266 Okadas, tricycles impounded in Lagos, 40 arrested.
The Lagos State Police Command on Sunday said it has impounded 266 motorcycles, popularly called Okada and tricycles as it began the enforcement of their ban in 15 councils, major highways and all bridges across Lagos.
Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Bala Elkana, in a statement, said 40 violators were also arrested in the exercise which kicked off on Saturday.
He said 188 Okadas and 78 tricycles were impounded by the police, making it a total of 266.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu had on 1 February, 2020 deployed Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers, State Traffic Officers, Area Traffic Officers, Divisional Traffic Officers, Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences and other Police Officers across the State Command to fully enforce the provisions of the Road Traffic Laws, especially the ban on the use of motorcycles popularly known as Okada and Tricycles also known as Keke in some Local Government Areas and routes across the State.
“The total ban as announced by Lagos State Government, took effect from 0000 hours of 1st February, 2020. 40 violators were arrested in different parts of the State. 188 Motorcycles and 78 Tricycles were Impounded. The Commissioner of Police went round the state to monitor compliance.
“The CP expressed his satisfaction with the level of compliance across the state and thank the good people of Lagos State for their cooperation. The CP personally arrested some motorcycle and Tricycle operators seen contravening the traffic laws. Others arrested by the CP are VIP escort vehicles without registration numbers, vehicles with defaced and covered plate numbers and vehicles driving against traffic.
“Twenty two vehicles were Impounded. The CP reiterated the fact that no one is above the law. He called on Lagosians irrespective of their social status to support the Police in its quest to provide a safe and secured state for everyone to live in and to carry out their lawful businesses. The enforcement is a continuous exercise 24/7 and violators will be dealt with in line with extant laws on Traffic,” he said.
PM News
Lagos releases routes to deploy 65 new buses
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has directed the management of Lagos Bus Services Limited to deploy a fleet of 65 buses along major routes from Monday, to provide succour and ameliorate the hardship commuters might face as a result of the restriction order on the operators of motorcycles and tricycles in some parts of the State.
The new routes where the LBSL will extend its services from tomorrow and the specified transport fares are:
1. Ikeja – Ogba: N100
2. Berger – Ogba: N100
3. Ikeja – CMS: N200
4. Oshodi – Ajah: N500
5. Obalende – Ajah: N250
6. CMS – Ajah: N250
7. Inner Marina – Ajah: N250
According to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer; Idowu Oguntona, extending the services of the company to these locations would help reduce the vacuum created by the restriction order of Lagos State Government on Okada and Keke operators in some areas.
While maintaining that commuters will enjoy the pleasure and comfort of riding in the new buses along these routes, Oguntona disclosed that more buses will be deployed by the company in no distant time.
PM News
Ekiti Police Set to Recruit 800 Constables
The Police in Ekiti State said they are set to recruit 800 Special Constables that will work with the conventional police to tackle the rising level of insecurity in the country.
In a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Sunday Abutu on Sunday, the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti, Mr Asuquo Amba, said that forms for the special recruitment had been distributed to all police stations across the state.
He urged interested applicants to obtain the forms before presenting themselves for screening at a date to be announced later.
“This is to inform the general public that in line with the approval and the directives of the Federal Government through the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, for the recruitment of special Constables into the Nigeria Police Force to enhance the community policing policy nationwide, the commissioner of police, has given a directive for the exercise to kick off across the 16 local government area of Ekiti state
“The recruitment forms are now available in all the divisional police stations across the state.
“All interested volunteers are to walk into any divisional police station closer to them within their local governments and pick the form at no cost
“Applicants must be between the ages of 21 and 50 years, with the will to serve the community
“Applicants must be resident within their respective communities.
“Applicants must be willing to sacrificially serve their respective communities for the purpose and aims of community policing policy with or without remuneration.
“Interested applicants are to, as a matter of urgency, go to the nearest police station within their local governments and pick the form as the screening date will soon be announced,” the police said.
The Inspector general of police in January, gave a directive to all police commands to liaise with stakeholders from each town and local government for the recruitment of the special operatives.
The Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Adamu, had further directed all Commands, Commissioners of Police, Assistant Commissioners of Police and DPOs to liaise with traditional rulers and community leaders in their respective areas to form screening committees.
The recruitment, which was to be in tandem with the community policing strategy of President Muhammadu Buhari, is aimed at mitigating the rising levels of killing, kidnapping, and banditry in the country.
Source: P.M. News
Lagos govt. puts compliance level on motorcycle, tricycle ban at 90%
The Lagos State Government says the compliance level on the ban of commercial motorcycle (Okada) and tricycle (Keke) is over 90 per cent. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, in a statement on Sunday, hailed the operators for complying with the restriction in six local government areas, major highways and bridges. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the enforcement of the State Security Council’s order began on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. ”The level of compliance was over 90 per cent. In fact, some of the ride hailing companies directed their riders to obey the directive. This is commendable.
FG To Reduce Fuel Price To N97
How will the government achieve Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva’s plan of an alternative auto fuel to premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol?
According to him, the alternative fuel to PMS is Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which will sell at between N95 to N97 per litre as against the current price of PMS at N145 per litre despite being heavily subsidised by the Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
CNG is made by compressing natural gas, which is mainly composed of methane (CH4), to less than one per cent of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of 20–25 megapascal (MPa) or 2,900–3,600 pounds per square inch (psi).
According to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigeria is among the top countries in the world with huge natural gas reserves. As at January, last year, Nigeria’s proven natural gas reserves was 200.79 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) and 600 Tcf potential reserves.
Also, research has proven that natural gas as fuel is cheaper and cleaner than PMS. It was as a result of the research that led to the issuance of a licence to three companies to operate CNG filling stations at designated areas during the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The companies are Global Steel Holdings with operational areas as Abuja and Lagos; Contec Global Limited for Lagos and NIPCO Plc for Benin-City.
Eventually, it was NIPCO Plc that was able to take off and survive till date. When other companies couldn’t survive, NIPCO secured a universal licence, which empowered it to operate nation-wide.
NIPCO Plc has set up of infrastructure and established seven CNG stations in three states – three in Benin-City, Edo State; one in Okolovu, Warri and Kwale respectively in Delta State; and Ibafo in Ogun State.
According to the Managing Director, NIPCO Plc, Sanjay Teotia, CNG is cheaper than PMS as auto fuel. Buttressing his assertion, he said: “Assuming the engine size of the vehicle is 2.0L, practically while one litre of PMS will cover 8km; one standard cubic meter (SCM) of CNG will cover 12km.
He said one SCM of CNG is equal to 1.23 litres of petrol and while one litre of petrol costs N145, one SCM of CNG costs N95. Therefore, in price equivalence, N20, 000 of petrol is approximately N16, 260 SCM of CNG.
“There is also an efficiency advantage of CNG over PMS, depending on the distance covered per day. In nutshell, if the PMS of N20, 000 last four days, the equivalent quantity of CNG will last for seven days.
“I will also laud the Federal Government and the minister for setting the National Gas Expansion Programme Committee, which will reposition the harnessing of our gas resources for auto use and others.”
He said the types of CNG vehicles include Bi-Fuel Vehicles, which have two separate fueling systems that enable them to run on either natural gas or PMS, Dedicated Vehicles, which are designed to run only on natural gas (CNG) and Dual-Fuel Vehicles, which have fuel systems that run on a blend of natural gas and diesel fuel.
He also noted that CNG converted vehicles use internal combustion engines similar to those that run on PMS or diesel, adding that there are seven basic components to convert a gasoline or diesel engine to one that also runs on compressed natural gas. The components are CNG storage tank, Fill receptacle, Fuel filters, Pressure regulator, CNG fuel feed system, Dash-mounted fuel selector, switch and gauge, and Electronic control module.
“A CNG fuel system introduces high-pressure natural gas from the storage tank to the engine while reducing the pressure of the gas to the operating pressure of the engine’s fuel management system,” he added.
According to him, worldwide, there were 14.8 million natural gas vehicles by 2011, led by Iran with 2.86 million, Pakistan (2.85 million), Argentina (2.07 million), Brazil (1.7 million) and India (1.1 million).[6] with the Asia-Pacific region leading with 5.7 million NGVs, followed by Latin America with almost four million vehicles.
Several manufacturers (Fiat, Opel/General Motors, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and others) sell bi-fuel cars.
In 2006, Fiat introduced the Siena Tetrafuel in the Brazilian market, equipped with a 1.4L Fire engine that runs on E100, E25 (Standard Brazilian Gasoline), Ethanol and CNG.
Nigerian University VC Impregnates 300l Student, Graduates Her Without Final Year Classes/Exams
The Vice Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) in Abia State, Prof Francis Otunta has been accused of impregnating a 300 level student of Accounting of the institution.
The allegation was contained in a petition written by a member of the University’s Governing Council, Dr Nelson O’Amanze Udenze.
In the petition it was revealed that the Vice Chancellor was also accused of impregnating a third year female student of accounting in 2017. He allegedly upgraded the student to final year status without any examination, allegedly graduated her and allegedly quickly sent her abroad to close the trial.
Prof Otunta was also accused of an alleged abuse of office and embezzling money meant for some staff of the university he allegedly suspended.
A member of the University’s Governing Counil, Dr Nelson Udenze who wrote the petition against the Vice Chancellor said that he is yet to go the press because the Ministry of Education has constituted a panel to look into the allegations. According to him, he will be speaking to the press after the investigation has been concluded. He also confirmed that he wrote the petition this month, January 2020.
This is coming after a female lecturer of the institution, Prof Patricia Mbah accused same Vice Chancellor of sexually harassing her, illegally seizing her salary and victimizing her. The lawsuit against him will be heard at the National Industrial Court in Owerri on February 3.
Amotekun Is A Christian Agenda To Dominate Muslims In Nigeria – Sharia Council
Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria has adjudged the South West Security initiative, codenamed, Amotekun as a Christian agenda intended to demonstrate power dominance over the Muslims.
Vice President of the council, Sheikh Hadiyatullah, who stated this, yesterday in Osogbo, Osun State, during a press conference, pointed out that the initiative was another “elusive way of establishing a Christian-dominated state police force whose affairs would be designed and determined from the church at the expense of the Muslims majority in the region.”
He lamented that the six South West governors, who created Amotekun, out of whom five are Christians, isolated the Muslims who constitute the majority in the region as well as the faithful of other religions, from the programme as they failed to carry them along before they went ahead to inaugurate it.
Hadiyatullah stressed that the promoters of the security outfit had displayed low understanding of the doctrine of religious tolerance in the country.
While emphasising that Amotekun had a Christian religion coloration, he claimed it was coined from Jeremiah 5:6 where the scripture referred to lion, wolf and leopard as battle and security forces.
He added that exclusion of the Muslims from the security agenda was “the height of rude insults to the religious sensibilities of the Muslims.”
Meanwhile, Osun State Government has faulted the Sharia council’s stance because there was no evidence that religious body, especially Christian, was a part of meetings that eventuated in the creation of Amotekun.
The government insisted that Amotekun did not have any religious coloration.
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, who through his spokesman, Ismail Omipidan, made the clarification in Osogbo, yesterday, added that the allegation that Amotekun was a Christian agenda was a move to cause disharmony among religious groups and disrupt the peace that Osun State had been reputed for.
He disclosed that Osun had not yet begun recruitment into Amotekun, adding that the social media report that submission of birth certificates from churches by applicants as a condition for recruitment lacked basis and a figment of imagination by the pedlars.
Regardless, South African chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) has appealed to the Federal Government to give necessary support for Operation Amatekun to survive.
The party described Amatekun as a great initiative that requires necessary intervention for timely delivery.
It made the appeal in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Bola Babarinde, and Secretary, Folorunso Fasina, yesterday.
US House Of Reps Clash With Trump Over Travel Ban On Nigeria, Others
United States House of Representatives has condemned the decision of President Donald Trump to extend his administration’s travel ban that will affect Nigeria and some other countries.
Trump signed the original travel ban on January 27, 2017, just a week into his tenure. The ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court on June 26, 2018.
It affected Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and North Korea.
For the new restrictions, countries on the list include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.
On Monday, Democrats said that the House of Representatives will soon consider legislation that would repeal the travel ban and limit the president from imposing future restrictions, Reuters reports.
House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi said the House will consider the “NO BAN Act” which would overturn the ban and prevent the president from establishing future restrictions unless the administration provides strong evidence to justify it in consultation with the Congress.
“House Democrats continue to stand opposed to President Trump’s cruel, un-American travel ban in all of its iterations.
“In the coming weeks, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up and bring to the floor the NO BAN Act to prohibit religious discrimination in our immigration system and limit the president’s ability to impose such biased and bigoted restrictions,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Democratic Senator, Chris Coons, one of the authors of the NO BAN Act denounced what he called the “intentional use of cruelty” in the Trump’s administration’s immigration policy and said the Muslim ban was based on “prejudice, populism and discrimination”, rather than fact or security considerations.
“Our whole effort in introducing this legislation and trying to move it forward is to say our Supreme Court got it wrong,” Coons told reporters.
Bandits Attack Abuja-Kaduna Train Passengers
Some gunmen on Saturday reportedly attacked vehicles conveying travellers from the Kaduna train station at Rigasa in the Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
It was gathered that the incident happened when the passengers alighted from the train which arrived from Abuja at about 8pm.
Some of the passengers attacked were said to have sustained injuries while several others were kidnapped by the gunmen, who were said to be in their large numbers.
It was also learnt that a similar incident took place around the area when passengers passing through the link road linking the train station to the airport road junction, were attacked. But it was learnt that they were repelled by military personnel attached to the train station.
A source said families of those kidnapped had been contacted by the kidnappers and demanded N20m ransom before the abductees could be set free.
One of the victims of the attack as of the time of filing this report was reported to be in a critical condition at the 44 Army Reference Hospital, located in the heart of the city.
A competent source told our correspondent that the only person kidnapped in the Friday night incident was a diabetic patient (a woman) and was allegedly thrown into a river not too far from the scene of the attack.
“Then, on Saturday, three people were kidnapped by the bandits,” he added.
Meanwhile, there was panic in the state on Monday, following a social media reports that bandits were gathering at Maguzawa village, Rigasa.
The village is located about seven kilometres away from Rigasa.
It was learnt that the bandits were allegedly responsible for the Friday night attack around the Rigasa Train Station and the Saturday night attack at the same location where a few people were kidnapped.
It was gathered that they met at the Maguzawa Primary School last night before attacking citizens on Rigasa, Link Road just after disembarking from the train.
The bandits were said to be under the leadership of a commander named ‘Bardinge’ who was said to have arrived the Maguzawa general area about six days ago.
It was gathered that the plan of the bandits was to attack and kidnap citizens within the Rigasa Train Station or to open fire at train at the train station.
The Kaduna Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo, had yet to confirm the incident as call and text message to his phone were not answered.