EAGLES EYE UPDATE

Lagos State Emergency Management Agency has urged residents to carry out regular inspections on buldings for cracks and other structural defects to prevent them from collapsing. The Agency, in a post on social media, advised building owners against work within limited funds at the expense of safety, quality and structural stability. LASEMA said this in reaction to the incidence of building collapse in Lagos which has been on the increase in recent times. “The reoccurring menace has claimed many innocent lives, valuable properties and huge investments. Although structural failures of building may arise from natural catastrophe, the pivotal cause of incessant building collapse in Lagos is the non–compliance with the building Industry construction standard and regulation for designated buildings. “The use of sub–substandard materials such as inadequate quantity of cement, concrete blocks, sand, poor workmanship and overloading or increase in floors of building contrary to foun...

The Management of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) following  Intel Region’s report  concerning the ban of Niqob (veil) for all Muslims interested in studying or visiting the University environment. Intel Region had earlier reported that the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) was the first public institution to pronounce a ban on a religious dressing, niqob (veil), considered as a fundamental human right by the Constitution of Nigeria. The announcement of the ban created an uproar from Muslim faithful and human right activists across the University, Nigeria and the world, citing that the University has no right to ban a fundamental human right and more also  should not compare Niqob with mini-skirt tagging them as lousy/immoral . In a meeting on Monday, between the University administration, the University Muslim Community and the Muslim Students of the University (MSSN-FUNAAB), the University Management headed by the University Vi...

An Islamic advocacy organisation, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), on Monday, rebuked the management of the Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta (FUNAAB) the Ogun state capital, for placing a ban on the use of hijab and niqab by Muslim female students on campus. MURIC alleged that a Muslim female student of the school was asked to remove her veil by some security personnel before she could be allowed to enter the school. This, according to the Islamic group, was a display of hate and an effort by the institution to profile innocent Muslim female students on campus. It, however, gave the management seven days to change its position or risk a democratic action by the Muslim students on campus. MURIC Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola said in a statement on Monday, “No institution of learning, from primary to tertiary, whether federal, state, or even private, has the right to prohibit the use of hijab or niqab. It is a contravention of the provisions of Section 38(i) & (ii) of ...

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Sunday raided former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel’s Conference Hotel in Abeokuta, the state capital. The armed men allegedly stormed the hotel, which is a few kilometres away from the ex-governor’s office secretariat and took away some suspected Internet fraudsters. Our correspondent gathered that the operatives, who were looking for Internet fraudsters, aka Yahoo boys, allegedly shot sporadically into the air and caused panic among the lodgers. PUNCH Metro learnt that during the raid, the men confiscated mobile phones, laptops and exotic cars reportedly belonging to the suspects. The officials allegedly broke into guests’ rooms and stripped some of the guests almost naked. But the Public Relations Officers of the Ibadan, Oyo State, and Lagos State offices of the EFCC denied knowledge of the alleged invasion. The PRO of the EFCC, Ibadan, Tokunbo Odebiyi, said, “I have no information about the operation. I a...

by Jamiu Idowu Esho Timothy Adegoke was found dead on November 15th; Rahman Adedoyin was arrested the same day, within hours. However, the Osun State Police Command claimed that Adedoyin had recorded the viral audio where he denied involvement in Timothy’s death before being arrested. Here is an excerpt from Adedoyin’s audio (1:16 to 1:30): “…when they did investigation; they saw Timothy’s corpse where it was thrown (buried). When they saw Timothy’s corpse where it was thrown (buried), all the senior police officers present checked all parts of his body; they saw that no part was missing… I appeal to everyone, home and abroad, to be patient and allow the police to do a thorough investigation…” Now, a quick analysis of the excerpt from Adedoyin’s audio: a) “…they saw Timothy’s corpse where it was thrown (buried)”:  Putting this together with the Police claim, it means Adedoyin recorded the audio between the time Timothy’s corpse was found and the time he (Adedoyin) was arrested. 1. ...

Tragedy struck on Sunday at Lafenwa Market when a fuel-laden tanker exploded, killing a woman and her grandchild. The explosion occurred at a failed portion of the railway on the Lafenwa-Ojurin-Ayetoro Road in the Abeokuta-North Local Government Area of Ogun State. The tanker, loaded with Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), overturned when its axle broke, as it started spilling its content on the road. Our correspondent gathered that the accident occurred around 4.45am on Sunday while the tanker driver was inbound Rounder from Oju-Irin, Lafenwa. Pandemonium, however, broke out a few hours after the incident when some traders and hoodlums in the market began scooping fuel from the fallen tanker. Attempts by the police to stop the action reportedly angered the hoodlums, who allegedly ignited a fire that triggered the explosion. PUNCH Metro gathered that the police shot two people while controlling the situation. Aside from the two people killed in the explosion, scores of shops in...

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN), on Sunday dismissed the #EndSARS panel set up by the Lagos State Government and the report it presented to state government recently. Keyamo said it was out of the jurisdiction of the panel to investigate the activities of Federal Government institutions and officials such as the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Army. The minister, while appearing on Sunday Politics, a current affairs programme on Channels Television which our correspondent monitored from Abuja on Sunday, however, said he was not speaking for the Federal Government. The panel had stated in its report that at least nine persons were killed on the night soldiers and policemen stormed the Lekki tollgate to disperse #EndSARS protesters, describing the incident as a “massacre in context.” However, Keyamo was asked on Sunday why the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), called for constitution of panels across the states to in...

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has decried the increase in the irrational use of antibiotics. The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, according to the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, in a statement on Sunday, said this on Friday at the virtual 2021 World Antimicrobial Resistance Week anniversary with the theme, ‘Spread Awareness Stop Resistance’. The statement quoted Adeyeye as sounding a strong note of warning that if allowed to continue, antimicrobial resistance could lead to death. The statement said Adeyeye added that the war against antimicrobial resistance had not only gained prominence and global attention, but had also become a significant battle that the human race must win. The DG was quoted as saying, “In view of this fact, I am delighted to be part of this battle and welcome all our esteemed stakeholders to the front line of this battle. Creating awareness amidst us all is a major step in the AM...

The Vice President of Coscharis Group, Mrs Charity Maduka, is dead. According to a statement on Sunday by the firm’s General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Abiona Babarinde, Mrs Maduka died on Saturday in Nnewi, Anambra State. The statement titled ‘Mrs Charity Maduka passes on,’ read, “With gratitude to the Almighty God and total submission to His will, the board and the entire executive team of Coscharis Group hereby announce the sudden death of our Vice-President, Mrs Charity Maduka. “She died peacefully in her family home in Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria on the evening of Saturday, November 27, 2021. “Further details will be announced by the family at a later time. “Our condolences go to our President / CEO, Dr. Cosmas Maduka and his family.”

The Rotary Club of Ikeja-Alausa Central has donated a water borehole to the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Primary Health Centre, as part of efforts to enhance public access to clean water. The District Governor, Rotary Club 9110, Mr Remi Bello, said this on Friday during the inauguration of the borehole project at the centre in Oritse, Ikeja. Also:  Rotary Club of Obantoko: Tree Planting Project He said, “The statistics from last year’s World Toilet Day regarding water sanitation and hygiene says 95 per cent of our health centres in the country lack water and good toilet facilities. The Rotary Club in Ikeja saw this need and decided to sink a borehole in this centre for the community. “This is a good example of a service programme to change lives, and we must do more collaboration and partnership to achieve these goals. We have to do more, and other projects are still on the way.” The Charter President, Rotary Club of Ikeja-Alausa Central, Mr Deji Shonuga, said the club emb...

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, on Sunday, announced a six-day traffic diversion on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, starting from Monday, to speed up construction works. Popoola, in a statement, said the diversion is to enable Julius Berger, the contractor handling section one of the project, to lay asphalt between Arepo and Warewa, a distance of one and half kilometers. He explained that there is the need to prepare the ground around The PUNCHnewspaper area hence the need for the traffic diversion to speed up the construction works. Popoola added that the traffic diversion would be on the Lagos-bound carriageway. He appealed for understanding of road users, saying that adequate arrangements have been made for traffic regulatory agencies to manage the construction zone to avert gridlock. “The Federal Government is desirous of completing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project by next year, so there is need to increase the tempo of activities on the ...

28 November 2021 Statement On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron , on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).  This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for example, on how easily it spreads or the severity of illness it causes. Here is a summary of what is currently known.   Current knowledge about Omicron Researchers in South Africa and around the world are conducting studies to better understand many aspects of Omicron and will continue to share the findings of these studies as they become available.   Transmissibility It is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible (e.g., more easily spread from person to person) compared to other variants, including Delta. The number of people testing positive has risen in areas of South Africa affected by this va...

Virgil Abloh, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton and the first African-American to head a French luxury fashion house, has died of cancer at the age of 41. LVMH, the French holding company that owns Louis Vuitton, said on Sunday that Abloh had passed away earlier that day after several years’ private struggle with the disease, Independent reports. “We are all shocked after this terrible news,” said LVMH boss Bernard Arnault. “Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary; he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom. “The LVMH family joins me in this moment of great sorrow, and we are all thinking of his loved ones after the passing of their husband, their father, their brother or their friend.” Abloh, the child of Ghanaian immigrants who grew up in Chicago and trained as a civil engineer and then an architect, made his name through collaborations with the rapper Kanye West, with whom he began working in 2002 at the age of 22. After a stint as the creat...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has claimed that they are unaware of a raid carried out at an Abeokuta hotel, Conference Hotel, which belongs to a former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel. The hotel authorities had claimed that personnel of the agency raided the hotel in search of alleged internet fraudsters, popularly known as “Yahoo boys”. However, when our Correspondent contacted the Public Relations Officers of both Ibadan and Lagos offices of the EFCC, they denied knowledge of the alleged invasion. The PRO of the EFCC, Ibadan office, Tokunbo Odebiyi, simply said, “I have no information about the operation. I’m not aware of any invasion of any hotel in Abeokuta.” Also, his counterpart in Lagos, Ayo Oyewole, said he was not aware of the raid. Meanwhile, contrary to the statements of the anti-graft agency spokespersons, the media office of Gbenga Daniel said the anti-graft agency raided the hotel around 2:00 am on Sunday. The statement read partly, “Some ...

Indonesia has announced an entry ban on travellers from Nigeria and seven other African countries to curb the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant first recorded in South Africa days ago. Other countries affected by the travel ban include travellers who have been to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini or Nigeria in the past 14 days. The restriction takes effect on Monday and would be evaluated every two weeks, Coordinating Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said at a news conference on Sunday, according to Reuters. “Omicron has spread to more countries, so to respond to these developments, today the government wants to carry out the following policies,” Pandjaitan said. Travel ban: Africa not source of COVID-19, should not be punished for Omicron variant —Akinwumi Adesina Indonesian citizens entering Indonesia from the listed African countries and Hong Kong will also now have to quarantine in designated facilities for 14 days, Pandjaitan added....

The President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says Africa is not the source of COVID-19 which was first discovered in Wuhan, China, some two years ago. The 61-year-old campaigner for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally also said that Africa should not be punished for the Omicron COVID-19 variant and other mutations that occur randomly anywhere in the world. Adesina stated this in a three-part tweet on Sunday, following the travel ban imposed on Southern African countries by the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union and some Asian countries as part of an emergency response to the recently-discovered B.1.1.529 strain of COVID-19, first detected in South Africa. The former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development wrote, “Africa should not be labelled and penalized for COVID-19 variants and mutations that occur randomly elsewhere in the world. Africa is not the source of COVID-19. “There must be global justice...

The Department of State Services has put the Nigeria Customs Service on red alert over planned attacks by insurgents on Ogun border communities and other border communities across the country. The secret police said it has intelligence that the marauders intend to hatch their sinister plot on military bases in border towns. In a letter dated November 25, 2021, addressed to the Customs Area Controller, Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun Area Command, Abeokuta, the DSS advised customs and other security agencies in the country to put counter-measures in place to frustrate the plot by the insurgents. The letter was titled, ‘Plans by insurgents to launch attacks on military bases in various border communities,’ and signed by the State Director of Security, Ogun State Command, M.B. Abdullahi. It read, “Available intelligence indicates plans by insurgents and criminal elements to carry out simultaneous attacks on military posts and bases in various border communities across the nation...

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria has told the Federal Government that removing fuel subsidy will worsen the suffering of the majority of Nigerians who are already impoverished. The President of PFN, Bishop Wale Oke, urged the government to shelve the proposed policy in order not to worsen the hardship and trigger crisis in the country. Oke said this in a statement issued on Sunday on the proposed subsidy removal. He explained that the implementation of the policy would lead to hike in the price of fuel and this would have a ripple effect on prices of goods and services. Oke warned that the implementation of such policy would increase the hardship currently being experienced by the people of the country. The cleric said prices of foodstuffs and other daily needs were increasingly going out of reach of the people, noting that if the proposed subsidy removal was effected, it would exacerbate the hardship of the people of the nation. Bishop Oke further said the situation i...

A tanker loaded with Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, on Sunday, exploded in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. Our correspondent learnt that the tanker overturned around 04.45am while making its way inbound Rounder from Oju-Irin, Lafenwa area of Abeokuta. The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, had confirmed earlier that TRACE officials, Police, Federal Road Safety Corps and the firefighters were working assiduously to restore normalcy. Akinbiyi said transloading was in progress, warning the general public, particularly the motoring public domiciled or moving around the axis to remain calm and cooperative. He also warned the public to avoid scooping of fuel, use of handset and cooking gas so as not to spark off a fire.” However, our correspondent reports that the fallen tanker finally exploded in the course of the rescue operation. It could not be immediately confirmed if there are casualties as ...

Thee Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has said that Muslim women who wear hijab and niqob are not different from ladies who wear mini-skirt or men who wear crazy jeans, as all the dressing are immoral and unacceptable in the Federal University environment. Thiss was announced by the University administration under the leadership through a circular and public billboard erected at the University school gate. Religious tension has built up at the Federal University, following the  announcement of the ban of use of Niqob (veil) by the Chief Imam of the University , Prof. Idris Ayinde, last week. Muslim faithfuls argued that the Muslims are entitled to dress according to their religious doctrine, citing that it has a fundamental right in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that the University has no right to deny them. Further investigation by Intel Region revealed that the use of hijab and niqob is however considered immoral by the University Adm...

A 64-year-old retired civil servant in Rivers State, Rowland Monokpo, tells DENNIS NAKU he’s been suffering psychological and physical trauma since his two daughters, Maryanne and Scholastica, were kidnapped on the farm 12 years ago Please briefly tell us about yourself? My name is Rowland Monokpo. I am from Deeyor community in the Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State. I am 64 years old. I was a civil servant, but now retired. I retired in 2014. I was attached to the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, now Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. It was said that your two daughters were kidnapped. When and how did it happen? On the 16th of May, 2009 I travelled with my wife to Akwa Ibom State to buy palm oil; my wife sells palm oil. My two daughters, Maryanne and Scholastica, were indoors when we left the house. But when I returned around 2pm, I didn’t see them. At first, I thought they went for a stroll. But about one hour later, I got a phone call from someone who to...