Headline
10 Things To Do To Be Safe On BRT Vehicles
Since the death of a passenger, Oluwabamise Ayanwole, many citizens of Lagos State have been worried about how safe it is to travel on the Bus Rapid Transit vehicles in the state.
The PUNCH had reported that Oluwabamise, who closed from work around 7pm on February 26, was on her way to visit her brother, Pelumi, when she boarded a BRT vehicle around Chevron Bus-stop, in the Lekki area of the state.
Her corpse was later found dumped by the roadside, according to the police who revealed that the driver of the vehicle, Omininikoron Nice, had been arrested.
This led to an outrage and protest on social media and in the streets of Lagos.
To avoid finding yourself in a similar situation as Oluwabamise, here are some tips to keep you safe while travelling on BRT vehicles:
1. Ask if the vehicle has a CCTV camera as most of them don’t have, especially the locally built ones. If the vehicle doesn’t have one, it is advisable to wait for the one that has.
2. If the vehicle doesn’t have a CCTV camera, try to know the vehicle’s licence number, if possible take a picture of it and send it to a relative or friend, alerting them of your journey.
3. Ensure that you are not the only passenger in the vehicle. Make sure that the passengers are about five at least and don’t they look suspicious.
4. In a situation where the passengers in the vehicle are not much, ensure you sit close to the exit or by the window to make yourself visible to other road users.
5. If ever you feel unsafe, make use of the emergency buttons in the vehicle which connects it to the control room. This alerts the officials in the control room to monitor the vehicle’s activities.
READ ALSO: Bamise Ayanwole’s Death: Why BRT Bus Has No Inbuilt Camera – Sanwo-Olu
6. BRT vehicles do have emergency numbers. Put a call through to one of them if you ever feel unsafe.
7. If travelling at night, ensure that the BRT vehicle has inner lights. This allows other road users to see what’s going on inside the bus.
8. Ensure you alight at your bus stop and not along the road. Object if the driver suggests dropping you by the roadside as this may be a ploy to expose you to ritualists or armed robbers lurking around the corner.
9. Ask questions or raise the alarm if the driver decides to ply a different route other than its designated route.
10. If you had informed your relatives of your journey, ensure you let them know when you alighted safely. This will not only put their minds at rest but will also prevent a situation where the driver of the BRT vehicle will be wrongly accused.
Headline
Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Clashes Escalate After Alleged Air Strikes

Afghanistan’s Taliban forces launched armed reprisals against Pakistani soldiers along the shared border on Saturday, accusing Islamabad of carrying out air strikes on its soil, senior officials from several provinces said Saturday.
On Thursday, two explosions were heard in the Afghan capital and another in the southeast of the country. The following day, the Taliban-run defence ministry blamed the attacks on Pakistan, accusing its neighbor of violating its sovereignty.
“In retaliation for air strikes carried out by the Pakistani army on Kabul,” Taliban forces are engaged “in heavy clashes against Pakistani security forces in various areas” along the border, the Afghan military said in a statement.
Islamabad did not confirm that it was behind Thursday’s attacks, but called on Kabul “to stop harbouring the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) on its soil.”
READ ALSO:Taliban Attacks Kill 23 In Northwestern Pakistan
The TTP, trained in combat in Afghanistan and claiming to share the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban, is accused by Islamabad of having killed hundreds of its soldiers since 2021.
Taliban officials from Kunar, Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost, and Helmand provinces — all located on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan — confirmed that clashes were ongoing.
“This evening, Taliban forces began using weapons. We fired first light and then heavy artillery at four points along the border,” a senior official in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, told AFP.
“Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire and shot down three Afghan quadcopters suspected of carrying explosives. Intense fighting continues, but so far, no casualties have been reported,” he continued.
READ ALSO:US Threatens To Sanction Countries That Vote For Shipping Carbon Tax
– Uptick in violence –
In recent months, TTP militants have intensified their campaign of violence against Pakistani security forces in the mountainous areas bordering Afghanistan.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to expel militants who use Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, an accusation denied by authorities in Kabul.
The TTP and its affiliates are behind most of the violence — largely directed at security forces.
READ ALSO:Afghanistan’s Taliban Release US Citizen
Earlier this year, a UN report said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities”, referring to the Taliban government in Kabul.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament on Thursday that several efforts to convince the Afghan Taliban to stop backing the TTP had failed.
“We will not tolerate this any longer,” Asif said. “United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil.”
Earlier Saturday, the TTP claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in several districts in northwest Pakistan that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.
AFP
Headline
Taliban Attacks Kill 23 In Northwestern Pakistan

The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in several northwestern districts that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.
The attacks, which included a suicide bombing on a police training school, were carried out on Friday in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
Militancy has surged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the withdrawal of US-led troops from neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021 and the return of the Taliban government in Kabul.
READ ALSO:Taliban Court Publicly Flogs Woman For Illicit Relationship, Running Away From Home
Eleven paramilitary troops were killed in the border Khyber district, while seven policemen were killed after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gate of a police training school, which was followed by a gun attack.
Five people, including three civilians, were killed in a separate clash in Bajaur district, security officials told AFP on Saturday.
The Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attacks in messages on social media. The group is separate from but closely linked with the Afghan Taliban.
The attacks came hours after Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of “violating Kabul’s sovereign territory”, a day after two explosions were heard in the capital.
READ ALSO:Taliban Order Closure Of Beauty, Hair Salons In Afghanistan
Pakistan did not say if it was behind the blasts in Kabul, but said it had the right to defend itself against surging border militancy.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of failing to expel militants using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan, an accusation that authorities in Kabul deny.
The TTP and its affiliates are behind most of the violence — largely directed at security forces.
Including Friday’s attacks, at least 32 Pakistani troops and three civilians have been killed this week alone in the border regions.
AFP
Headline
US Threatens To Sanction Countries That Vote For Shipping Carbon Tax

The United States on Friday threatened to impose sanctions and take other punitive action against any country that votes in favor of a carbon tax on maritime transportation to be implemented through a UN agency.
“We will fight hard to protect our economic interests by imposing costs on countries if they support” the Net Zero Framework, said a joint statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his counterparts at the departments of energy and transportation.
Members of the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) are set to vote next week on the adoption of the Net Zero Framework (NZF) agreement aimed at reducing global carbon emissions from the shipping sector.
READ ALSO:Woman Wanted Over Mutilation Of Boyfriend’s Genitals In US
Washington, however, described the proposal as imposing “a global carbon tax on the world.”
Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has reversed Washington’s course on climate change, denouncing it as a “scam” and encouraging fossil fuel use by deregulation.
In the statement, Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Trump administration “unequivocally rejects” the NZF proposal.
READ ALSO:US To Execute Man Convicted Of Rape, Murder Of Teen
They threatened a range of punishing actions against countries that vote in favor of the framework, including: visa restrictions; blocking vessels registered in those countries from US ports; imposing commercial penalties; and considering sanctions on officials.
“The United States will be moving to levy these remedies against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations,” the statement said.
- News4 days ago
JUST IN: Court Orders IGP To Arrest Mahmood Yakubu, Ex-INEC Chairman
- Politics3 days ago
JUST IN: Council Of State Meets As Tinubu Presents Nominees For INEC Chair
- News4 days ago
Group Throws Weight Behind Benin Monarch’s Decision On Iyaloja
- News5 days ago
UNIBEN Bans Students’ Sign-out Celebration
- News4 days ago
JUST IN: Tinted Permit Enforcement Placed On Hold Due To Court Order – Police
- News5 days ago
Recruitment: Customs Announces Exam Date For Shortlisted Applicants
- News3 days ago
Activists Push For Popularisation Of ‘Ogonize’, ‘Sarowiwize’ In Climate, Other Campaigns
- Headline4 days ago
INTERPOL Arrests Nigerian In Argentina Over Multi-country Romance Scam
- Politics2 days ago
Makinde Calls Out Umahi Over Coastal Highway Cost Analysis
- News5 days ago
Yakubu Hands Over To New INEC Acting Chair