BRT crushes Lagos businesswoman to death, driver flees

By Deji Lambo

A driver with the Bus Rapid Transit , Collins Nnodi, has gone into hiding after crushing a businesswoman , Mrs Grace Okeleke, to death at the Agric bus stop in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

The incident happened on Monday.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Grace, the wife of the Head of Public Relations , Globacom , Andrew Okeleke, attempted to cross the road after being dropped off by her driver around 7 .20pm, when Nnodi, who was driving a bus with number plate EPE 59 XR, knocked her down.

It was learnt that the businesswoman died on the spot.

However, Nnodi was said to have zoomed off and abandoned the victim at the scene of the accident.

Annoyed by the development, it was gathered that an angry mob vandalised some BRT buses plying the route .

Explaining the circumstances surrounding the incident, the family said in a statement that until her death , Grace was a minister at the Redeemed Christian Church of God , adding that the businesswoman was survived by her husband and children.

The statement read in part , “ The death has been announced of Mrs Grace Okeleke, wife of the Head , Public Relations , Globacom , Mr Andrew Okeleke.

“ Mrs Okeleke died in a motor accident on the Lagos Road , Ikorodu , on Monday evening. She was hit by a Lagos BRT bus with number plate EPE 59 XR.

“ The deceased was crossing the road after being dropped off by her driver just after the Agric bus stop, inwards Ketu , where there was no pedestrian bridge, when she was hit by the BRT bus. She died on the spot before she could be taken to hospital.

“ The late Mrs Okeleke, a businesswoman , hailed from Issele - Mkpitime , Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State. She was until her demise a top leader of her town’s women group in Lagos as well as a minister of the Redeemed Christian Church of God , Grace Hall Parish , Ikorodu.

“ Mrs Okeleke is survived by her husband and children. Burial arrangements will be announced later by her family .”

When contacted, the Chief Security Officer , Primero Transport Services Limited, the franchise holder of the BRT buses, Cletus Okodolor, while commiserating with the family , condemned Nnodi for abandoning Grace at the scene of the accident.

Okodolor said, “ We sympathise with the family and we are shocked at the action of the busman. The accident involved one of our buses, with number 344. The bus was coming from Ikorodu inwards Mile 12, and she was trying to cross to the other side of the road without actually looking properly ; she entered the BRT corridor to cross and there was contact.

“ The woman died on the spot . But the busman did not help matters , because he drove off out of fear of being hurt and refused to put us in the picture. Suddenly , we started getting calls that an angry mob was vandalising our vehicles , because one of our buses knocked someone down on the corridor and we quickly informed the Traffic Division of the Owutu Police Station and its personnel were dispatched in the area .

“ When we got there, we learnt that the husband had taken the corpse to the morgue . But during our investigation, we realised that the busman had parked his bus in front of our office and left the engine running, instead of parking it at the right place.

“ So, we started searching for the busman, but he was nowhere to be found and that was how we realised that it was the busman, who knocked down the woman.

“ The driver is still at large and we are working with the police to get him arrested. We have also taken the bus to the police station.”

(The Punch)

Atiku Asks FG To Sell Presidential Jets, Scrap N27bn N’assembly Renovation Budget

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has advised Nigerian leaders to abandon luxury and adjust to the reality that comes with living in a pandemic.

In a statement on Thursday, Atiku described the reduction of the 2020 budget by 0.6% as “window dressing”.

“It is to my consternation that despite the crash in the price of oil, and the inability of Nigeria to expand our revenue base through the non-oil sector, the FG of Nigeria has only seen fit to slash our budget by a mere 0.6%. This represents a reduction of only ₦71 billion,” Atiku, who was the presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 election, said.

“Putting politics aside, this is grossly insufficient and betrays the fact we have lost touch with the current realities in the global political economy.”

Explaining that crude production and revenue projections have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Atiku said the 2020 budget should have been slashed by at least 25%.

“How can anyone justify a reduction in expenditure of just 0.6%? We cannot be the only nation bucking the trend?

“Saudi Arabia, a nation with a much stronger production capacity than ours and with a larger global market share, as well as a foreign reserve that is 12 times ours, has slashed her budget by almost 30%. Ditto for other oil economies.

“Any budget slash that is less than 25% will not be in the interest of Nigeria.”

Listing items that should be expunged from the budget, Atiku said the N27 billion budget for the renovation of the national assembly should be scrapped alongside the monies budgeted for purchasing cars for the president and other political officeholders.

“The billions budgeted for the travels and feeding of the president and vice president has to be reduced. Sell eight or nine of the jets in the presidential air fleet,” he advised.

“Leave the salaries of civil servants alone, but reduce the salaries of political appointees.”

Atiku, who once claimed to be the largest employer of labour in Adamawa state, advised the government not to make up for revenue losses by taking more loans and issuing bonds.

Nigeria has had to revise its 2020 budgetafter crude oil, its main source of forex earnings, took a hit on the back of reduced demand as a result of lockdowns imposed across the world to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Don’t Forget Boko Haram And Sponsors In Your Tahajjud Prayers- Zulum Urges Muslims

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has appealed to citizens in his state and other Nigerians not to forget supplication against boko haram terrorists, their sponsors, and those who support them in any way, during ‘Tahajjud’ (late-night prayers) in these last ten days of Ramadan.

Zulum’s prayer request was contained in a statement issued by his spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, on Thursday.

“It is expected and rightly so, that in these last ten days of the glorious Ramadan, majority of fellow Muslims all over the world, are likely to focus their minds on seeking Allah’s intervention for an end to the Coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

“Without doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most severe threats to human existence, hence, accelerating prayers against it should be TOP-MUST.

“With that in mind, however, I will like to appeal to Muslims in Nigeria, particularly those of us in Borno state and rest of the northeast, not to forget the murderous activities of boko haram. We have two viruses with equal-lethal proportions.

“Therefore, our late night supplication should have twin-focus: prayers against Coronavirus and prayers against boko haram, their sponsors and those who intentionally support them.

“Without ignoring prayers for other individual, family and societal needs and wants, we should please submit ourselves with absolute faith to continually, seek the divine help of our creator, the almighty Allah, before whom no disease is without cure and no crisis is without solution.”

"Prayers against boko haram are particularly necessary at this time, when our gallant military heroes, together with other security agencies and the complementary support of courageous volunteers in the civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes, are recording huge victories in the ongoing fight against the insurgents.

“These armed forces and volunteers have earned our eternal gratitude and respect, and they certainly need and deserve our sustained prayers for more victories, their well being and the well being of their families,” the statement added.

Zulum also urged citizens with economic means to intensify support for needy persons especially displaced orphans, widows, relations and neighbours during and beyond the Ramadan.

Nigeria records 193 new COVID-19 cases, total now 5,162

Nigeria has recorded 193 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 5, 162.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control made this known via its Twitter handle on Thursday.

“193 new cases of #COVID19; 58-Lagos, 46-Kano, 35-Jigawa, 12-Yobe, 9-FCT, 7-Ogun, 5-Plateau, 5-Gombe, 4-Imo, 3-Edo, 3-Kwara, 3-Borno, 1-Bauchi, 1-Nasarawa, 1-Ondo” NCDC said.

It further stated that of the 5162 cases of COVID19 in Nigeria,1180 have been discharged with 167 deaths recorded so far.

Man who battered his wife and then went on Facebook to brag about it and shared photos of her bleeding face, has been arrested

The police in Lagos state have arrested a man who battered his wife and went on Facebook to brag by sharing photos of her bleeding face.

LIB had earlier reported about how Afobaje Maiyegun, posted the photos of his wife’s bleeding face on Facebook and bragged that he was waiting for the police to arrest him.

An update shared this morning, May 14, by the Lagos State Domestic & Sexual Violence Response Team DSVRT, stated that Afobaje has been arrested. 

Preliminary investigation showed that this isn’t the first time Afobaje would carry out such a dastardly act.

The agency says Afobaje will be arraigned in court this Friday May 15.

Photos : President Buhari Presided Over Security Council Meeting

President Buhari presided over Security Council Meeting at State House, Abuja. 

The meeting is summoned over the recent security challenges in Katsina, Nasarawa, Kaduna and elsewhere.