Metro
Police fire tear gas into hospital as anti-fuel price hike protests begin
Police fired tear gas at Ilorin residents, including a hospital, on Thursday during the protest against the increase in pump price of fuel across the country, FIJ has learnt.
FIJ had reported how passengers were stranded around Sango, Fate and Maraba areas of the capital city of Kwara State Thursday morning. This was because public transport drivers had ordered passengers out of their vehicles in protest against the increase in petrol pump price.
Sources told FIJ that these public transport disruption extended to other locations, such as Kwara Poly and Offa Garage, where tyres were burnt, and GSS Omolola.
In one of the videos obtained by FIJ, a resident can be heard, saying, ‘If not because of this nonsense… Yeh! Yeh! Ehh! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! I’m dead o!” as shots rent the air. Residents can also seen taking to their heels amid the fired shots.
A resident, who does not want to be named, told FIJ that the police fired tear gas to disperse the protesting drivers around GSS area, and Omolola Specialist Hospital was affected in the process.
“They dropped tear gas inside Omolola although it did not last for more than 15 minutes. The police scared them and fired tear gas inside the hospital. An asthamtic patient fainted because of the tear gas,” the source revealed.
“It was mainly the taxi, keke napep and bike riders who are stopping people. They didn’t want them to move; they were saying people shoud trek since there was scarcity of fuel and the available one was expensive.
“They were not even protesters like that; they were just public transport workers stopping vehicles in solidarity that they could not work with the expensive fuel. They just wanted to show that if people could not work, the government would understand ther pain.”Another resident who asked not to be named said he also learnt that police fired tear gas in the Omolola area amid the protest by tricycle and bus drivers.
“When I was at Offa Garage, I saw some boys and police, trying to calm some things down at Olunlade area,” he said.
“I heard that keke napep and bus drivers were making people disembark from their vehicles, so that they won’t be able to board any vehicle. It’s because of the fuel situation. They cannot cope with it. Buying fuel for more than N1,000 per litre is not sustainable.
“My children’s teacher who teaches them at home called to say he would not be able to come because there was no vehicle. He said he was even trekking at the time he called me, and I had to tell him not to bother.”
Two other videos made available to FIJ capture the desperation of residents affected by the fuel hike and the resulting protests. A male resident expressed his frustration: “Scarcity of fuel is cause of this problem. There’s no road. How will I get home now?”
In a separate video, a female also laments, “You can’t go to Taiwo Oke. If you are coming from Taiwo Oke, you can’t pass. The road is blocked because of fuel. God help us. This one is beyond our power. We can’t take it anymore. If the world wants to end, it should end.”
When FIJ called Taiye Omojasola, the Medical Director of Omolola Specialist Hospital to confirm the tear gas incident, he said, “I was not at the hospital at that time. I have not been at work. So, it will not be fair for me to comment since I was not around at all.”
Efforts to contact Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, the state police public relations officer, were unsuccessful, as she neither answered her calls nor responded to the message sent to her.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN FIJ
A notorious bandit kingpin known as Alhaji Ma’oli in Zamfara State has been killed by troops of 1 Brigade in Sector 2 Joint Task Force North West, Operation Fansan Yamma.
Ma’oli was reportedly responsible for imposing illegal levies on residents of some communities in Zamfara state.
The Coordinator, Joint Media Coordination Centre of the operation, Lt. Col. Abdullahi Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement issued in Gusau, on Friday, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.
The operation took place on Dec. 26, in Maisheka village, near Kunchin Kalgo town in Tsafe Local Government Area of the state.
According to the statement, “The area is one of the local communities that had suffered under Ma’oli’s reign of terror. Ma’oli was renowned for always imposing illegal levies on residents of Unguwan Rogo, Mai Sheka, Magazawa, and other surrounding areas of Bilbis in Tsafe LGA of Zamfara State.
“The neutralising of Ma’oli has brought relief and excitement to locals in Bilbis general area.”
“The operation was initiated in response to intelligence report of terrorists on motorcycles operating in Bilbis axis of Bilbis District, Tsafe LGA.”
It added that swift response by troops of Operation Fansan Yamma not only thwarted the terrorists’ plan to attack the locals but also reinforced the commitment to securing the area from further acts of violence.
“The operation Fansan Yamma remains resolute in its mandate to pursue and neutralise all remaining terrorists and their collaborators across the Joint Task Force Theatre of Operation.
“The Joint Task Force will also continue to work diligently alongside local communities towards achieving lasting peace and security in Zamfara and beyond,” it added.
According to eyewitnesses, the victim had just returned from church when he was killed. He had gone to buy food at a Mobil Filling Station along Enugu-Abakaliki Road when the accident occurred.
Atragic accident occurred in Enugu State capital on Friday morning, resulting in the death of a 15-year-old boy.
It was gathered that the incident happened around 8:30 am beside Nwanne Di N’mba Housing Estate, when an articulated truck belonging to a construction firm ran over the pedestrian.
According to eyewitnesses, the victim had just returned from church when he was killed. He had gone to buy food at a Mobil Filling Station along Enugu-Abakaliki Road when the accident occurred.
Eyewitnesses provided conflicting accounts of the cause of the accident, with some stating that the truck driver was sleeping, while others claimed that the truck veered off course after a Sienna vehicle made a sudden turn on the highway.
Unfortunately, the truck ran over the pedestrian, killing him instantly, while three others sustained serious injuries.
“The boy had already bought Okpa that the parents sent him to buy and was returning home when the unfortunately incident happened. He was walking on the pedestrian walkway and truck ran over him.
“His brother and two other persons narrowly survived. They have been taken to the hospital while the police have taken the deceased to the mortuary,” one of the eyewitnesses told SaharaReporters.
The incident has left the neighbourhood in shock, and an investigation into the cause of the accident is likely to follow.
A two-story building still under construction has collapsed at No. 20 Ozuitem Street, Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
The building, said to be owned by a “very wealthy” resident of Umuahia, collapsed on Christmas Day when the site workers had taken the day off.
The cause of the collapse has not yet been officially established, but some residents living near the building claimed that substandard materials may have been used by the contractor, which they alleged compromised the integrity of the structure.
A resident who pleaded anonymity thanked God for sparing the lives of the site workers, saying: “Yesterday was Christmas Day and there was no work. If not, who knows what would have happened?”
He said that the contractor had gone into hiding after realising what had happened to avoid being arrested or questioned.
When DAILY POST visited the site on Thursday afternoon, a bulldozer was demolishing the remaining parts of the building to ensure they did not collapse onto adjacent houses.
Messages boldly pasted around the site by the Umuahia Capital Development Authority, UCDA, dated December 26, 2024, declared that the site had been sealed.
When DAILY POST contacted the Public Relations Officer of the Umuahia Capital Development Authority, Mrs Nkeiru Ogba, she confirmed that her office had visited the site of the collapsed building to ascertain what had happened.
She said that the owners of some of the buildings that had collapsed in the state did not follow due process or had refused to comply with official regulations.
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