mark’s wife, in a statement signed by the Special Adviser (Media) to the President of the Senate, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan,  said she was shocked by media reports (not The PUNCH) of her involvement in the exercise. She said the reports were based on a rumour and “a mere fabrication of the imagination of those behind it.”

“I have no relationships of any sorts and in whatever form with the said consultant,” she said.

Both Moro and Paradang were on Monday summoned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to explain the circumstances that led to the incidents, which a presidency source said had portrayed the present administration in a bad light.

On arrival at the Villa, the two officials first met for about three hours with the Chief of Staff to the President, Brig.-Gen. Jones Arogbofa (retd.), in his office.

A source said they used the opportunity of the meeting with Arogbofa to marshal the arguments they would present before the President.

Wanted gangster kills man in front

 of three-year-old daughter

Adigun Oriyomi

A 28-year-old gangster, Adigun Oriyomi, who was declared wanted by the Lagos State Police Command in January, has been accused of murder.

He was accused of killing a 32-year-old man, Oluwafemi Adekeye, on Isa Street in the Aboru, Ipaja area of Lagos State.

According to the police, the suspect, who is also known as Muda, allegedly killed Oluwafemi in the presence of his three-year-old daughter.

The deceased’s daughter said, “I saw Ife’s daddy (Oriyomi) in our house and he pointed a gun at my daddy and I was begging him not to kill my daddy, but he (Adigun) shot my daddy and ran away.”

The wife of the deceased, Oluwakemi, who reported the matter at the Oke Odo Police Division, told policemen that the incident occurred on February 12, 2014.

Oluwakemi said the suspect and her husband were friends prior to the incident, adding that even their children were also friends.

She said, “I am a 25-year-old hairdresser. Around 11pm on the said date, I was making hair for a customer in front of the house when my husband returned. He said he was hungry so I stepped out to get him food. On my way, I saw Adigun (Oriyomi) in a vehicle.

“He called me and pointed a gun at me. I wondered what was wrong because he was a family friend. He asked if my husband was at home but I said no. When he probed further, I told him the truth, so he ordered me to stay outside, went inside the house and later, I heard gunshots.

“He came out to where I was standing, and said, ‘Tell Oyibo that I have killed your husband’.

PUNCH Metro learnt that policemen attached to the station stormed the suspect’s home in Aboru area, but he had fled.

Immigration tragedy: Families demand release of corpses

Clockwise: Applicants at the National Stadium, Lagos; some of the injured applicants in Abuja; and exhausted applicants in Lagos, on Saturday

Parents and family members of some  applicants, who lost their lives during the Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment test on Saturday in Abuja, have demanded for the release of the bodies of their loved ones for burial.

The family members, who gathered at the National Hospital on Sunday, told the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, who came to sympathise with them, that they wanted the bodies to be released for burial immediately.

Seven applicants, including a pregnant woman, died in a stampede during the exercise at the National Stadium, venue of the recruitment test.

Speaking with journalists, one of the bereaved, Mohammed Hakeem, said he was informed about the death of his sister, Miss Oyiza Yusuf, a mother of one, adding that it was disheartening that the lady was defrauded of N150,000 in a job scam last year.

Hakeem said, “It is sad that people were made to suffer and die for jobs that have probably been allocated to the children of highly placed individuals. The government should be sensitive to the plight of the ordinary Nigerians.”

Moro, who consoled the grieving families, pleaded for understanding of Nigerians “so that together we can salvage the situation and lay a foundation that will forestall any future occurrence of this type of tragedy.”

The minister explained that the tragedy was caused by unruly applicants. Those that did not apply for the exercise also turned up.

He explained that the stadium was chosen for the recruitment exercise on account of the physical exercise that applicants were to go through, stressing that this was a vital component of enlistment requirement into the NIS.

Moro said, “Right from the beginning, I gave you assurance that this exercise was going to be transparent but it was going to be cost-effective.  That we are going to avoid (the mistake of the past), where all persons converge in Abuja. And so yesterday, we tried to decentralise.

“We set up 37 recruitment centres across the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, and posted senior officers of the ministry, including Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the police across the country. All numbers were adequate to control the situation based on the received applications.”

Moro clarified that 526,650 persons applied for the exercise nationwide, adding that arrangement was made for only the number.

Confab: Bakare says he won’t receive allowance

 

 

 

Pastor Tunde Bakare
| credits: Odutayo Odusanya

Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that he will not partake of the N12m to be paid to each delegate to the three-month National Conference to be inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday (today).

Bakare, representing Ogun State at the conference, said he made the decision not to collect the money to be paid to delegates by the Federal Government in order to dispel any speculation that his motivation for accepting to take part in the conference was material.

Each of the 492 delegates to the National Conference would be paid N4m per month for the three month duration and this has been the subject of controversy with some Nigerians condemning the amount to be spent.

Announcing to his church members that he had accepted to be a delegate to the conference, Bakare told the congregation that he would be giving them weekly report as the conference progressed.

He said, “A friend of mine called me this (Sunday) morning that he heard on the radio that ‘Pastor Bakare had accepted to go, that his own fee is N12m’. Pastor Bakare will not take a kobo in the National Conference.

“I will not take a penny. It has nothing to do with others; that is by choice. We go with integrity of heart, it is not money. The God of heaven will prosper us.

“What I say here is what I will do there. I do not say others should do it, but I intend to do that so that our heart can remain pure. That does not mean the hearts of others are not pure but I don’t want anybody to think in any slight manner that the motive is this.

Sanusi to Jonathan: Allegations against

 me baseless

 

 

 

Jonathan and Sanusi

The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, has described the allegations of financial recklessness levelled against him by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria as a malicious and calculated attempt to mislead President Goodluck Jonathan into believing that the management of the bank is guilty of misconduct and recklessness.

In what can be described as his first official response to the allegations, Sanusi, in a letter to Jonathan, said that contrary to the claims by the Presidency that he was asked to respond to issues raised in the FRCN report, he only saw the “Briefing Note” of the council for the first time when it was attached to his suspension letter.

In the letter, sent to the President on March 10, a copy of which was made available to journalists on Sunday, the suspended governor said at no time were the allegations in the report sent to the CBN either by the President or the FRCN for comments or explanations.

He said, “On Wednesday March 10, 2014, I submitted a memorandum to His Excellency, Mr. President, with supporting documentation, effectively addressing all the allegations contained in the FRCN Briefing Note, the letter of suspension and the Akingbola petition.

“Having submitted my response to the President, I am further compelled, following the recent press briefing and comments by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media as well as numerous other references to the allegations in both local, international and online media, to put to the public my responses in the interest of transparency, accountability and my responsibility to the Nigerian people.

“Let me also state that I saw the FRCN Briefing Note for the first time when it was attached to the suspension letter. At no time was this report sent to the CBN either by the President or the FRCN for comments or explanations.

“A careful examination of the allegations contained in the FRCN Briefing Note to Mr President, will show that each of the allegations could easily have been resolved by a simple request for clarification or more careful review.

“There is no doubt that if the CBN had received the Briefing Note, which was prepared in June 2013, all the misconceptions, misrepresentations and erroneous inferences contained therein would have been cleared.

“I am publishing these responses to enable the general public see that each and every allegation levelled against the CBN under my leadership is false and unfounded, and that many of the allegations were malicious and fabricated, having been designed to mislead the President into believing that the management of the central bank was guilty of misconduct and recklessness.”

On the allegations of fraudulent takeover of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc by the former Managing Director, Mr. Erastus Akingbola, Sanusi described them as baseless.

He said, “As for the Akingbola petition, it is a rehash of the baseless allegations he has been making since 2010, which apparently he must have been asked to reproduce on February 9, 10 days before the suspension.

“It is, indeed, strange that the CBN governor can be suspended based on allegations written by a man who ran his bank into the ground and against whom judgement has been obtained in a London court, and who furthermore is facing criminal prosecution at home for offences, including criminal theft.”

The governor, in providing specific responses to all the allegations levelled against him and the central bank management, faulted all the claims by the FRCN in its report.

For instance, on the allegation of weak corporate governance at the CBN on account of the fact that the office of the governor is fused with that of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sanusi said the FRCN ignored the fact that global best practice was that the governor of the central bank was also the chairman of the board.

This, according to him, is currently the practice in about 55 countries.

On the allegation that the CBN’s breakdown of “Currency Issue Expenses” for 2011 and 2012 indicated that it paid the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc N38.233bn in 2011 for printing of banknotes, whereas the entire turnover of the company was N29.370bn, the suspended governor said the expense item of N38.233bn comprised N28.738bn payment to the NSPMP in 2011; N6.587bn accrued liability in 2011 but paid in 2012 when deliveries were received; and N2.829bn audit adjustment journal entry into the account at the end of 2011 in respect of prepayments to the company.

“Evidently, the difference between the numbers in the financial statements of the CBN and NSPMP is a simple reflection of timing differences between recognition of expenses by the CBN and income recognition by the NSPMP, with both entities applying conservative accounting policies,” he added.

On FRCN’s claims that the CBN made fictitious payments of N511m to Emirate Airlines, which allegedly is not operating local charter in Nigeria; N425m to Wing Airlines, which allegedly is not registered with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority; and N1.025bn to Associated Airlines, which allegedly did not have a turnover of up to N1bn in 2011, Sanusi replied, “The CBN neither engaged, paid nor claimed to have paid Emirates Airlines.

“Rather, the CBN engaged and entered into an Air Charter Services Agreement with Emirate Touch Aviation Services Limited, which is a local Nigerian charter service company.

“A simple enquiry by the FRCN would have clarified and avoided this misrepresentation. With respect to Wings Aviation Limited, the CBN contracted Wings Aviation Limited, which changed its name to Jedidiah Air Limited on August 21, 2009, but only notified the CBN of the change on  February, 28,2012.

“With respect to Associated Air Limited, the CBN did in fact pay a total of N1.025bn to Associated Airlines Limited. It is worth stating that the CBN is not responsible for how the company reports its turnover.”

Responding to the allegation that the CBN’s expenses on private guards and lunch for policemen went up from N0.919bn in 2011 to N1.257bn in 2012, he said that in 2007 before he assumed office, the CBN adopted a policy to outsource non-core functions, including security services.

This decision, he added, enabled the bank to focus on its statutory mandate and to reduce its overheads.

He said, “Accordingly, the CBN retained the services of about 13 private security companies to provide access control and security check services.

“In 2012, the CBN budgeted N600m for security services, but spent N582.2m on private guards.

“To complement the efforts of the private guards, the CBN also requested the services of security agencies in the light of the increased security challenges, especially the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

“These security personnel were engaged on a daily basis and were attached to senior CBN officials; special assignments such as security coverage for currency movements; static guard duties at the bank’s premises nationwide and other sundry engagements.

“About 2,406 policemen are currently deployed on a daily basis to various branches and other locations of the CBN.

“These security personnel were paid a daily lunch and transport allowances totalling N675.02m in the year under review.”

In replying to the allegation that the CBN paid excessive legal and professional fees totalling N20.202bn in 2011, Sanusi said the bank, like any other public entity, was not immune from liabilities arising from judgments and orders of courts.

“The referenced N20.202bn spent under this head covered the CBN’s judgment debt liabilities in the year under review.

“Of particular reference is the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Amao vs the Central Bank of Nigeria (SC 168/2007) delivered on May 21, 2010, wherein the apex court directed that the CBN pay employees of the bank, who had retired prior to 2000, pension under the harmonised structure introduced by the Federal Government.

“Note that the negotiated litigation liability that arose from the above specified matter was approximately N19.8bn.”

The suspended governor, in his submission, urged the President to “revisit and redress the issue of my suspension.”

He also called on Jonathan to apply the same rationale and rigour to other agencies of the Federal Government that have had serious allegations and queries levied against them and prevail upon them to provide responses and explanations with the same level of clarity and transparency as he had done

Tension in Kaduna as death toll hits 114

 

 

 

 

Kaduna State Governor Mukthar Yero

Tension rose in  Kaduna town and environs on Sunday, following the killing  of no fewer than 100 people in  three  villages in Kaduna State on Friday night.

There was a  heavy security presence at all churches in the state capital and environs where  the Christian faithful had converged to worship.

Our correspondent observed the movement of combat-ready policemen and other security agents in trucks at the Sabo Tasha and Refinery areas of the city to maintain law and order as people spread rumours that all was not well in those parts of the state capital.

The victims of the massacre were said to have been buried in mass graves on Sunday.

The umbrella body of the Southern Kaduna people in the state, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union,  on Sunday put the  death toll from the attacks at  114.

It said over 40 attacks had been recorded so far in the Southern Kaduna communities since 2011. The group also accused Fulani herdsmen as being behind the attacks.

Addressing newsmen on Sunday in Kaduna, the National President of  SOKAPU, Dr. Ephraim Goje,  noted that the people of the area had been under severe attacks from  Fulani herdsmen without any efforts from the authorities to stop them.

He   warned that the people might be forced to defend themselves.

Goje said, “I am addressing you this afternoon with a very heavy heart and shock over the barbaric and brutal massacre of about 114 innocent and peace-loving children, women and the aged, and burning down of over 60 houses, food, animals and assets of the people of  three villages in the Kaura Local Government area of Kaduna State by Fulani murderers on Friday night,  March 14, 2014.

“This incident is one out of the over 40 attacks on Southern Kaduna communities since 2011. In all these attacks, we have identified the perpetrators as Fulani herdsmen, but each time we raised this observation, the Fulani socio-cultural organisation within the state has always denied the involvement of its people by asking for proofs.”