A petrol-laden tanker on Saturday was gutted by fire on Kara Bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The fire outbreak started around 1 am on Saturday, November 7.
The incident has caused gridlock on the road as no firefighter was at the scene.
Report says some vehicles had been trapped in the inferno.
The Kara Bridge is no doubt becoming an hot spot for fuel tanker accidents.
Nigeria, without the Army,
Africa’s queen of the Prairie,
The land of our proud forefathers,
Overtaken by killer vampires and hyenas,
Dangling in air minutely,
Devourers of your precious children,
Who descend like swarms of bees on honey,
Over your hapless children and,
battered souls so delightfully,
In brutal extermination,
This generation would have gone extinct,
Ancestors would have been long invited for a funeral feast.
Even in dazing fear of blighting enemy swords,
Of Boko Haram and their first cousins,
The sacredness of our lives violated;
Crude oil praying mantis of the Delta,
Explosively poured the black gold in our faces,
We burned and survivors’ deserted homes for fear.
Ruthless bandits of the North and cattle thieves,
Invaded our lands in millions,
Replacing the nostalgia of rural life,
With sounds of automatic guns;
Eastern mercantile secessionists,
Campaigned in bloodshed of kinsmen and strangers alike.
The electoral brigands and thugs,
Wished democracy seized in Nigeria in 2019,
As arranged guns and ammunitions floated,
Everywhere like shrubs on sea surface at peak of rains;
And virus Corona came with fresh troubles!
Snaking through foreign valleys,
Uncle Corona landed its fury in Nigeria,
Sparing no friend nor foe,
The foreign demons hungrily,
Foraged our hamlets;
Searching for the next victim.
Yes! searching for the next victim!
Luck Dube echoed it in mournful lyrics,
We were all the “next victims,”
Like blacks under apartheid South Africa.
Innocent victims of no evil on our hands,
But Golgotha awaited us,
With the hellish ambience of slayers
Killer vendors of herdsmen and farmers,
Caused forlornness of fertile lands,
The fields left uncultivated,
Hunger loomed monstrously in mama’s kitchen.
But alas, the lone soldier shadowed,
Smiling and stern simultaneously,
He brought peace and war against,
Our cursed enemies,
Of blood and perditions,
Vacated the war songs chanters on our graves,
Seized killer blades, knives and guns and bombs,
The assailants’ thrusted in frightened faces,
As we stood askance, helpless!
But the men in khaki buffered,
Enacted rehearsal of salvation from Almighty Yaweh,
Operation Delta Safe came,
And militants went on self-exile;
And day time dance of the Python,
Descended bliss in the East of South.
Soldiers sermons on “Peace by all means,”
Sent Boko Haramists to the land of ghosts and repentance “Dole,”
Operation Sahel Sanity,
dismembered the bandit’s clan
Uncle Corona balked from daring our lives,
With soldiers mounting sentinels,
At city and village gates,
The deadly virus paused infectious,
Campaigns, recoiled and cringed.
Election riggers and activists,
Of violence sneezed, rather than barked,
At Nigeria’s democracy, with frowzy faces,
In painful reminiscence of defeat,
A reunion renewed among herders and farmers,
In the grassy and greenish Middle Belt.
The fields became green with crops,
Dancing to the tantalizing breeze,
Awaiting harvest to fill empty bellies,
Looming starvation starved itself,
And migrated to other nations,
Far from us; far from us!
#EndSARS hoodlums despoiled the land,
In pains and destructions,
But have regained lost senses,
Because the soldier! the soldier!! stood firm.
Eulogies of this soldier have filled heavens
Nigeria quakes; the earth quakes,
With joyful songs at dawn,
In tumultuous praises of these heroes,
As token of our appreciation,
Of the kindness and sacrifices,
To save us and preserve Nigeria!
Ooh! Soldier, your bed of roses,
Is set in our carnival of celebrations,
In expectations of your heroic home arrival.
Composed by Michelle Aluor
The Lagos government has asked #EndSARS protesters in the state to heed the warning of the police and desist from further demonstration.
In a statement on Friday, Gbenga Omotoso, commissioner for information, urged anyone who has grievance against the police to approach the judicial panel of inquiry.
After #EndSARS protesters were forcefully dispersed following incidents of violence, some of the agitators revealed plans to regroup and continue with their demonstration.
But the police warned them against such move, saying they would not tolerate further breakdown of law and order.
Omotoso asked residents to desist from further demonstration as the state is “battling to recover from the shock of the carnage unleashed by hoodlums who hid under the #EndSARS protests.”
“Even as we are still counting our painful losses in lives and property, there are hints of a new protest. The police have warned that no protest will be tolerated,” he said.
“Any protest under any guise will be disrespectful to the memory of those who died in the violence and unfair to ordinary Lagosians, who have remained peaceful, despite the hardship that the original protests sparked.
“It is clear that the original protests, despite their good intentions, have caused more havoc than they were planned to resolve.
“The Government hereby appeals to our patriotic youths to shelve any plan for a protest and join the practical efforts to find a solution to the problems that have been thrown up by the actions taken in recent weeks.
“Anybody who has any grievance against the disbanded SARS should approach the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution to make his case.
“Any person or group of persons who plans to fuel any crisis in Lagos should drop such thoughts or be ready to face the law.”
Pro-Trump protesters — some of them openly carrying rifles and handguns — rallied outside vote-tabulation centers in a few cities around the country Friday, responding to groundless accusations from President Donald Trump that the Democrats were trying to steal the White House.
Elections officials in several states where Democrat Joe Biden was ahead said the anger outside their doors made them fear for the safety of their employees.
Roughly 100 Trump supporters gathered for a third straight day in front of the elections center in Phoenix, where hundreds of workers were processing and counting ballots.
“Arrest the poll workers!” the crowd chanted, demanding four more years in office for Trump. Sheriff’s deputies kept protesters in a “free speech” zone away from the entrance to the building.
“When we start auditing some of these voter rolls, their fraud may actually be exposed,” conservative activist Charlie Kirk told the crowd, eliciting cheers.
In Detroit, dozens of Trump supporters returned to the streets outside the city’s convention center, where election workers counted ballots.
“Stop the steal!” the protesters chanted. Some carried signs that read, “Make Elections Fair Again” and “We Love Trump.” Police cordoned off streets leading to the building and maintained a close watch on the protest.
The county treasurer in Detroit, Eric Sabree, said he had closed his office because of threats. In a statement, Sabree said the decision was made “in the interest of the safety of taxpayers and our staff” and because of “credible information” from the sheriff’s office.
In Philadelphia, two men with handguns were arrested Thursday night near the convention center where the vote-counting that could decide the White House race was going on.
The men, ages 42 and 61, had driven up in a Hummer from Virginia and did not have permits to carry the weapons in Pennsylvania, police said. A military-style rifle and ammunition were found inside their vehicle, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. The car had a window sticker for the right-wing conspiracy theory QAnon.
District Attorney Larry Krasner did not say why the men had come to Philadelphia but said there were no indications they were part of an extremist group.
In Rhode Island, about 100 protesters rallied outside the state board of elections headquarters, demanding a recount in an overwhelmingly Democratic state where Biden won with more than 59% of the vote.
Protesters said ballots were illegally dumped in Rhode Island, but offered no evidence. State elections officials have said they have no evidence of fraud.
“We demand a recount in Jesus’ name!” protest leader Kathleen Forant shouted, as state police stood nearby.
Nigeria Without the Army
Nigeria, without the Army,
Africa’s queen of the Prairie,
The land of our proud forefathers,
Overtaken by killer vampires and hyenas,
Dangling in air minutely,
Devourers of your precious children,
Who descend like swarms of bees on honey,
Over your hapless children and,
battered souls so delightfully,
In brutal extermination,
This generation would have gone extinct,
Ancestors would have been long invited for a funeral feast.
Even in dazing fear of blighting enemy swords,
Of Boko Haram and their first cousins,
The sacredness of our lives violated;
Crude oil praying mantis of the Delta,
Explosively poured the black gold in our faces,
We burned and survivors’ deserted homes for fear.
Ruthless bandits of the North and cattle thieves,
Invaded our lands in millions,
Replacing the nostalgia of rural life,
With sounds of automatic guns;
Eastern mercantile secessionists,
Campaigned in bloodshed of kinsmen and strangers alike.
The electoral brigands and thugs,
Wished democracy seized in Nigeria in 2019,
As arranged guns and ammunitions floated,
Everywhere like shrubs on sea surface at peak of rains;
And virus Corona came with fresh troubles!
Snaking through foreign valleys,
Uncle Corona landed its fury in Nigeria,
Sparing no friend nor foe,
The foreign demons hungrily,
Foraged our hamlets;
Searching for the next victim.
Yes! searching for the next victim!
Luck Dube echoed it in mournful lyrics,
We were all the “next victims,”
Like blacks under apartheid South Africa.
Innocent victims of no evil on our hands,
But Golgotha awaited us,
With the hellish ambience of slayers
Killer vendors of herdsmen and farmers,
Caused forlornness of fertile lands,
The fields left uncultivated,
Hunger loomed monstrously in mama’s kitchen.
But alas, the lone soldier shadowed,
Smiling and stern simultaneously,
He brought peace and war against,
Our cursed enemies,
Of blood and perditions,
Vacated the war songs chanters on our graves,
Seized killer blades, knives and guns and bombs,
The assailants’ thrusted in frightened faces,
As we stood askance, helpless!
But the men in khaki buffered,
Enacted rehearsal of salvation from Almighty Yahweh,
Operation Delta Safe came,
And militants went on self-exile;
And day time dance of the Python,
Descended bliss in the East of South.
Soldiers sermons on “Peace by all means,”
Sent Boko Haramists to the land of ghosts and repentance “Dole,”
Operation Sahel Sanity,
dismembered the bandit’s clan
Uncle Corona balked from daring our lives,
With soldiers mounting sentinels,
At city and village gates,
The deadly virus paused infectious,
Campaigns, recoiled and cringed.
Election riggers and activists,
Of violence sneezed, rather than barked,
At Nigeria’s democracy, with frowzy faces,
In painful reminiscence of defeat,
A reunion renewed among herders and farmers,
In the grassy and greenish Middle Belt.
The fields became green with crops,
Dancing to the tantalizing breeze,
Awaiting harvest to fill empty bellies,
Looming starvation starved itself,
And migrated to other nations,
Far from us; far from us!
#EndSARS hoodlums despoiled the land,
In pains and destructions,
But have regained lost senses,
Because the soldier! the soldier!! stood firm.
Eulogies of this soldier have filled heavens
Nigeria quakes; the earth quakes,
With joyful songs at dawn,
In tumultuous praises of these heroes,
As token of our appreciation,
Of the kindness and sacrifices,
To save us and preserve Nigeria!
Ooh! Soldier, your bed of roses,
Is set in our carnival of celebrations,
In expectations of your heroic home arrival.
Composed by Michelle Aluor
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday appealed to Nigerians who are yet to feel the impacts of his administration to bear with the government.
The president made the appeal in Ilorin, Kwara State, at a town hall meeting with the traditional rulers, youths, students, organised labour, market women, and other stakeholders on the #EndSARS protest and its aftermath.
Buhari had directed members of the Federal Executive Council to go to their respective states and interact with the people over the protest and efforts of the government to address the #EndSARS campaigners’ demands.
The Kwara State meeting hosted by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, was attended by the state’s Governor, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman, Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi, Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari, and other traditional rulers, representatives of market women, traders, and other stakeholders.
In the message delivered by the minister, the president said the government has the interest of the youth and the people in general at heart and has been doing a lot to touch their lives.
He said the government was constraint by the dwindling resources occasioned by the impact of COVID- 19 which also affected the global economy.
President Buhari said: “If we have not done enough or we have not touch everybody, we appeal that you please bear with us.
“In the first instance, what we have is less than 60 percent of the revenue that was available to other governments that came before us.
“We all know what we suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as we are just trying to recover from this we also face another crisis.
“We appeal that you should please assist the government and be patient.
“This government is dedicated to serving the people and we will continue to try our best to do so
“I thank you all for your perseverance, understanding, and patience.”
-Ripples
outgoing chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, will hand over the reins of power in the Commission to an interim electoral commissioner until the Senate approves his re-appointment as INEC chairman.
TheNigerian News gathered that this is a statutory requirement for any INEC boss reappointed by the president.
Prof Yakubu was first appointed by President Buhari in November 2015, and submitted his name to the National Assembly for confirmation, with his first term ending on Monday, November 9.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria’s main opposition party, believes that Yakubu’s reappointment as INEC chairman will serve as a momentum to credible elections in Nigeria.
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said the Federal Government requires the sum of $656 million to complete work on the Lagos-Ibadan railway project.
Amaechi disclosed this on Friday while defending his ministry’s 2021 budget at the Senate.
He explained that the amount is needed to put the necessary infrastructure in place for the project to serve its intended purpose.
“Some aspects of works involving the construction of upgraded railway station, signalling and telecommunication systems, power supply scheme and the construction of pedestrian and overpass bridges have to be completed,” he said.
“These additional and extra works amounting to $656 million which is to be financed 100 percent by the Federal Government of Nigeria has been approved by the Federal Executive Council for implementation.”
The Minister also told the lawmakers that the construction of the project is 92 percent close to completion.
He however lamented that the work was disrupted following the #EndSARS protests that shook most parts of the country.
Amaechi noted that the Ibadan-Kano railway project also required an injection of $645.3million as advance payment to enable the Federal Government to complete its loan signing agreement with the China Exim Bank.
According to him, the Ministry would commence the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern Narrow Gauge railways in 2021.
THE World Trade Organisation has postponed a meeting where members are expected to pick a new Director-General after the United States blocked the favoured candidate, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The WTO earlier announced that the meeting would hold next week.
But a communication seen by AFP showed that the meeting has been postponed indefinitely.
“It has come to my attention that for reasons including the health situation and current events, delegations will not be in a position to take a formal decision on 9 November,” the head of the selection committee told member states.
“I am therefore postponing this meeting until further notice during which period I will continue to undertake consultations with delegations,” he added.
The United States opposed Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the consensus candidate to lead the WTO.
This is despite the Nigeria’s former finance minister’s claim of American citizenship.
The US said it is supporting South Korean trade minister, Yoo Myung-hee, to become the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation because she is a “trade expert”.
However, the European Union and WTO’s ambassadors backed Okonjo-Iweala for the position.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has obtained a court order to freeze the bank accounts of Bolatito Rachael Oduala, popularly known as Rinu and 19 others over alleged links to #EndSARS promoters in the country.
The Governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele had on Tuesday, October 20, filed an ex-parte court application to freeze the accounts of 19 individuals and a public affairs company adjudged to be masterminds of the recent nationwide protests against police brutality in Nigeria.
Sixteen days after the application was filed, Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted the order on Thursday, November 5, 2020.
The banks that were ordered to freeze the accounts of the #EndSARS promoters include; Access Bank, Fidelity, First Bank, GTB, Zenith and UBA.
Below is the full list of individuals whose accounts have been blocked as a result of the court order.
Bolatito Rachael Oduala
Chima David Ibebunjoh
Mary Doose Kpengwa
Gatefield Nigeria Limited
Saadat Temitope Bibi
Bassey Victor Israel
Wisdom Busaosowo Obi
Nicholas Ikhalea Osazele
Ebere Idibie
Akintomide Lanre Yusuf
Uhuo Ezenwanyi Promise
Mosopefoluwa Odeseye
Adegoke Pamilerin Emmanuel
Umoh Grace Ekanem
Babatunde Victor Segun
Mulu Louis Teghenan
Mary Oshifowora
Winifred Akpevweoghene Jacob
Victor Solomon
Idunu A. Williams.