We Sold Human Head For N8000, Suspects Confess

The Police force command in Lagos on Tuesday paraded four suspected men who specialised in selling human parts to herbalists and ritualists.The suspects confessed that human heads were sold for N8000, hands goes for N4000 and private parts are sold at N10,000.The suspects were arrested by officers of Special Anti-Robbery squad of the Lagos state command in Oja-Odan and other areas of Owode -Yewa in Ogun state.

One of the suspects Agboola Kolawole, who blamed his indulgence on poverty and inability to pay his children’s school fees, disclosed that he had so far sold four heads of his deceased siblings to a herbalist, who in turn sold to some persons they identified simply as ‘Alhaji’s.

’Their arrest, according to the Command’s spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, followed a tip-off from the officer-in-charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, Abba Kyari, that one of the suspects, Jamiu Adeleke, was at the verge of selling a human hand for N21,000.

Nigeria:Commercial bus drivers, conductors to wear uniform

As Lagos State government moves to further strengthen the Road Traffic Law, commercial bus drivers and conductors will soon begin to wear uniform and badges.

Besides, owners of such buses will have their identities aboard the vehicles. This is part of the revelations by the state Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, while briefing journalists on the activities of the ministry in the last 365 days.

He said, “The transport unions have agreed on the type of uniform and the badges they will give to the commercial bus drivers and their conductors. The identities of the owners (owners’ cards) of the commercial buses will also be aboard these buses.”

Again, the commercial bus drivers must be re-certified by attending the drivers’ institute, where they will undergo comprehensive tests  -  including vision and driving tests.

31-year old man arrested with liquid cocaine

Mr Nicholas Ajaduruonye, the Commandant, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Seme Command, on Wednesday said it had arrested a 31-year old man with alleged liquid cocaine.

Ajaduruonye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Badagry, Lagos State, that the suspect was arrested at Gbaji, Badagry, with liquid cocaine tied in 29 pieces of condoms.

“A  31-year old man (name withheld) was arrested on April 24 with liquid cocaine weighing 1.2 Kilogrammes.

“He swallowed the cocaine, which was concealed in 29 pieces of condoms, before he took off from Caracas, Venezuela to Paris, France.

“When he landed at Paris, he excreted the drugs and continued his journey to Lome and from there, he came to Nigeria by road.

“He was caught by security agents at Gbaji area, Badagry, with the drugs hidden in his travelling bags.

“The case is still under investigation and he will soon be prosecuted in accordance with the law,“ Ajaduruonye said.

The commandant said liquid cocaine was new in the country.

He advised Nigerians to desist from the sale and usage of hard drugs as offenders would be caught and prosecuted by the agency.

Vehicles vandalised, many injured in Lagos violence

No fewer than 100 vehicles were vandalised and many injured when urchins, otherwise known as "Area boys" on reprisal invaded four streets in Akoka and Pedro in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The hoodlums were said to have arrived the area through the Somolu Market pretending to be holding a candlelight procession for a man, identified simply as Old Skool.The man was allegedly stabbed repeatedly by some youths during a rally organised by the Somolu LG Chairman, Mr. Gbolahan Bago-Stowe to mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Solanke Street.

Old Skool died on Easter Sunday, thus creating tension in the Akoka part of the LG.

"The rally was also a part of an annual carnival known as Humani Street Day Carnival. This attracted many youths who marched through the streets.

How does this kind of things happen incessantly and nothing is ever done to remedy them?

Fashola Re-Opens Ladipo Market

The Lagos State Government on Monday re-opened the Ladipo Auto Spare Parts Market in Mushin area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria after two weeks of closure.
The market was shut by the government on 25 February as a result of filth at the market and environmental degradation.Officials of the Lagos State Government and leadership of the market met on Monday and signed an agreement that the market must be kept clean always and that no street trading would be allowed on the streets.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Tunji Bello had said that some of the conditions that might warrant re-opening of the market include: complete removal of all illegal structures and attached structures built along canal paths and that traders must be confined to the main markets.“Under no condition must they trade or solicit for customers on the main road, they must remove all shop attachments built round the market/canals, remove all derelict and abandoned vehicles parked within the market as far as the expressway, remediate all forms of degradation on the roads and market area, sort out waste management issues with LAWMA as they cannot continue to dump into the canals, ensure total cleaning of the entire market and adjoining streets which they have degraded, among others,” he said.
Mr Bello had lamented the poor state of the market, saying that “ the environment is seriously polluted and degraded with oil; full and half engines spare parts and human waste are dumped into canals, while illegal structures were built along drainage paths and all the canal setbacks have been turned to shops and trading points.“A visit to the place also shows that street traders have taken over the entire major inlets and outlets at the market, while residents have severally petitioned the Ministry of the environment about lack of access to their homes and property. These traders have degraded all the major access roads to the market which need remediation rehabilitation.”Before the re-opening of the market, intensive sanitation had been done by the marketers, while shanties built on drainage channels were demolished.
Last week, Governor Babatunde Fashola visited the market with his counterpart from Imo State, Rochas Okorocha and decried the horrible environmental state of the market and gave conditions for its re-opening.He described the state of the market and its environs as “massive degradation of a section of Lagos,” saying that the good thing in the visit was that the traders had seen the lack of caution in their deed and were ready to make amends.“It is a massive degradation of a section of Lagos and this is not acceptable.
People should not carry on like this. But what is, perhaps, worthy of note is that those who are involved have seen the error of what they have done here and are ready to work with us to clean-up and I have said here that they must take the lead.“The canal there poses a lot of danger and we are expecting heavy rains. I don’t want to come back here to pick any dead body. We built the canal and we must make it work by not trading on it and not dumping refuse in it.“People told me that they picked engine parts, spare parts and other things from the canal. It must stop,” the Governor said, adding that there is now an agreement between the traders and the Government to work together to clean up the place and continue with the business there,” he said.According to Governor Fashola, “if you must trade here, you must stay behind the property line. You can see the damage you have caused to the road. We have to come back to re-do the road. Now this will be done with taxpayers’ money. It is fine that you want to do business but those who pay the money used to construct the road must also be able to use it and how do they do that if you take over the road?"

Ladipo market remains closed

Governor Fashola in his usual no- nonsense stance has insisted that Ladipo market would remain closed except the traders yield to his demands.
First, the market must be thoroughly sanitised and secondly, an undertaking would be written - in there, no form of trading on the pavements and roadsides. I bet the traders would act fast.
Kudos to Fashola ojare.