Nelson Ugwuagbo

The main building of the Kwara State high court complex was razed by fire on Tuesday.

The fire incident affected 40 offices, three open courts, registry department and litigation office.

Spokesman of the State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, disclosed in a statement in Ilorin on Tuesday that the agency received a distress call on the incident at about 07.33hours and responded swiftly.

“The firefighters immediately commenced their efforts to combat the raging flames. Working tirelessly, they skillfully navigated through the burning structure, deploying their expertise and resources to contain and extinguish the fire.

“Despite the daunting challenges they faced, the firefighters succeeded in saving the state high court from complete devastation, preventing what could have been a catastrophic loss.

“Subsequent investigation into the cause of the fire revealed that it was triggered by a power surge, highlighting the importance of electrical safety measures,” he added.

Prince Falade John Olumuyiwa, the Director of the State Fire Service, urged the general public to prioritize safety awareness and precautions in their daily lives.

He said the call to action underscores the critical role that vigilance and preparedness plays in preventing such tragedies from occurring in the future.

President Bola Tinubu has conferred the national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) on every member of the Super Eagles that participated at the just concluded AFCON.

President Bola Tinubu is presently hosting Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, at the Council Chambers of the State House.

This meeting on Tuesday follows closely on the heels of their recent match against the host nation, Côte d’Ivoire, in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations finals, where they fell short in their bid to win the trophy.

Details later…

Gunmen have attacked the Senator representing Imo-North senatorial district (Okigwe zone), Senator Patrick Ndubueze, resulting in the tragic death of one of his orderlies.

A source close to the senator told the Nation that the gunmen stormed the senator’s residence during the early hours of Monday, February 12.

The source added that while the senator managed to escape unharmed, one of the policemen assigned to him was fatally shot.

He said: “The news of Senator Patrick Ndubueze being attacked is true. They stormed his residence at Umualumoke and killed a policeman working for him.

“They invaded his house and one of his policemen was gunned down in the process. It could be the same set of hoodlums that also ambushed the Correctional Service in Okigwe and set prisoners free after killing a police inspector and abducting the officer in charge of the centre.

“Okigwe has become a war zone where no one is saved. We are living in total fear. Most of our youths have run away for fear of being killed. Our security agencies are not doing enough to combat crimes in the state. Yet, there are so many of them (security men) in this area,” he lamented.

Senator Patrick Ndubueze is currently serving as an APC senator who won the February 25, 2023, National Assembly elections.

While confirming the incident, the Imo state police command spokesman, Henry Okoye, said the state commissioner of police, Aboki Danjuma has set up a tactical team to go after the attackers.

A fire incident has destroyed some shanties at Ikate around Salem Bus Stop in Lekki, Lagos, late on Monday.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said this in a statement.

He said the agency’s response unit upon receiving a distress call moved in immediately.

“We received distress calls via our Toll Free Emergency numbers 767/112 at 11.21 pm, and activated the State’s Emergency Response Plans.

“The LASEMA Response Team from Lekki Base arrived at the incident scene at 11.50pm, while the elite LASEMA Fire Unit also responded from the agency’s hub at Cappa Base.

“On arrival of the response teams, it was observed that some shanties behind an estate was engulfed by fire at the aforementioned address.

“Further investigation revealed that the fire emanated from one of the shanty rooms and subsequently escalated to other rooms,” he said.

He added that the fire also escalated to adjoining buildings within the estate.

“No loss of life at the incident scene, or injury sustained to responders as a result of the inferno.

“The cause of the fire could not be ascertained,” he said.

Oke-Osanyitolu said the fire had been brought under control and completely put out through joint efforts of all responders.

“Properties worth a fortune were destroyed by the inferno and post-disaster assessment is in progress.

“LASEMA Response Team, the agency’s fire unit, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Estate Fire Department and the Nigerian Police Force, were all in attendance,” he said.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero,  has stated that if the ongoing inflation continues unabated, organised labour might push for a new minimum wage of up to N1million for Nigerian workers.

Ajaero said the demand from organised labour would be influenced by the cost of living which has been increasing since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, notably due to the removal of fuel subsidy and other policies.

The NLC president said this during an interview with Arise News, on Sunday evening.

He said, “This N1 million may be relevant if the value of the Nigerian (naira) continues to depreciate; if the inflation continues unchecked because the demand of labour is equally dependent on what is happening in the society.

“You will remember that by the time we were contemplating N200,000 (as minimum wage), the exchange rate was about N800/N900 (to a dollar). As we talk today, the exchange rate is about N1,400 or even more.

“Those are the issues that determine the demand and it is equally affecting the cost of living. And we have always said that our demand will be based on the cost of living index. You will agree with me today that even a bag of rice is going for about N60,000/N70,000 or more.

“A bag of locally produced corn is about N56,000 or more. Foodstuff is getting out of reach, now are we going to get a minimum wage that will not be enough for transportation even for one week?

“You have to factor in these issues and that will determine the Federal Government’s commitment to this negotiation. It is not just that they want to give us a minimum wage.

“The old minimum wage will be expiring by April and ordinarily, the Federal Government ought to have set up a committee six months before that time so that negotiation would have commenced but the Federal Government didn’t do that until (recently when) they inaugurated a committee and the committee has not sat.

“It appears we are going to work within one month or two to agree on a figure and I doubt how those ones are going to… especially when you look at the people that the Federal Government assembled as members of the committee.

“They looked at some of the governors that are not paying even the existing minimum wage and even they have a minister of budget who didn’t implement his minimum wage as a governor.

“If you have these people in the government team on the issue of minimum wage, some of us have not seen a bright future in the work of this new minimum wage committee.”

Both the NLC and the Trade Union Congress last week Thursday issued a 14-day strike notice to the Federal Government, expressing frustration over its failure to implement a 16-point agreement signed in October 2023.

This agreement aimed to alleviate the  suffering caused by the rise in petrol price and the devaluation of the naira, policies that have increased hardships and inflation.

The unions demanded the government fulfill its obligations within the stipulated 14-day period starting from Friday, February 9, 2024.

Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Police Command have arrested a total of 311 suspects – 297 males and 14 females, in a bandits’ relaxation camp called “Game House” in Gidan Dambe, Dei Dei, Abuja.

Some guns and ammunition, swords, knives, axes, daggers, motorcycles, and several mobile phones, were recovered during the operation.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Bennett Igweh, disclosed this on Monday, during a parade of the suspects at the Intelligence Response Team unit (former Special Anti-Robbery Squad), Guzape, Abuja.

He noted that police operatives at about 11:30 pm on Sunday, acting on credible intelligence that bandits, kidnappers, and armed robbers usually return to the “Game House” to relax and entertain themselves, arrested the 311 suspects within 20 minutes of storming the area.

Igwe said, “When you hear something, say something. We had credible information that some bandits and kidnappers usually return to a place called ‘Game House’ in Gidan Dambe in Dei Dei, after returning from their criminal operations. They usually go back there to relax and entertain themselves at the game house.

“Our newly launched operation Velvet raided the marked black spot and arrested 297 males and 14 females within 20 minutes of storming the area.

During the search, one English Pistol with 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition was recovered from one Ibrahim Tukur who claimed to be a DSS personnel.

Other exhibits such as motorcycles, wraps of marijuana, illicit substances and valuables reasonably suspected to have been stolen from innocent residents were equally recovered. Meanwhile, all the suspects are still undergoing screening.

The FCT has been experiencing a surge in kidnapping and bandit attacks in recent times.

In January 2024, operatives of the Special Intervention Squad, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, neutralised three notorious bandits in a forest within the Bwari area of Abuja.