Rights groups urge Lagos to lift restriction on tricycles

Group of protesters protesting against the ban of tricycle in Lagos

A group of human right organizations under the aegis of Concerned Human Right Nigeria has appealed to the Lagos State Government to rescind it decision on restriction of tricycles in Lagos state.

The National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Declan Ihekaire said at a press briefing yesterday that the sufferings the restriction has inflicted on the masses is massive. “Lagosians have been going through serious trauma to catch up with appointments owing to the restriction on okada’s in some areas in the state.”


Meanwhile, the state government has begun a clampdown on the operations of the tricycles in Ikeja, Surulere, Victoria Island, Ajah, Ikoyi and its environs.

By Adeniyi Adunola

PDP congratulate APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the successful registration of their new party describing it as healthy development for the nation’s democracy.

The party, in a statement signed by its Acting National Publicity Secretary, Barr. Tony Caesar Okeke however said the registration of the new party poses no threat to the PDP. The statement said the ruling party still maintains its pre-eminent position and enjoys the widest
popularity and acceptance among Nigerians across the country.

The PDP said with the registration of the APC, Nigerians now expect the leaders of the opposition party to eschew all forms of bitterness and desperation and desist from politics of propaganda which characterized their former parties.

The PDP urged the APC leaders to focus on issues and engage in more robust debates on the economy and other issues of governance in the general interest of the country.

“The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) congratulates the leadership of the All Progressive Congress on the successful registration of their new party. This is very healthy for our democracy. We hope that from now the opposition will eschew all forms of bitterness and desperation and desist from politics of propaganda which characterized their former parties.

“We hope to see a vibrant opposition that will constructively engage the PDP on issues of governance in a way that Nigerians will be the utmost beneficiaries instead of overheating the polity by promoting violence and hatred among the people”, the PDP said.

Insisting that the APC poses no threat to it, the PDP said it “will continue to maintain its preeminent position in the polity adding that it remained the party with the widest acceptance and popularity among Nigerians across board”.

The PDP however noted that Nigerians are not deceived by the change of flag by the opposition. It said such does not remove their dictatorial tendencies and penchant for deceit and propaganda for which Nigerians have rejected them irrespective of party name.

INEC Registers APC

The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has registered the All Progressives Congress, APC.

In a statement signed by the Secretary to INEC, Abdullahi Kaugama on Wednesday, the electoral body said it has approved the application by three political parties – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – to merge into one, to be known as the All Progressives Congress.

“On considering the application, the Commission found that the applicant-parties have met all statutory requirements for the merger, and has accordingly granted their request.

“Consequently, the Commission has approved the withdrawal of the individual certificates of the applicant-parties, and the issuance of a single certificate to the All Progressives Congress.”

Lions Club to build health, youth centre in Lagos. improve

THE new District Governor of Lions Club District 404B Yinka Bolarinwa has pledged that the club during his tenure would improve on the delivery of services  that  improve the lot of mankind especially in the areas of providing good quality  healthcare as well as alleviating the pain of the less privileged, particularly youths.
 In his inaugural speech at presentation and fund raising programme at Shaba Center Mobolaji Bank Anthony, Lagos on Sunday, Bolarinwa said in a bid to actualize  such goals, the club has secured a parcel of land from the  Lagos State government on which to erect a multipurpose building.
 He said the building will be designed as a Primary Health  and Youth Empowerment Center as well as permanent district secretariat  from where direct management and supervision of the center will be provided.
“The primary health center will cater for the underserved community while the youth empowerment center will impact positively on the lives of our young adults across district 404B through training and skills acquisition,  he added.
''This year,  we intend to impact on more lives than we have ever done before.
Both the district and the club will carry out other important activities and projects such as; preservation and restoration of sight, screening for diabetes, environmental improvement programmes, feeding the under privileged,  training of potential Lion leaders, provision of potable and drinking water among others.
 Bolarinwa urged members of Lions Club not forget the  theme for the year :  ‘Together We Raise The Bar'.
“To be proactive is to prognose into the future and strategically plan in both long-term and short-term, while raising the bar is not to settle for status-quo which is a quiet determination to make the world better than we met it.

By Adeniyi Adunola

Bloodbath in Borno as Boko Haram kills 20 Civilians

Suspected Islamist militants also known as Boko Haram attacked
a fishing settlement in northeast Nigeria over the weekend,
killing 20 civilians, the military said on Sunday.

The assault targeted Baga, a town on the shores of Lake Chad,
until recently a stronghold for Islamist sect Boko Haram.
A concerted military crackdown in the northeast since mid-May
has weakened the four-year-old insurgency, which is fighting to
carve an Islamic state out of religiously-mixed Nigeria.

But it has also pushed the militants into hiding, mostly along a
mountainous area near the Cameroon border, intelligence
sources say, from where they can launch devastating attacks.
"The sect members came armed and started shooting
sporadically, killing 20 civilians," said Lieutenant Haruna Sani,
spokesman for the multinational force of soldiers from Niger,
Chad and Nigeria tasked with security along Nigeria's porous
northeastern borders. The attack was on Saturday.

Baga was the scene of a clash between the multinational force
and the Islamists that killed dozens of people in April - the army
said 37 people were killed, but local leaders said around 185,
most of them civilians, died in the violence.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14, ordering in extra
troops. Nigerian forces say their offensive has enabled them to
wrest back control of the remote northeast, destroy important
bases and arrest hundreds of suspected insurgents.

In response, the sect has turned its attention to civilians. Boko
Haram - whose name roughly translates as 'Western education
is sinful' - has attacked at least four schools there over the past
month, killings dozens of pupils.

Civilian vigilantes have sprung up, helping Nigerian forces to
identify and arrest Boko Haram members.
Some have been killed in retaliation.

Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for Nigerian forces
in Borno state, where Baga and Maiduguri lie, said one vigilante
youth was killed and one wounded in the village of Mainok.

Source: Reuters