The Harbingerngr News

CIVIL servants in Oyo State, yesterday, locked the state Secretariat, in Ibadan, to demand palliatives, upward review of pension allowances and payment of salary deduction. Participating in the protest are workers and pensioners, under the banners of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC; Trade Union Congress, TUC; Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP; Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, and their affiliates. The workers, who were led by their union leaders, also demanded payment of leave bonuses, gratuities to retirees who have been stagnated since year 2021, and release of promotion letters for 2021 and 2022. Addressing newsmen during the protest, chairman of the TUC, Mr Bosun Olabiyi, who outlined some of their agitations, said the failure of the state government to remit deductions from their salaries for cooperatives and other statutory commitments, amongst other concerns in the face of current economic hardship caused by fuel subsidy removal, necessitated the protest.  Ola

GOVERNOR Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, yesterday, announced a reduction in transport fares on all Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, routes by 50 per cent, beginning from tomorrow. The governor also said commercial yellow buses, known as 'Danfo', will follow suit with a reduction of 25 per cent in fare on all routes.  Sanwo-Olu said this while addressing journalists at the State House, Ikeja, at the end of a security meeting with security agencies such as the army, police and the navy. He also said the number of Lagos State staff buses will be increased, adding that new buses have been purchased for distribution soon. The governor also said the state will commence the distribution of food packs such as rice, beans and cassava flour, known as garri to the vulnerable people in the state.   According to him, the distribution will be done through Community Development Associations, CDAs, churches, mosques, and local government.  These measures, Sanwo-Olu said, are to cushion the effects

The Zone 2 Command,  Onikan, Lagos has smashed a syndicate that specialised in hacking into bank customers’ portals to move money from different customers accounts.   Two suspected members of the syndicate have been arrested by the zonal command, with the recovery of victims' SIM cards with which monies were withdrawn.   It was gathered that preliminary investigation by the zone revealed that the suspects identified as Yusuf Ademola (40) and Adeshina Abiodun (50), arrested in their hideout in Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State, had succeeded in moving money from no fewer than 1,000 bank customers' accounts.   Members of the syndicate, it was gathered, were spread all over the country and were very coordinated, as some of them specialised in collating SIM cards from stolen phones from one state, passed them to another team that would sort out the victims’ banks, before transferring them to their members in other states, who would use the bank’s code to get  the victim’s other details

*Say palliatives never a cure for any economic challenge, *Asks FG to identify those who swindled Nigeria through fuel subsidy, bring them to justice, *Notes Nigerians cannot suffer for corruption of a few people, *Address workers, Nigerians’ pains, NECA urges FG, *Warns strike, mass protest may cause breakdown of law and order, kill businesses THE Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, yesterday raised alarm that the removal of fuel subsidy without cushioning the effects has put the country on the brink of collapse. The bishops’ alarm came as Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, pleaded with the Federal Government to urgently address the pains of the people arising from removal of subsidy on petrol. However, efforts made to get the reaction of the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake, did not yield any results, as he neither responded to a text message sent to his phone nor picked his calls. But President of

Police operatives have shot dead a member of a kidnap gang and rescued their victim in Warri, Delta State.  The state police spokesman, Bright Edafe, who disclosed this, said the kidnap hostage was rescued by the police from the booth of his  Lexus car, adding that before freedom came his way, he had transfered N700,000 from his phone to his abductors. The police image maker said the hostage was ordered into the booth of his vehicle by his kidnappers after they brandished a local gun at him on Jakpa Road, where they hit his vehicle from the rear with their Keke and he came down to look at the damage on his car. The kidnappers, who took over his Lexus car, ran into a police checkpoint and one of them armed with the local gun, who tried to escape was shot dead by men of the police. “Police patrol team attached to Ebrumede Police station while on stop and search duty flagged down a Lexuz Saloon car but the occupant on noticing the police,  jumped down from the vehicle with a double barrel

THE Police Command in  Lagos State said it has arrested no fewer than 88 suspected criminals, 24 hours after the launch of “Operation Flush.” THE Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Idowu Owohunwa, made the disclosure when Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria, CRAN, hosted him during its monthly congress in Ikeja. The “Operation Flush” was launched by the command last Thursday following security concerns by some residents. Owohunwa said during the massive raid, some hard drugs and arms were recovered, stressing that in the following week, the suspects would be paraded. He said one of the locations of security concerns raised include Orile/Iganmu axis, stressing that the current tension in the area was linked to the bridge. He said: “On Thursday, we held a meeting and we launched the Operation Flush. So, many divisions have undertaken raids of black spots. “We have taken some actions. If you pass through Orile, you will see it and we are going to have permanent police dep

A non-governmental organisation, NGO, Centre Against Injustice and Domestic Violence, CAIDOV, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and  Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, to beam their searchlight on government parastatals over alleged sharp practices. The group made the call in a petition against the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, under the leadership of Ahmad Ahmad, submitted and acknowledged by EFCC. In the petition, the group accused REA of conspiring with some of the agency’s directors to pull stunts, all in the name of an alleged fake staff training programme. The petition by Executive Director of CAIDOV, Gbenga Soloki, alleged that eight staff members in the accounting department of the agency were used to perpetrate the alleged sharp practice to the tune of N1.5 billion. The petitioner held that recently about 200 staff in REA had their bank accounts credited with N500,000 and N600,000 for a purported training that never took place.

Late Ojeite Ejiro Residents of Aina Road, Agility in Ketu area of Lagos, were thrown into mourning, weekend,  following the murder of one Mrs Ojeite Ejiro in her apartment. Her assailants also set the apartment on fire, but the smoke alerted neighbours, who forced the door open, to discover the lifeless body of the 31-year-old woman on the floor with her hand burnt. A resident of the area, who identified herself as Mrs. Oghenerukewe Najite, said: “The plan of those that perpetrated the devilish act was to make her burn to death to make it look like a fire outbreak. “When some brave persons forced their way inside the room, Ejiro was found facing down. Her neck was slit.  “She was just a secretary at a water bottling company. She was not a politician. She got married November 18, 2021 and had been living peacefully with her husband. This is so unbelievable. We are appealing to the Police to do all they can to unravel the perpetrators of this murder."   Sister speaks  One of the dec

A suspected cultist, weekend, killed a 20-year-old man identified as Sele-ebi Ware-ebi after repeatedly stabbing him over a heated argument for putting on red beret in Tuomo community of Delta State. Sele-ebi, a native of Torugbene, was killed on Friday as he visited Tuomo community both communities are in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State. Vanguard gathered that the cultist was later tied with the corpse of the victim before being lynched by aggrieved mob of his community to prevent what could lead to communal crisis. According to a source, the cultist demanded N5,000 from Sele-ebi for putting on his cult’s coloured beret, failure of which the cultist brought out dagger and stabbed the man to death. The source added that the beret worn by the victim was meant for church activities before the cultist attacked him. In his words, “A Tuomo man, who is alleged cultist, stopped a Torugbene man, who wore a beret. The cultist asked the Torugbene man why he put on this group's be

AN over-speeding, unidentified driver of a salon car narrowly escaped death, after the vehicle plunged into a canal at Constain Roundabout, inward Eko Bridge, Surulere area of Lagos State. The incident, it was gathered, happened about 1p.m. According to an eyewitness, the male driver, who was rescued by first emergency responders, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, who raced to the scene, later recovered the car without any trace of the driver or occupant(s). Permanent Secretary, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who confirmed the incident, said the recovered car was later handed over to Nigeria Police at Iponri Division, Surulere for further investigation. According to Oke-Osanyintolu, “Upon arrival of the Cobra Squad at the incident scene, a Toyota Avalon with number plate, CAL-466GA, was observed to have plunged into the canal along the axis. “Investigation gathered at the incident scene revealed

…in new evidence of rot in education ON June 15, 2022, Irekanmi packed his bags and baggage, left their Abule-Egba, Lagos home and headed for the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA). Accompanied by his mum, uncle and brother, they arrived about an hour later at the airport where they were scheduled to travel to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Departures formalities completed, they boarded the Rwanda Air flight. Irekanmi, mum, uncle and brother were not on a business trip. Neither were they on vacation. Irekanmi was travelling to start a new life in Kigali. Mum, uncle and brother were only accompanying him to see the place where Irekanmi would take residence in the next four years and will soon be back in Nigeria. Irekanmi’s case is the new evidence of how young Nigerians are leaving their home country to start a new life abroad. In what is popularly called JAPA (Yoruba word for ‘flee’, ‘run’ or ‘escape’), young Nigerians are ‘escaping’ abroad for various reasons but mostly eco

MEDICAL experts have raised the alarm on the implications of allowing anthrax to spread like Coronavirus (COVID). The experts gave the warning at the 6th Biennial Professional Lecture organized by the Association of Science Laboratory Technologists of Nigeria, ASLTON, themed, ‘Pandemic Diseases: The Containment and Mitigation Role of a Science Laboratory Technologist’. Contributing, a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Medicine Biotechnology at the School of Medicine, University of Lagos, Marry-Theresa Niemogha, explained: “Anthrax is caused by Baselots anthracis and suggested that the country deploy the same method used in fighting Covid. “In other words, everybody has to be aware. People should know that if Anthrax spreads the way Covid did, we will all be in trouble. So we can use all the preventive methods explained by Professor Omilabu, including personal preventive measures like face masks and hand sanitisers, to prevent the spread from going to other people. “But we shouldn’

...as activists' lawyer speaks on 103 bodies, mass burial memo Mr. Adesina Ogunlana was the lead counsel to #EndSARS activists at the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters. Among other matters, the panel probed the shooting of activists protesting police brutality at the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos on October 20, 2020. There had been a controversy as to whether the shootings resulted in deaths. Meanwhile, there were also protests in other parts of Lagos, especially Ikeja, Orile, Marina, Oyingbo and Ketu as well as other parts of the country. Only last week, a memo emerged in the public space indicating that N61 million may be spent by government to carry out mass burial of 103 slain protesters of the brutality by the now defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police in Lagos. The memo, dated July 19, 2023, captures steps for the processing of funds after approval by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Earlier, a Mini

A Federal High Court sitting in  Lagos has ordered  the Inspector General of Police and his subordinates to vacate the premises of a building on Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos and revert same to Associated Property Development Company Limited. Trial judge, Justice Daniel Osiagor,  gave the order in a suit by Associated Property Development against the Federal Ministry of Communication and Technology; Otunba Olusola Adekanola, Nigeria Telecommunications Limited, Federal Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Implementation Committee on Alienation of Federal Government property and Attorney-General of the Federation. The respondents were dragged to court over invasion of the plaintiff’s private property and sealing of the same by the  Bureau of Public Enterprises. The court had on May 23, 2023 ordered parties in the suit to maintain the status quo but one of the respondents was alleged to have invaded the property with some policemen to forcefully take possession of it, thereby nec

CONCERNED about the high incident of broken homes, Marriage Affairs Forum, a group dedicated to transforming marriages and preparing singles for peaceful marriages, has launched a book geared towards the upliftment of marital affairs, particularly, on how to avoid broken homes. The forum said many marriages have been rescued through the forum as well as continuously meeting the needs of widows and the less privileged. Leader of the forum, Elizabeth Eguasa, stated this on the occasion of the group’s 10th anniversary/book launch in Benin City, Edo State. Eguasa said the book focuses on God himself and expressed optimism that “the book will liberate many people from the confusion many had in mind.” The book reviewer, Ven. David Egbenusi, lauded the author for weaving the book with every part of the scriptures, adding: “It was prepared for individual redirection.” Also, the guest speaker, Rev. Kelly Obasuyi admonished couples to at all times uphold the covenant they made to each other on t

 THE Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture says it will conduct free vaccination of domesticated animals alongside scheduled surveillance of all slaughter slabs and abattoirs in Lagos in an effort to prevent the spread of the anthrax disease. Disclosing the development on its Twitter handle @followlasg the state government explained that all domesticated animals including cows, pigs, camels, sheep, goats, and wild animals can contract the infectious anthrax, which is brought on by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, even as it warned that people who come into contact with diseased animals may contract the illness as well. The statement reads: “In order to forestall the prevalence of Anthrax disease, the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture has enhanced the surveillance of abattoirs and slaughter slabs in the State. “Anthrax, an infectious disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, affects domesticated animals such as cows, pigs, camels, sheep, goats, and wild animals. Human beings who come in con

•Says insecurity holding Nigeria down Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said that Nigerian political leaders have disappointed Nigerians, Africa, the Black race and the world for failing to make the nation the giant that everyone expected her to be. He spoke at the public presentation of a book, titled "Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa." written by Dr. Olusegun Aganga, a former Minister of Finance, under former President Goodluck Jonathan. Chief Obasanjo said:  "Not long ago, I decided to have on record the experiences of some of Nigerian ambassadors from independence to date. "One of the first set of ambassadors, Ambassador Ogunsulire, during the interview recollected that at the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly attended by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa for the admission of Nigeria as a member of the United Nations on October 7, 1960, Nigeria was referred to as Giant in the sun. "As at that time, the expectation of Africa and the world was fo

General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi, yesterday, said that it will take a person with good intentions, backed up with effective action, to deliver the country from the present economic challenges.  Pastor Kumuyi said this while addressing a press conference at Ogbomoso, Oyo State, to flag off the July 2023 Global Crusade with Kumuyi. Convener of the GCK, however, urged Nigerians not to lose hope with the present situation in the country, assuring them of greater possibilities ahead, if only they can pray, plan, and pursue their endeavours to make a difference in the nation.

•Speaker meets Tinubu over strike •We're looking into doctors' demands – FG •Govt response'll determine length of strike – NARD President THE National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, at exactly noon yesterday, made good its threat as members complied with the indefinite strike order issued by the National Executive Council, NEC, on Tuesday night. NARD embarked on the strike, despite the intervention of speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, who met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday night, urging him to wade into the matter, with a view to addressing the issues at stake. Although the Federal Government said it was already looking into the demands of the striking resident doctors towards effecting a speedy resolution, NARD said the government was yet to call them for a meeting, insisting that government's response would determine how long the strike would last. As of 12:30 pm when pressmen visited some of the affected tertiary health ins