We still hope to find our families – Boko Haram child survivors

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More than 30,000 children have lost or been separated from their parents during insurgency which has left nearly two million uprooted after fleeing Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria”

Running his fingers over the wide scars on his knee and thigh, 13-year-old Usman recalled the moment he thought he would die.

The boy was fleeing a Boko Haram attack on his village in northeast Nigeria with his mother last year when two militants knocked him to the ground, and approached him wielding knives.

“I was scared that I would die … that I would never see my mother again,” said Usman, explaining how he limped to a nearby camp for the displaced in Bama town in Borno State, the heart of the jihadists’ brutal seven-year bid to create an Islamic state.

For two months, Usman heard nothing about his mother until two aid workers brought good news. They had tracked her down to her brother’s house in the nearby city of Maiduguri.

“We cried when we saw each other, there was so much joy,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, sitting next to his beaming mother, Biba, in the cramped, dusty yard of his uncle’s home.

More than 30,000 children like Usman have lost or been separated from their parents during an insurgency which has left nearly two million people uprooted after fleeing Boko Haram.

While two-thirds of these children are being cared for by a relative, the remainder – around 10,000 – are forced to fend for themselves, according to the U.N. children’s agency (UNICEF).

With many of them relying on the help of local communities or displaced families to survive, aid workers are striving to reunite these solitary children with their parents.

But tracing and tracking down relatives can take several months – leaving them prey to child marriage, sexual abuse and forced labour in the meantime, aid agencies say.

“Children may even resort to begging, hawking and transactional sex to survive,” said Rachel Harvey, chief of child protection for UNICEF.

TRACING AND TRACKING

When children arrive in a camp or community without their parents, or alone, they are quickly referred to local aid groups which carry out family tracing and reunification programmes.

Aid workers and volunteers take down as many details as possible from the children and share the information with their colleagues across northeast Nigeria, who go from camp to camp, community to community, reading out names and following leads.

But with three-quarters of the 1.8 million people displaced by Boko Haram living in communities across six states, rather than in camps, the work can be arduous and time-consuming, said Myriem El Khatib of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“It is much easier to trace relatives living in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps as people tend to gather together based on the village they fled from,” said El Khatib, co-ordinator of the ICRC’s Restoring Family Links programme.

“Outside of the camps, the displacement pattern is more random, and there are many areas which we still cannot access due to the insurgency. The average process takes many months.”

Even when parents or relatives are tracked down and told about their children, reuniting them is not always simple.

The makeshift foster families and caregivers who look after unaccompanied children may refuse to let them go, according to the Centre for Community Health and Development (CHAD).

Some people send the children to work or attempt to marry them off for money, while others hope having another child under their care will result in more humanitarian aid, said Shadrach Adawara, family tracing and reunification officer for CHAD.

“In one case, an uncle refused to release his brother’s children, because he wanted to marry the eldest daughter off.”

“Thankfully, a call between them resolved the issue, and the children returned to their father,” said Adawara, adding that aid workers regularly check up on reunited children, and refer them to services from healthcare to psychosocial support.

 ‘TEARS OF HAPPINESS’

In some cases, children may decide not to go back to their parents or relatives, several tracing officers said.

They may have suffered abuse or had been forced to work by their parents, or decide to spare their struggling families the added burden.

When 17-year-old Fatima, a former Boko Haram captive who escaped after two years while heavily pregnant, was reunited with her mother, they could not stop crying and hugging – having presumed each dead for so long.

But Fatima soon realised she and her baby could not stay with her mother and younger siblings in her hometown of Monguno.

“I saw the poverty, and many responsibilities of my mother … and decided it would be better for me and my baby boy to live with my older brother in this (Bakassi) IDP camp,” Fatima said, cradling and rocking her two-year-old to sleep.

While Fatima is relieved to be with her brother, she is one of the lucky few. Only some 400 children – out of 32,000 living alone or without a parent – have been reunited with their families so far, according to figures from UNICEF.

“It can be very frustrating because it can take so long,” said El Khatib of the ICRC. “But it is worth it when you see the emotion from the families … whether it is tears of happiness or just a pat on the arm and saying: ‘Nice to have you home’.”

Back at her brother’s house in Maiduguri, Biba fusses over 13-year-old Usman – much to his embarrassment – as she recalls the day they were reunited after two long months.

“I could not stop smiling,” she said. “Everybody in the neighbourhood saw my face, and knew he was finally back.”

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience.

 

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Lagos’ chance to join the league of world’s cleanest cities

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By Gbenga Coker

One of the major challenges of cosmopolitan cities in the world is  environmental pollution. What invariably separates the men (clean cities) from the boys (filthy cities) is how  effective,  and even preemptive,  multiethnic  cities  are in managing their waste disposal processes. That is the bedrock of a clean society. For Lagos, with its titanicpopulation, coupled with  the  congested city  centres, which had given rise to satellite towns and slums,  the inability to maintain  statewide  pristine  environmental sanitation has been a serious clog in the wheel of progress.

Though attempts  were  made in the past by successive administrations in the  state  to tackle the problems headlong,  the  issue of proper waste disposal  and transformation of Lagos into  an immaculate environment,  proved a  hard nut to crack. The desire for a cleaner Lagos  pigheadedly remaineda mirage. While concerted efforts were made to make the state live up to its sobriquet, the Centre of Excellence,  by making its environment cleaner and serene, little result was achieved as  Lagos state continued to expand  to accommodate itsgrowing population.

The waterways and canals had been turned into  dumpsites, while  the ugly sight  of  people defecating openly into the  canals and drainages  became a  routine. Areas designated as  public parks and  open spaces,  were  turned to safe havens for criminals. All these  aberrations largely turned the state to an eyesore and  one of  the dirtiest in the country despite being the commercial nerve  centre, not only of Nigeria but the West  Africa  sub-region.

Apparently determined to reverse the  horrid  trend, the administration of  Asiwaju  Bola Ahmed  Tinubu  set up Kick  Against  Indiscipline (KAI) to ensure  a  neater and cleaner Lagos. With the establishment of KAI, it became an offence to litter the environment and failure to properly dispose waste was no longer tolerated. The  culture  of indiscriminate throwing of waste out of vehicles abated, as commercial vehicles were mandated to provide  wastebaskets.

Equally, the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) was repositioned to offer quality and timely services in the area of waste disposal, while dumpsters were provided in major locations for the populace to dispose their waste.  The fear of  KAI officials and their mobile courtsbecame the beginning of wisdom for  Lagosians  who realized  that  failure  to  observe environmental norms  would henceforth have  dire consequences.

Lagos residents suddenly realized that the  task to keep  a tidier Lagos was no longer a joke.

In the area of environmental pollution, emission test on vehicles was introduced and made compulsory, while a great leap was achieved in curbing blockage of the waterways, drainages and canals with refuse. No doubt,  the steps by Lagos  towards  a  garbage-free environment were on a sound footing.

Consequently,  the  Babatunde  Raji  Fashola  (SAN) administration concentrated on the beautification of Lagos  landscape, with a view to creating  an aesthetic, serene and idyllic environment so that Lagos could wear the look it deserved.

Obviously determined to consolidate on  the efforts of his predecessors  in  actualising  a cleaner Lagos, the incumbent administration of  Akiwunmi  Ambode, decided to raise the ante with the inauguration of  the  Cleaner Lagos Initiative.

To bridge the lacuna and cater for the inadequacies that had  bedeviled  prior attempts by Lagos State to  achieve a cleaner environment,  Governor  Ambode  pushed and ensured necessary legal reforms (legislation) were  put in place. So,with  the new  Environmental Management and Protection Bill, passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly, Kick  AgainstIndiscipline (KAI), will be transformed into the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps Agency.

This agency will spearhead enforcement of the stringent penalties imposed on defaulters. This bill, which has been accented to by  Ambode, would ensure, among others, that structures on sewage systems without approval  aredemolished, all commercial drivers have litter bins in their vehicles, enforce the ban on street trading as well as ensurethat residents obtain permits before sinking boreholes.

Meanwhile, when KAI officers are fully integrated into LASECORPS, the agency will be tasked with monitoring and maintaining surveillance along the highways, streets and public drainages, canals, markets and parks and will have the primary responsibility of ensuring that citizens  fulfill  their civic duty by paying the Public Utilities Levy- a property-based charge, payable by property occupants for the management of solid and liquid waste, wastewater and environmental intervention for Lagos State.

In the same vein, LASECORPS  will be supported by PUMAU (Public Utilities Monitoring Assurance Unit) a unit that will have oversight responsibility by using innovative monitoring tools to ensure the new standards are effectively enforced.

Depending on the nature of the offence,  defaulters of the  new  laws will face stiff penalties  ranging from N250,000  to N5,000,000 and/or imprisonment.  The state government has deliberately set a stringent penalty in order to discourage environmental misdemeanor and consciously navigate an attitudinal change towards acceptable ecological norms.  The  message is clear, mess up Lagos and pay  through the nose.

On the mandatory provision of litterbins in commercial vehicles, the law expressly says: “If the driver fails to provide the litter bin, the driver will also be penalized alongside the passenger or the occupier of the vehicle who commits the offence”.

On all illegal structures built on the sewage systems without approval,  the expressly stated  that  such structures will be demolished.

Also in the new law, anyone who wants to sink borehole or any structure connected with the supply of water must obtain permit from the office of drainage services.

Though, the new environmental bill was meant to ensure a cleaner Lagos, tackle air  and water pollution, prevent diseases and halt  the deterioration of the environment to avert advert effects  on socio-economic activities, the  attendant  benefit of creating about 27,500 new jobs for teeming  Lagosians,  will indeed be a welcome relief.

With this giant leap towards ensuring a  well protected  and dirt-free environment, Lagos, under the leadership of Ambode, despite  its  huge population  (human and vehicular),  is set to provide the best salubrious environment for Nigerians to live in.

 

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Police kill 4 kidnappers, arrest 3 others

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Nigerian Police

Kebbi State Police Command said its men have killed four and arrested three members of a notorious gang of kidnappers, armed robbers and cattle-rustlers.

Parading two members of the gang, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mustapha Suleiman said members of the gang had a shootout with men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), in the process, four members of the notorious gang lost their lives.

“We recovered some cows, sheep, rifles and ammunitions from them,” the Police said.The gang, it said, was responsible for the kidnap and murder of one Alhaji Abdulkadir, whose corpse was recovered recently at Garin Auwalu area of Danko/ Wasagu.

The two suspects arrested were Aminu Jibrin and Ahmadu Muhammed. The two suspects, Jibrin and Muhammed confessed to taking part in many cattle-rustling, kidnapping and armed robbery incidents in the state.

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Nigerian-Turkish school kidnapp case, another suspect arrested

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Another suspect has been arrested in connection with the kidnap of officials and students of the Nigerian-Turkish School, Isheri.The suspect was also linked to last month’s abduction of the Secretary of Isheri Estate. 

The latest arrest made it the eight suspects arrested by the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), led by ACP Abba Kyari in connection with the Isheri kidnap.

 
The new suspect confessed he was part of Turkish and Isheri abduction and he got N2million and N150, 000 respectively, which he used to rent and furnish an apartment in Ughelli town.

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Tech sector leads resistance to Trump travel ban

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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 06: Activists participate in a protest against President Donald Trump's immigration policies in front of the Department of Homeland Security New York headquarters on February 6, 2017 in New York City. The event was sponsored by Amnesty International and called for a repeal of Trump's controversial Immigration order. Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

A coalition led by some of the world’s biggest tech firms is taking on President Donald Trump’s travel ban, signaling the contentious relationship between the sector and the White House could be about to get worse.

Scores of technology giants — including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter — filed a joint legal brief arguing against the temporary ban on refugees and travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Tesla and SpaceX were among another 30 companies that added their names to the filing late Monday, pushing the total to more than 120.

Elon Musk, chief of Tesla and SpaceX, is on a Trump advisory group and it remained to be seen what siding against the president’s order in court might mean to his role on that panel.

Uber founder Travis Kalanick quit Trump’s business advisory board last week, saying he did not want to be seen as endorsing the president’s policies.

The legal challenge suggests the important tech sector — which overwhelmingly opposed Trump in the November election — is likely to be headed for more battles with the new administration.

“The tech sector will stand up to the president when they see him threatening industry interests, and on the immigration issue all these companies depend heavily on foreign scientists and engineers,” said Darrell West, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation.

“I think there is likely to be an adversarial relationship because many tech companies are staffed by millennials, and dominated by young and progressive people who are opposed to what Trump is doing now.”

While the sector enjoyed cooperation and access to the White House during the presidency of Barack Obama, West said that “the technology sector doesn’t need much from government.”

“Almost all the tech innovation is funded by the private sector,” he added. “All they really want is a light regulatory touch.”

– Fear of next move –
The brief filed in a federal appeals court — in support of a suspension of the travel ban — said the order has already created disruption in the sector, which depends heavily on foreign-born talent.

“This instability and uncertainty will make it far more difficult and expensive for US companies to hire some of the world’s best talent — and impede them from competing in the global marketplace,” said the brief endorsed mostly by companies in the technology industry with some non-tech firms such as Levi Strauss and yogurt maker Chobani.

It argued that highly skilled people “will not wish to immigrate to the country if they may be cut off without warning from their spouses, grandparents, relatives, and friends.”

Companies backing the brief include Airbnb, Dropbox, eBay, Intel, Kickstarter, LinkedIn, Lyft, Mozilla, Netflix, PayPal, Uber, Yelp, Pandora, and HP Inc.

Executives from several top Silicon Valley companies previously spoken out against the ban, which temporarily closed US borders to all refugees and travelers from seven mainly-Muslim nations — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Technology analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates said the sector is fearful of Trump’s intentions.

The travel ban has raised concerns, but “it’s what that order heralds in terms of what’s likely to come next,” Kay said.

“The belief is that Trump hasn’t even started warming up yet. He hasn’t even gotten close to what he would like to do to the society. He’s just firing a few warning shots.”

Vivek Wadhwa, a tech entrepreneur who is a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering at Silicon Valley, echoed those sentiments, saying Trump “showed that he could at his whim target any group he wanted.”

“The fact that green card holders could be denied admission back into the country, that was the scariest thing possible,” Wadhwa added, referring to the contradictory messages issued in the wake of the decree over the status of green card holders on foreign travel.

– Creating distance –
Bob O’Donnell, a Silicon Valley analyst and consultant with Technalysis Research, foresees more clashes ahead including on Trump’s plan to tighten rules for the H1-B visa program for skilled workers and his vow bring manufacturing back to the United States.

Both of these issues are “huge potential concerns” for the tech industry, he said.

O’Donnell said most tech firms are loathe to cooperate with Trump, fearing it could hurt their image among his opponents — and hit their bottom line.

“Companies are concerned about impacting their perception among their employees as well as their customers,” O’Donnell said.

“They’re trying to figure out how to distance themselves” from the White House.

But in some areas, he says, the two sides may be forced to work together, such as complex matters related to law enforcement access to encrypted devices.

“You can’t put an executive order on encryption, there’s way too much involved,” he said.

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DSS invitation in order, says Suleman

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President, Omega Fire Ministry, Apostle Johnson Suleiman addressing journalists  on his way to honour an invitation of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja …yesterday. PHOTO: LUCY LADIDI ELUKPO.

The President, Omega FireMinistries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has said that his invitation by the Department of State Services (DSS) is in order.

Suleman said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja yesterday.“I presume the right thing was done. They have been in touch with me to come and that is why I am in Abuja, so that I can see them,” he said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he said his recent statement was based on information from a reliable source that herdsmen were coming to attack him. 
He said that he stood by his statement on self defence.

Suleman had told his supporters at a religious crusade in Ekiti recently to defend themselves if they were attacked by herdsmen.Security around the former State House Annex office of the Department of State Services (DSS), Abuja was beefed up yesterday.

As at 11:30 am yesterday, there was no sign of the Apostle entering the DSS office, but unconfirmed sources said he was already inside, having been picked from a location into the office in a different vehicle.

Though the DSS Spokesman, Tony Opiuyo, has remained inaccessible nor issued a statement to the effect, a source familiar with the Service told The Guardian that the pastor had answered the invitation as requested and is cooperating with interrogators.

rity presence, the source said “it was to forestall any act that would lead to a breakdown of law and order, because we gathered that some misguided elements were at the Unity fountain in Maitama to rent a crowd to foment
trouble.’’

Annex office of the Department of State Services(DSS), Abuja was beefed up yesterday.From the entrance of the Maitama Avenue through the Circular Road that encloses the Three Arms Zone, armed stern-looking soldiers, policemen and masked DSS operatives lined the streets

The Omega Fire founder Apostle Johnson Suleiman was formally invited to the DSS headquarters to answer questions bothering on alleged inciting
instructions he gave to his congregation during a church service that suggests ethno-religious intolerance.

As at 11:30 am yesterday, there was no sign of the Apostle entering the DSS office, but unconfirmed sources said he was already inside, picked from a location into the office in a different vehicle.

Though the DSS Spokesman, Tony Opiuyo, has remained inaccessible nor has he issued a statement to the effect, a source familiar with the Service told
The Guardian that the pastor had answered the invitation as requested and is cooperating with interrogators.

Asked why the heavy security presence, the source said “it was to forestall any act that would lead to a breakdown of law and order, because we gathered that some misguided elements were at the Unity fountain in Maitama to rent a crowd to forment
trouble.’’

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Court hears alleged breach of contract suit May 9

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Justice Femi Adeniyi of an Ikeja, Lagos High Court has fixed May 9, 2017 for further hearing in a suit filed by Omega City Ventures Limited, Oshomak Ventures Limited and Steel Works Limited against the Managing Director and Executive Vice Chairman of Sifax Group Nigeria Limited, Dr. Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi and his company for alleged breach of contract.

The presiding judge fixed the date after the claimants closed its case for the defendants to open theirs
The claimants, in the suit, are praying for an order of the court for “immediate and unconditional payment of N90 million by the respondents to the first claimant being the 10 per cent commission of N900 million purchase price in respect of service rendered to the defendants as estate agents in getting the defendants the property formerly known as plots 5 and 6 but now known as No 212, Moshood Abiola Way, Ijora measuring approximately 13,800 square metres.”

In the writ of summons, the plaintiffs claim‎ed that they were into real estate, property development and general contracts duly incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990.

They claimed that the first defendant sometime ago sought to buy the property at Ijora, Ebutte-Metta and Surule‎re axis of the state for business purposes which the claimants reportedly executed.

The claimants averred that the “ third claimant ‎got the property and introduced to the second defendant, who in turn, linked and introduced the said property to the first claimant who has direct link with the defendants. The first claimant introduced the property to the defendants via her letter of 28th July 2014 titled, Steel Fabricatior For Sale.

“The first claimant did not only introduce and describe the property to the defendant but also attached all necessary title documents which included but not limited to governor’s consent registered as no 76, page 76 volume 2083 and dated 17/7/2003.

“The claimant made it clear to the defendant that she will be collecting a professional fee of 10 per cent of the purchase price of the property to which the defendant till date never disputed. The claimant hereby pleaded the said letter of 28th July 2014 which was received and acknowledged by the defendant on July 30, 2014.”

The claimants subsequently prayed the court to order the defendants to pay N50 million general damages for the stress, trauma and the untold hardship suffered by them.

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Osinbajo implores judiciary to embrace speedy trial system

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Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo

Canvasses punishment for delay in dispensation of justice

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has urged the judiciary to embrace a day-to-day system of trial and introduce significant costs and punishment for delays that are associated with lateness, ill-preparedness or deliberate tactics aim at stalling cases.

This, he said, was a major challenge in the administration of justice that must be jointly tackled by all relevant stakeholders in the sector.He also urged judges, lawyers and others to change their attitudes and stand up for what is right.

Osinbajo stated this at the opening of a two-day stakeholders’ summit organised by Lagos State Ministry of Justice.The Acting President, who spoke on the theme “Contemporary Trends: Catalysts for Justice Sector Reform in Lagos State, was represented by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).

He said stakeholders in the administration of justice must begin to take the issue of delay more seriously. They must shun all forms of delay tactics, he said, adding: “Lagos State has a general reputation for trailblazing reforms in the justice sector and in many other sectors in Nigeria and beyond.

“The summit, which is aimed at further initiating reforms in conformity with modern trends, was another testament of the fact that the reputation of the state was being taken seriously by the current administration ably led by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.”

In the same vein, Ambode said for any nation to experience economic growth, it must first have a functional judicial system that would not only encourage local and foreign investors to invest in the state, but also guarantee conducive environment for such businesses to thrive.

The governor stated: “As a government, we are well aware that to achieve our socio-economic goals of a safer, secured, peaceful and more prosperous Lagos State, we need a functioning justice sector, which guarantees not only the maintenance of law and order, the enforcement of human rights and freedom, but also provides an administration of justice ambience that protects investments and encourages economic development.”

He stressed that one of the technologies being put in place is the Lagos State DNA laboratory to process evidence, which would serve as a powerful criminal justice tool in prosecuting the guilty and exonerating the innocent.

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Food vendor allegedly kills bus driver over N30

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Igando…yesterday

It was a raucous start to a new week yesterday for residents of College Bus-Stop, Igando in Lagos State after a noodle seller, Mallam Adamu, allegedly killed a bus driver, Lekan Adeleke alias Starboy on Sunday night.

But for the intervention of policemen from Area ‘M’ and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the crisis would have snowballed into an ethnic war between the Hausa and Yoruba communities in the volatile area.

The deceased’s family have appealed that Lekan’s body be released to them so that he can be buried in accordance with Islamic rites.It was gathered that Adamu used a plank attached with a nail to hit Starboy on the head following a disagreement over a paltry N30.

According to an eyewitness, Kehinde Akinduro, who said he was eating noodles at Adamu’s snack bar when the trouble started, the suspect went berserk after the deceased paid his son N200 instead of N230.

He stated that Starboy after eating a plate of noodles and eggs was told his bill was N230. Being a regular customer, he handed over the N200 he had on him and told the seller he would bring N30 in a few minutes time.

Akinduro said: “The boy then went and told his father that Lekan paid N200 and promised to bring N30 shortly but his father ran after Lekan. People, who saw him running after Starboy to the other side of the road, told him to calm down that Lekan would not eat his money.

“About five minutes later, Lekan brought the N30 and asked the boy if it was because of N30 they wanted to embarrass him. As Lekan was inside the container talking to the son, Adamu just entered with a plank he was holding and hit Lekan on his side. So, Lekan turned around to know what happened. When he saw it was Adamu, he struggled to take the plank from him but couldn’t. 

“I was still eating. I left my food and went inside to stop Adamu but he used the same plan to beat me three times. My hands and legs are still swollen. I fell on the ground and I was weak.

“After the struggle, Lekan ran outside. He was about to cross the expressway and did not know Adamu was still coming behind him. That was how Adamu used the plank and hit Lekan on his head. The nail on the plank burst Lekan’s head and he fell on the express.

“When I saw what had happened, I called our colleagues who were on the other side to come.  People who were eating gathered and told Adamu to take Lekan to the hospital, but he was busy pouring water on Lekan’s head.

“When he saw that our colleagues were coming, Adamu and his son fled. Others started chasing him but he used charms to distract people. We called our chairman and he called the police. I chased him too and found him inside a gutter at Ikotun Road. He was hiding under a slab and refused to come out until police came. This thing started around 11:05am.”

Another driver, who gave his name as Eniola, described Adamu as a very violent man, noting that he chased a customer with a cutlass two months ago. According to Eniola, Adamu’s ear was chopped off some years back at Igando because he stabbed somebody to death.

“He fled to College bus stop after escaping death from inside Igando. He’s a very violent man and he likes to threaten people with charms and weapons. We heard the police want to grant him bail. If he’s granted bail, this area won’t contain us anymore. Lekan cannot die in vain. Let justice be done.

“Now, who would care for Lekan’s wife, daughter and mother? He was an only son and he has been taking care of his family. Lekan was a peaceful man. He was like an Alfa. He usually avoided trouble and so, we are not happy the way he was killed. Imagine if it was a Yoruba person that killed a Hausa man? This area would still be boiling now and many people would have been killed.”

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Come to our aid, Aboru Oki Communities tell Ambode

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Aboru Canal

When the road to Aboru, from Iyana Ipaja in Lagos State was given a face-lift some years ago, residents of Iyana Ipaja, Aboru, Powerline and others living along the Oki Road axis heaved a sigh of relief and assumed that their predicament would soon end.

They also believed that the development would put paid to the ugly days of destruction of lives and property, which was caused by the overflow of the canal around the poorly constructed bridge along Oki Road, under which the Abattoir canal passes to other locations.

All these were at a time when the makeshift bridge that serviced thousands of residents of the Aboru Oki area was made of wooden planks, and its users were exposed to grave danger any time it rained heavily.

Even though the state government reconstructed the bridge with concrete about seven years ago, the job was poorly executed such that the entire vicinity is still flooded during heavy downpours.

The general condition of the road, right from Iyana Ipaja, to Aboru, up to Powerline, suggests that it is in dire need of immediate rehabilitation having also been shabbily done like the bridge.

In testifying to the poor condition of the road, Vice Chairman, Oki Central Community Development Association (CDA) Mr. Akintade Yisau, said even though work had been done on the road, the present condition of the road suggests that it had long been abandoned by relevant authorities.

According to him, because of the pathetic state of the road, motorcycle operators always contest for space with pedestrians even during the dry season.

Kehinde Akinosi, a landlord on Adeleye Street, one of the link roads in the neighbourhood insists that there is urgent need to rehabilitate the road because of its importance as one of the channels that facilitate decongestion of traffic whenever there is a snarl at Iyana Ipaja.

“If Adeleye Street and other inner roads that link Shagari Estate to Meiran are graded and tarred, traffic snarl at Iyana Ipaja would be reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.

Mama Ore, a prominent trader, who lives within the axis, while lamenting the state of the road, remarked that road users are subjected to immense pains whenever it rains.

“The pains encountered by road users on account of the constant traffic jam at Iyana Ipaja would come to an end if urgent attention is paid to the rehabilitation of Iyana Ipaja-Aboru Road, as well as upgrading the link roads in the area, including Adeleye Street. Alabede and Akinola streets are major link roads that connect this area to the Oshodi-Abeokuta Expressway. These roads should be upgraded,” she appealed.

Ewenla Adepoju, who resides around the Aboru Oki bridge, in confirming the loss of lives and property occasioned by the overflowing canal said: “A lot of accidents have been recorded whenever that portion of the road is flooded, and this is the reason we are calling on the state government to come to our aid.”

A commercial motorcyclist, Wasiu, in narrating his experiences plying the road said: “The kind of stress we are going through on this road as motorcycle operators cannot be explained. So, we implore the government to come to our rescue because the suffering is much. As commercial motorcycle operators, we are not praying for the rains to start coming because of what we face on the road whenever it rains.”

His colleague, Kayode, who described plying Aboru Road as a “very unpleasant” experience said, “Many of us have had our motorcycle tyres damaged because of the deplorable state of the road. Also when it rains heavily, those of us at this side of Iyana Ipaja are cut off from those at the other side of Aboru.

“A lot of accidents are also recorded whenever it rains as the motorcyclists attempt to meander their way. This is the reason we are calling on the state government to kindly consider rehabilitating the road,” he said.

Oki Central CDA Chairman/Welfare Officer, Community Development Committee, Elder Rasaki Emmanuel Jinadu, said the bridge has for years remained a major problem of the road.

According to him, “We have been complaining about the bridge since the days of Governor Babatunde Fashola. About six years ago, Fashola sent his Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Remi Ibirogba, and representatives from Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area to inspect the shaky bridge. Since that inspection visit, nothing has been done about the bridge.

“We have not only written to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on the same problem, but also protested to Alausa about two months ago. There, we were addressed by the Deputy Speaker, Eshinloku Sanni Wasiu, who promised to look into the construction of a new bridge. He was with another member of the House, Bisi Yusuf. We are still waiting for their promise to be fulfilled.”

Wasiu, who explained that the big canal, which begins from Abattoir, is among the seven canals, from Meiran, and Ijaiye Ojokoro that empty into Iyana Aboru Canal at Oki Road.

“The contractor that has been dredging the canal has been going about it haphazardly by leaving dug up debris at the edge of the bridge. These debris promptly find their into the canal during rainfall, a development that leads to constant overflow of the canal.

“This is what makes the area to flood whenever there is a downpour. While that is being addressed, the bridge, which is also a major source of worry to us should be addressed alongside the canal because if it is allowed to finally collapse, the entire Aboru axis would not only be cut off from the rest of the state, but economic activities in that area, and the Iyana Ipaja axis would also be halted.

“I also appeal that the link roads that would reduce the incessant traffic jams at Iyana Ipaja should be upgraded. If the government takes pains to upgrade Ige, Raji Rasaki, Sotunde and Adeleye streets, as well as, rehabilitate Iperu Akesan Street, all vehicles coming from Abeokuta and Sango can drive through Raji Rasaki Street, and venture out at Iyana Aboru, having left Iyana Ipaja behind. Motorists can also before getting to Iyana Aboru, enter through Adeleye Street to link up Iperu Akesan, veer off to Sotunde Street, come out at Alimosho, and head to Ipaja or Egbeda.

“We implore Governor Ambode to rehabilitate the link roads and rebuilding the bridge. The time is right for the government to fix these problems before the rains set in.

Vía The Guardian NigeriaThe Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2jrcRcg