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Cele inferno Fire razed two tankers on Monday at the Cele bus stop on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos State, during which two persons died. Our correspondent gathered that the fire, which started around 4pm, was caused by one of the trucks – a tanker carrying 33,000 litres of petrol – which was discharging fuel by the expressway. It was learnt that the driver of the tanker, as well as the  motor boy,  were killed in the inferno. PUNCH Metro  learnt that the fire spread to the second truck, which was on the Cele-Ikotun Bridge, and the two tankers were razed. Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the police were said to have responded to the emergency. The inferno reportedly caused gridlock for hours on the expressway. The NEMA spokesperson, South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the fuel also spilled into some drainage channels. He said, “Rescue operation ...

Police officers at the crime scene in Ansbach, Germany AFP PHOTO/DANIEL ROLAND A Syrian migrant set off an explosive device near an open-air music festival in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded a dozen others, authorities said Monday, the third attack to hit the region in a week. The 27-year-old had spent time in a psychiatric facility, but the authorities said an Islamist motive for the attack on Sunday night in the city of Ansbach appeared “likely”. Germany is reeling after nine people died in a shopping centre shooting rampage in Munich on Friday and four people were wounded in an axe attack on a train in Wuerzburg on July 18. All three attacks were in Bavaria, which has been a gateway for tens of thousands of refugees under German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal asylum policy. Police said the man intended to target the music festival on Sunday but was turned away because he did not have a ticket, and set off the explosive device outside a nea...

Niger Delta Avengers The Niger Delta Avengers on Monday claimed responsibility for the attack on a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation gas pipeline  at Nsit-Ibom council area of Akwa Ibom State. A statement sent to our correspondent by the spokesperson for the group, Mudoch Agbinibo, said the facility was blown up at about 11:30pm on Sunday night. The Avengers claimed responsibility for similar attacks on oil and gas facilities since renewed militancy in the region begun. taunted the NNPC authorities asking them check their facility  and decide whether to describe the incident as ‘system Anomaly’ as Exxon Mobil recently did after a similar attack on their facilities before later affirming that there had been an attack. The statement read, “11:30pm on Sunday, the NDA blew up Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), gas pipeline at Nsit-Ibom L.G.A, Akwa Ibom state. NNPC should check their pipeline if it’s ‘system Anomaly’....

File photo The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency on Monday announced that there would be flooding in 14 states and urged residents living in flood-prone areas of the states to relocate. According to the agency, most cities would experience heavy floods due to the rise in sea levels and tidal surge. The agency added that Lagos, Rivers, Calabar, Benue, Sokoto, Anambra, Imo, Cross River, Yobe, Ogun, Osun, Kaduna, Oyo and Yola were the states that would be affected by flooding this year. The Director-General, NIHSA, Mr. Moses Beckley, said this during the public presentation of the 2016 Annual Flood Outlook in Abuja and warned that this year’s flooding would be higher than the one experienced in 2015. He said, “The expected inflows in the country for this year will be lower than that of 2012. Meanwhile, the predicted probable flood area coverage in 2016 is expected to be higher than the predicted probable flood as well as the observed value of 2015. “The expected...

…for allegedly using forged governor’s letters to get jobs  THREE workers in Enugu State University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Parklane, have landed in police net for allegedly gaining employment with forged letters, purportedly written by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Southern City News learnt that the said letters bore the official letterhead of the Office of the Governor and also had the governor’s signature. The suspects, Onuoha Gloria, Onwuameze Roseline and Thomas Nwigwe, were reportedly employed as accountant on Grade 11, Level 7, Higher Executive Officer Level 8 and chief typist CONTISS 8, Step 13, respectively. Spokesman, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the development, disclosed that one Chijioke Nzegwu facilitated the forged letters. It was gathered that Nzegwu received an unspecified sum of money from Nwigwe on behalf of himself and other suspects, to raise the letters. Amaraizu said Nzegwu was on the run, stres...

FLOOD  SCORES of villagers have been rendered homeless following heavy rainfall in Alisse and Osokora communities in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State. The Director-General of Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. John Inaku, who disclosed this on Sunday, said agricultural produce worth millions of naira had also been destroyed. Inaku said no fewer than 20 houses were pulled down in the communities on Saturday while several others were seriously damaged by flood. He said the affected houses were built close to the river bank, which made it easier for the buildings to be overrun by water. The director-general put the total number of destroyed buildings in both communities at 43. Inaku said, “Following the heavy rains of Sunday, no fewer than 17 houses were pulled down, while 43 others were destroyed. The affected victims also lost their crops such as cocoa, tubers of yam, rice and others worth millions of naira. “The victims are current...

FIFA PRESIDENT Mr. Gianni Infantino President of world football-governing body, FIFA, Mr. Gianni Infantino and the Secretary General, Ms Fatma Samoura arrived in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, on Sunday. They were accompanied by executive assistants Mattias Grafstrom and Veron Mosengo-Omba. The world football governors were received on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport by NFF President Amaju Pinnick and General Secretary Mohammed Sanusi. There were also vice presidents Seyi Akinwunmi and Shehu Dikko, and other members of the NFF Executive Committee and management. A 10-year old girl handed the 46-year old Infantino a bouquet of flowers as the train emerged from the arrival hall, and a cultural troupe entertained in the foreground as he and Samoura walked to waiting cars. At the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Pinnick accompanied Infantino to the presidential suite, and meetings between the FIFA President and the NFF Board and with the visiting FA presidents from oth...

Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh Former Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has again made shocking revelations about his time as the coach of the team. He gave detail account on Sunday via his Twitter handle with a link to his blog,  SundayOliseh.tv . Oliseh resigned in February after only seven months on the job. The former Eagles captain who left abruptly cited unpaid salaries and poor working conditions as reasons for leaving the job. Oliseh said he had quite a difficult time with the Nigeria Football Federation, with some senior players like Mikel Obi, Vincent Enyeama and Victor Moses. Of his near-death he wrote, “One day whilst coaching the Super Eagles in Abuja stadium prior to the Burkina Faso game, all of a sudden I felt dizziness, light headedness, headache and could barely stand. I managed to finish the session before calling on the doctor into my room who was clueless to what was happening. “From then on it was sleepless nights, loss of appetite, h...

File photo The Federal Government is planning to prosecute nine out of 26 members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly for alleged forgery of their academic results,  The PUNCH  has learnt. A security source told one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday that  the decision to prosecute them was based on the outcome of “an intensive investigation carried out by the Department of State Services into the state lawmakers’ certificates.’’ The DSS, it was gathered, carried out the investigation into the credentials submitted by the politicians to the Independent National Electoral Commission during the last general elections. The PUNCH  gathered that the probe was sequel to a myriad of petitions sent to the agency and the Police by aggrieved members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress. Investigation was said to have been carried out in schools allegedly claimed to have been attended by the law...

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 60-year-old man, Mayegun Alani, for allegedly defiling a six-year-old girl. The suspect and victim reside on Mayegun Street, Sango, in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of the state. According to the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, the suspect was arrested after the victim’s mother reported him to the police. Adejobi said the suspect confessed to the police that he had been raping the minor for a month before he was caught. He said, “The police were informed by the mother of the victim, who noticed something strange about the girl whenever she was taking her bath “The mother asked the little girl some questions which gave a clue that the landlord was responsible for her defilement. “The suspect was arrested by the police immediately. Initially, he denied the allegation, but later confessed that he had been sleeping with the girl for at least a month. Medical reports also confirmed that...

the Lagos State Police Command has arrested a suspected robber, Ifeanyi Okorie, who said he started robbing after he finished his primary school education. PUNCH Metro  learnt that 22-year-old Okorie allegedly left Enugu State to rob at the Ladipo Market in the Mushin area when he was arrested. It was gathered that two other accomplices, Ejike Francis and Oboho Nuel, were arrested with Okorie. Our correspondent learnt that operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja, recovered a pump-action rifle, a locally-made pistol and 13 unexpended cartridges from the suspects. Speaking with  PUNCH Metro , Okorie said after he left primary school, he decided not to further his education and to become a robber. He said, “I abandoned schooling after my primary school education. I am based in Enugu State. I was arrested in Lagos State. I was caught in Ladipo Market in the Mushin area. The owner of the pump-action rifle is our gang leader. His name is Ebuka Mbajide. ...

• Jerry Photo: Samson Folarin Some suspected hoodlums have killed a 70-year-old truck driver, Jerry Akinsola, in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro  gathered that the father of four was attacked on Tuesday around 8pm at Fashola bus stop after his truck broke down. They were said to have demanded the payment of N5,000 for  owo omo taku (breakdown fee) from the septuagenarian who pleaded that he didn’t have the money. The men were said to have hit him with an iron rod on the head before smashing his head on a concrete. He reportedly collapsed in the street as blood gushed out from his head and nostrils. He died on the spot. Two of the suspects were, however, apprehended by people in the area and were subsequently handed over to the police. A relative of the victim, Richard Akinsola, told our correspondent that the remains of the Ondo State indigene had been deposited in the Mainland Mortuary, Yaba. He said, “My brother was in the truck...

• A section of the Redemption Camp Photo: Adelove.com There was panic at a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God at Santos bus stop in the Isawo, Ikorodu, Lagos State, on Sunday after  some gunmen walked in and abducted the pastor during the service. PUNCH Metro  learnt that the pastor, identified only as Bajomo, was whisked away by the gunmen, who came to the church as if they were new members. Our correspondent learnt that the pastor, who was abducted around 7am, was the first to reach the parish and was preparing for a workers’ meeting which usually preceded the Sunday service. It was gathered that when the other members arrived at the church, the pastor was nowhere to be found. Our correspondent gathered that the matter was reported at the Owutu Police Division. A witness, who identified herself only as Esther, said the gunmen wore attractive clothes as if they had come for the church service. She said, “The pastor came earlier around 7am...

–might be charged with attempted murder Francis Taiwo, a Celestial Church of Christ pastor who starved and kept his nine-year-old son in chains for months, has been arrested. The 40-year-old pastor was apprehended by the police from the Onipanu division on Sunday at his church – CCC, Key of Joy Parish – in Ajibawo, Atan, in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State. Police sources told  PUNCH Metro  that Francis might be charged with attempted murder, among other offences, after the completion of investigation. “The pastor may be charged with attempted murder. His action was capable of killing the boy,” one of the sources said. Our correspondent had reported that Francis chained his son, Korede, to the altar in the church for more than a month and starved him until he went into a coma in an attempt to cast out the supposed spirit that made the boy to steal. Korede was, however, rescued on Friday during a joint operation by the Ni...

File photo Tragedy struck on Sunday as a truck driver, Femi Adewale, crushed a tricycle rider to death in the Mushin area of Lagos. Thirty-year-old Adewale, who hails from Sagamu, Ogun State, was said to be heading for Ibese, Ikorodu, when the incident happened at about 6.30am. It was learnt the truck, with number plate, XB 499 LSR, had rammed into the tricycle from behind and the rider was thrown out by the force of the crash. An eyewitness, Nurudeen Akintunde, told PUNCH Metro  that the rider, whose name had yet to be ascertained, landed on the road after which the truck crushed his body. “The rider died on the spot. The driver abandoned the truck, but I later learnt that he went to the Alakara division to report himself,” Akintunde added. The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the driver had been detained. She said, “The truck driver reported at the division that while he was driving from Apapa to Ibese in his trailer, h...