Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Nigeria records 226 new cases of COVID-19, total infections now 6401
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
BREAKING: FG Fires Managing Director Of TCN
BREAKING: APC fixes dates for Edo, Ondo Guber Primaries as INEC sticks to timetable
Court Convicts Four for Sneaking into Ekiti from Lagos
An Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday arraigned four persons who attempted to sneak into Ekiti State from Lagos while the COVID-19 lockdown is still in force.
The quartet, Afolabi Shuaib, Daramola Sulaimon, Ibe Gregory and Adeniyi Idowu were brought before Chief Magistrate Abdulhamid Lawal on a three-count charge.
The prosecutor, Mr Clement Ayoola, the Director of Evaluation and Monitoring Department in the Ministry of Justice, told the court that the defendants were nabbed at Igbara Odo while attempting to illegally enter Ekiti while hiding inside the truck.
He said that the driver converted his truck with the registration number EPE 964 LP to a commercial vehicle and transported the other defendants from Alaba Market in Lagos State to Ekiti State.
The prosecutor noted that the offence contrary to the provision of Regulation 2 (1) (a) punishable under Regulation 12 of the Ekiti State Coronavirus (Pevention of Infection) Regulations 1-4, 2020 made pursuant to Section 8 of the Quarantine Act, Cap Q2, LFN, 2004.
All the defendants, however pleaded guilty to the three count charge.
Lawal, in his ruling said against the background that Lagos is the epicenter of Coronavirus in Nigeria, convicted and imposed a fine of N30,000 on Shuaib, the driver of the truck which conveyed them from Lagos.
The three passengers who hid inside the truck were also convicted and bagged a fine of N10,000 each for violating government order on restriction of movement across borders. (The Nation)
Welder Commits Suicide Over Inability To Pay N120,000 Debt
A man identified as Sunday Welder during the weekend committed suicide in his house in Ikorodu over his inability to deliver a N120,000 job he owed one of his customers.
“He (Sunday) has always told me that he would kill himself if he’s unable to pay the debt,” Osaze, an Okada part seller whose workshop is beside Sunday’s workshop said.
Sunday, a known welder in Olu-Odo area of Igbogbo, Ikorodu was discovered dead in his house in Awobo area of Igbogbo on Sunday evening.
Osaze said the deceased’s girlfriend, Embella, had gone to visit him but discovered the door to Sunday’s room was locked.
She reportedly asked Sunday’s neighbours of his whereabouts and was told that they saw the deceased going into his room and had not left since then.
Sunday’s neighbours afterwards reportedly made efforts to open the door when he was not responding to their calls and discovered that he had drunk a poisonous portion inside a small bottle.
Narrating the circumstances of the debt that led to Sunday’s death, Osaze said two people contracted Sunday to construct containers for them.
The first person, Osaze said, paid Sunday 96,000 while the other person paid N120,000 to the deceased welder.
Osaze explained that after the time given to Sunday had elapsed, the person who paid Sunday N96,000 for a container came to collect it but Sunday was unable to produce it.
“The customer returned another day and found the container that Sunday made for the person that paid N120,000 and carried it,” Osaze said, “Sunday has been unable to produce the N120,000 container to the owner.”
Sunday’s decision to drink the poisonous portion he took surprises Osaze who said the deceased has ready-made fabricated “Gates and doors worth over N300,000 in his shop.”
“He always told me that he would drink something and die to save himself of the stress,” Osaze said.
Sunday’s remains have been taken to at a mortuary in Ikorodu, our correspondent learnt.
Confirming the incident, spokesman to Lagos State Police Command Bala Elkana said, “there is a case of a young man found dead in his room in Igbogbo.”
Elkana said police officers discovered a bottle of “a substance suspected to be sniper” which is with the police for postmortem examination.
He, however, denied claims that the girl was arrested and kept in custody over Sunday’s death.
“No, the girlfriend is not in custody. She was not arrested. She has only been with the police for enquiry on the deceased,” Elkana told The Guardian. (The Guardian)