News
Gunmen Attack Jos Communities, Kill Seven …As Tanker Fire Razes Seven Vehicles In Lagos
No fewer than seven people, including a student, have been reported killed in some communities in Jos, Plateau State, in a renewed onslaught on residents by hoodlums in the town.
The hoodlums, who also attacked the students’ Village Hostel, University of Jos, were reportedly repelled by the students who fought back.
Security operatives were reported to have intervened in the crisis, during which a 300-level Law student, Kums Shadrach, was shot dead.
Two other undergraduates of the institution, who reportedly sustained injuries, were said to be receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
The Public Relations Officer of the Students Union Government, Kelvin Kwalmi, said soldiers killed Shadrach.
He said, “The whole thing started, last Friday, when some hoodlums tried to invade Village Hostel. The students mobilised and repelled them.
“Yesterday (Sunday), they tried to come in again and the students tried to protect themselves. The soldiers later came and opened fire. Stray bullets hit our students. The soldiers came in a Hilux truck and threw tear gas canisters at us before opening fire. We had to run back. A student, who was hit in the head, died on the spot. “
He noted that there had been attacks on some residents on Rukuba Road, with many people killed.
Kwalmi said the killings later escalated to Gadaji, Dutse Ukwu, Inner Junction, Angwan Rukuba areas, adding that it was the fight that spilled into the students’ hostel.
The UNIJOS Alumni Public Relations Officer, Mr Adoration Dashit, noted that the university was surrounded by a Muslim community.
He said, “The town has been polarised; there are areas dominated by Christians and there are areas dominated by Muslims. Even the university community is surrounded by a Muslim community. The Village Hostel, which is one of our hostels, is close to Fariganda Market, which is surrounded by three hotspots. So, you can understand how it got to the hostel.
“The students claimed that the miscreants shot at them and attempted to break into the hostel and it was in the process that one person was killed. Those who fired the shots were said to be in military uniform, but it is possible for the hoodlums to also wear military uniforms.”
The UNIJOS Principal Assistant Registrar, Information and Publications, Abdullahi Abdullahi, in a statement on Monday, said situation on the campus was still tense, urging members of the university community to exercise caution.
He noted that while one person had been confirmed dead and two injured, one student was still missing.
He said, “The school management wishes to clarify that after a rigorous search was carried out, one student is still missing, while one student was confirmed dead and two others were reported injured.
“The corpse of the deceased student has since been deposited in a mortuary. The injured student is receiving treatment in a hospital, while the other one has been discharged. Out of respect for the families of the affected students, the university authorities have decided not to disclose the identities of the dead and the injured, but would do so in due course.
“It should, however, be noted that following the breakdown of peace in the metropolis, management has been working round the clock in close collaboration with the security agencies and the Plateau State Government to ensure that the lives and property of members of the university community, especially students, are adequately protected.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Undie Udie, who confirmed the attack, said no fewer than seven people were killed.
He said, “No fewer than seven were killed. There is still tension in the area, so it is when the situation is calm that we will be able to go round to check (the number of casualties).
“I don’t think it is correct to say a soldier killed the student. Some hoodlums wanted to gain access into the students’ hostel. They usually do that to either rape the girls or rob them. So, both military task force and the police moved in and dislodged them.
“It was not only the students that were attacked. You have residents of Dutse Ukwu, Rikkos, Tina junction; it is a stretch of road. The communities along the road were affected. We positioned our men and armoured personnel carriers in the troubled spots.”
The Plateau Law Students Association, University of Jos, in a statement by its Secretary General, Sunday Timothy, lamented that the government was not doing enough to address the security situation in the state.
“We have been shouting that we want peace for 17 years now; maybe we should try something else, because clearly, peace is not working.
“We have not finished suffering from the afflictions of this government or the economic downturns and our naira purchasing power, parity fluctuations. And we’re being ravaged by murderers and blood suckers even in the hostel?”
Meanwhile, the last Facebook post of the deceased student has generated reactions as many thought he had a premonition of his death.
In the post, the 23-year-old Plateau State indigene called for “balance of terror.”
He said, “If we are still praying for peace to help us, then I am sorry to disappoint you, peace won’t help us anymore. Do you know what we need? Balance of terror will. Call me an extremist and a radical, well, that is how things get done. For the peace, development and greatness of a place to be cemented, it has to be ravaged by destruction. If I die in the struggle, then so be it. Plateau has seen so much of nonsense.”
Meanwhile, no fewer than seven vehicles were burnt, yesterday, when a tanker spilled it’s Petrol Motor Spirit, PMS contents on Lagos-Badagry Expressway between Barracks and Onireke in Ojo Local Government.
It was gathered that the vehicles exhaust ignited the inferno that occurred few minutes after the tanker had left the scene.
It was also learned that the fire started at about 5.00 a. m, destroying the contents of a truck conveying crates of drinks from a breweries firm.
Other vehicles gutted were Peugeot car, a Space bus, a Toyota Hummer jeep, a Mazda bus, a container conveying food products and an empty truck.
Eyewitness narrated that aside the first vehicle that ignited the fire, six others would have escaped the inferno.
They added that the drivers of the burnt vehicles would have avoided the spillage but none availability of streetlights to provide illumination caused many to get trapped in it.
According to them, no life was lost but the vehicles burnt worth millions of Naira.
Residents stressed that the inferno should serve as reasons the state government should respond with deployment of Lagos Public Works to repair the road.
They lamented that the state of the road had caused untold hardship to residents within the axis.
Speaking to newsmen, a resident, Adewale Adesanya said: “From the Army Cantonment junction, there is no access road and this is the situation from the beginning within this axis. This fire outbreak started around 5.00 a. m when that tanker spilled its content on the road and left through another route.”
Confirming the explosion, General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Adeshina Tiamiyu, said that six vehicles were razed.
Tiamiyu added that no life was lost during the inferno that started at about 5am.
In another development, an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, yesterday, ordered the remand of a 35-year-old driver, Chika Obilor, in Kirikiri Prison for allegedly snatching N290,000 valuables from a reverend father at gunpoint.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.