The Harbingerngr News

AN explosion from a gas cylinder, yesterday, rocked the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, resulting in an inferno.   Three container shops situated behind the Engineering Department  were razed, while an adjourning office in the department was partially affected.   Although no casualty was recorded, some persons sustained minor injuries in the ensuing stampede. Director, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Adeseye Margaret, said: “The fire at LASUTH had been extinguished by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service. “The fire emanated from one of the severely affected shops and travelled through the ceiling to partially involve an office in the adjoining Engineering Department before it was eventually put out. “Preliminary findings showed mishandling of a 6kg gas cylinder as the cause of the fire by one of the shop’s operatives, before the quick intervention of the nearby Ikeja Fire Station with the backup of Alausa fire crew to stem the incident. Operation was concluded

Operatives of the Nigeria police in Rivers State said they busted a suspected baby making factory and rescued six pregnant girls. Police said the arrest was made around Choba community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state. The new state Commissioner of Police, Polycarp Emeka, made the disclosure during his maiden media briefing in Port Harcourt, yesterday. Emeka said the success was recorded through credible information by good Nigerians. He said police arrested the prime suspect identified as Akudo Ozoroh during the raid on the alleged child trafficking home. Emeka said the prime suspect had during interrogation confessed to the crime, noting that they had trafficked many children from the illegal home. The CP said: “Eagle-eyed operatives of the Rivers State Police Command, in furtherance of an investigation, on May 27, 2023, arrested one Akudo Ozoroh, 39 years, the alleged owner of the child trafficking centre. “Six pregnant girls were rescued. And upon interrogation, Aku

 HUMAN rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday, dragged the Federal Government to court over alleged discriminatory, unfair and illegal treatment of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, regarding the government's implementation of the 'no work, no pay', policy, during the ASUU strike in 2022.  The suit is challenging the refusal of the Federal Government to pay ASUU members eight months' salaries, which covered the period the lecturers were on strike, last year. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.  Joined in the suit as defendants are the Minister of Labour and Employment, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Accountant-General of the Federation. In the suit number NICN/ABJ/152/2023 filed on behalf of ASUU, Falana is asking the court to determine: “Whether having paid the salaries of members of the Joint Staff Union, National Association of Resident Doctors and lecturers in the Medical Facilities/Medical and Dental Acade

LEADERS of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday, stormed the Lagos State Government House, in Alausa, protesting the continued ban on the activities of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW. Among labour leaders at the protest were Secretary General of TUC, Nuhu Toro; Deputy General-Secretary of NLC, Ismail Bello; President of TUC/Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, and Lagos State Chairman of TUC, Gbenga Ekundayo.  Toro explained that the labour leaders were at the Lagos government house to demand the unbanning of both RTEAN and the NURTW by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, among others. Mr Olasunkanmi Ojo from the Ministry of Transportation, who received the protest letter on behalf of Governor Sanwo-Olu, assured the labour leaders that the Governor would look into their demands. Toro said: "

Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, yesterday, warned management of fuel stations and motorists, queuing for fuel in the state, against causing gridlock on major roads. The General Manager of LASTMA, Bolaji Oreagba, while monitoring officers deployed around filling stations and other traffic-prone areas across the state, explained that the deployment became imperative, following reports of long queues around filling stations caused by motorists parking indiscriminately and blocking roads while queuing to buy fuel. He expressed displeasure at the disorderly behaviour of some drivers disrupting the free flow of traffic. Oreagba said: "Buying fuel is not an excuse to block and impede traffic flow across the state.  "As much as we want our roads to be free, we do not want fuel queues to constitute a burden for other road users across the state.  "Landlords and tenants should shun inappropriate storage of fuel at home and public places.  "Filling stations m

NO fewer than 18 persons, including a vigilante leader have been killed in separate attacks on communities under Ruwandoruwa ward of the Maru Local Government Area in Zamfara State. An eyewitness, Aminu Ilyasu, who is a member of local vigilante group known as Yansakai, said the armed bandits targeted the vigilante leader of Dangamji community. He said the vigilante leader, Dahiru Dangamji, was killed alongside three other persons in his hideout inside bush around Danzara community. He said: “The bandits purposely targeted a vigilante leader, Dahiru. He was killed alongside three other persons in his hideout at Danzara community.  "We usually go inside the bush to hide because we know how the bandits operate and they also know that we normally hide inside bush.” He added that when the news of Dahiru’s death got to the community, members of the vigilante group in Ruwandoruwa quickly mobilised to the area but they were ambushed by the bandits along the road. “Along our way to Danzar

Flying Eagles of Nigeria beat Argentina U-20, 2-0 to soar into quarterfinals.  The Flying Eagles are through to the quarterfinals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup after beating Argentina  to send the tournament hosts out of the championship. Ibrahim Muhammad opened the scoring for Ladan Bosso’s boys on 61 minutes before Rilwanu Sarki made it 2-0 in the first minute of added time to send the record six-time U-20 world champions packing from the tournament. Up next for the Flying Eagles is a quarterfinal  clash against either Ecuador or South Korea.

*NNPCL confirms hike, adjusts pumps nationwide *Borno, Yobe most expensive states with N557 per litre *Lagos remains least with N488 per litre *Deregulation’ll enhance growth — NEITI; *FG’s meeting with NLC, TUC ends in deadlock *Meeting to reconvene Sunday, as labour leaders meet Friday, *FG should rehabilitate refineries —NECA *APC govs back Tinubu on subsidy removal, say, Atiku, Obi also promised same NIGERIA’s petroleum industry regulators and operators have formally effected a subsidy withdrawal, sending retail prices up by about 170 per cent to N500 per litre from the official rate of N185 per litre. The new price template took effect yesterday, as the Federal Government’s meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, on the issue ended in deadlock in Abuja. President Bola Tinubu had declared subsidy “gone” in his inaugural speech on Monday. The document communicating details of the new pricing regime also indicated that with N557 per litre, Borno

•Says decision’ll double suffering of Nigerians The Labour Party  has condemned the decision of President Ahmed Tinubu to remove fuel subsidy by executive fiat. Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, conveyed the party’s disappointment with the president’s action in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday. He said:  ''We have now “been confronted with the stark reality that less than twenty four hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over the reins of power, Nigerians woke up to see the pump price of petrol shot up to N600 per litre and N750 per litre in the black market. “This is arising from the immediate removal of subsidy on petrol as announced by the new administration. “As we speak, the queues are back again and Nigerians will, as was the case in the previous administration, begin to keep vigil in filling stations to get just a few litres of petrol. “As expected, commercial transporters have hiked trip fares across the country in response to th

  •Exhibits include election results from 36 states, FCT Candidate of the  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, yesterday tendered a total of 118 exhibits before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja, to support the case he filed against President Bola Tinubu. Atiku, in the joint petition filed with his party, is contending that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, wrongly returned Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the presidential election held on February 25. At the resumed proceedings on the matter yesterday, Atiku, who came second in the presidential election, through his team of lawyers, adduced his first set of exhibits before the court. Though his legal team was led by Chris Uche, SAN, the exhibits were, however,  identified and tendered from the Bar, by one of his lawyers, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN. Specifically, the documents Mr. Jegede, SAN, tendered in evidence before the Justice Haruna Tsamma

THE mother of the 12-year-old primary school pupil, hawking snacks, who was raped in lgbokoda, Ondo State, by a security guard, has cried out for justice. Madam Joy, the mother of the victim, called on the state government and well-meaning Nigerians to help her get justice for her daughter. The victim, who was raped while hawking puff-puff was lured into an uncompleted building by the suspect and was forcefully defied. Police source said the suspect, who hails from Kebbi went into hiding and later travelled out of the state to Kebbi State. Vanguard was told that detectives from the state police command had traced him to Kebbi State where he is presently hiding. Narrating her ordeal, Madam Joy said the incident happened on May 19, 2023, “when my daughter arrived from school on that fateful day. She told me to allow her hawk puff-puff because we needed some money for her school fees.  “She returned home after an hour to eat and later left home to hawk again. When it was getting late, I 

...as Police parade 78 suspected PMS members in Oyo NO fewer than 78 suspected members of Oyo State Park Management System, PMS, have been arrested by the state Police Command over violence. Items recovered from the suspects during the arrest include guns, 724 live cartridges, 25 cutlasses, seven jack knives, 33 mobile phones, one laptop, charms, two vehicles and over N3 million cash. It will be recalled that Governor Seyi Makinde on Monday, through his Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi, announced the dissolution of PMS, headed by a former NURTW boss, Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called Auxiliary.  Addressing journalists in Ibadan, while parading the suspects at the Police Command headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, the Commissioner of Police, Adebowale Williams, said the command in its proactive nature while acting on intelligence-driven surveillance was able to foil an attempt by the suspects at creating carnage and civil disturbance in the state following their dissolution. He sa

A Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced a father, Suleiman Usman, to life imprisonment for defiling his eight-year-old daughter. Justice Rahman Oshodi sentenced Usman to life imprisonment after he was found guilty as charged by the Lagos State government. The state government had arraigned Usman on a two-count charge bordering on defilement of his two daughters of eight years and five years at their residence at 2, Bale Street, Onisewo area of Apapa, Lagos State. He pleaded not guilty to the two count charge when he was arraigned. Usman was first arraigned before Justice Sybil Nwaka on October 2019 before the judge was elevated to the Court of Appeal and the casefile was reassigned to Justice Oshodi’s court where he was re-arraigned. During the trial, the prosecution called four witnesses among which were the first survivor, the eight-year-old girl, the Investigative Police Officer, IPO, the defendant’s wife (the mother of the survivors), and the medical

Two can play the game. It is a matter of survival of the fittest. *As Fuel scarcity grounds major cities nationwide; *Govs read riot act to marketers *Subsidy’ll end Nigeria if... – Vice President Shettima *Marketers hoard petrol, sell a litre for as much as N600; black market, N750  *Reps back subsidy removal *Appeal to Nigerians to be patient with govt *Don’t panic over policy – NMDPRA lTinubu resumes at Aso Rock, meets Emefiele, Kyari; *FG owes NNPCL N2.8trn — Kyari; *TUC kicks, says it’s a joke taken too far A source from the Presidency has said that removal of petrol subsidy will not be immediate. It would be recalled that President  Ahmed Tinubu had said in his inauguration speech Monday that subsidy was gone, as it was not provided for in the 2023 budget. But the source said that implementation of the removal of subsidy would commence post-June. The need to clarify issues, sources told Vanguard, informed the meeting the President had with the governor of the Central Bank of Nige

•Depot owners shut operations •Transporters hike fares, commuters grumble •Stakeholders support subsidy removal THE downstream end of the Nigerian petroleum industry has gone into frenzy as operators respond to the immediate removal of subsidy on petrol with sharp hike in pump price just as consumers crowded to the petrol stations. Commercial transporters have also hiked their trip fares across the country in response to the developments. On his inaugural speech yesterday, the new president, Bola Tinubu, had stated that “petroleum subsidy is gone”. Checks by Vanguard in Lagos showed that some marketers responded by increasing their prices by about 100 percent to N370 from N185 per litre. However, few other stations especially the major marketers, sold between N195 and N220 per litre across Lagos and Abuja. Our findings also showed that some of the petrol stations operators simply shut their filling stations, thus leading to the emergence of long queues. This is even as depot owners shu

THE Parish Priest of Holy Ghost Catholic Parish, Obosima, Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, Rev. Fr. Matthias Opara, has been released unharmed by his abductors. The cleric was released after spending two nights in the kidnappers den. Confirming this development to Vanguard, President, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji, said that the priest was “released unhurt.” His words: “I am pleased to inform you that Fr. Matthias Opara has been released unhurt. Thanks for your prayers.” Meanwhile, celebration erupted among the clerics and laity of the Archdiocese, soon after the news of his release rented the air. The jubilation was more pronounced at Obosima, where he currently serves as the parish priest of the local church. A source in the Archdiocese told Vanguard in confidence that prior to his being set free, Fr. Opara’s abductors demanded a N50 million ransom. He said: “Yes, the kidnappers compelled their victim to use his personal phone li