Metro

Activities Grounded As Delta Traders Protest Illegal Levies

Published

2 years ago

July 13, 2022

Commercial activities were paralysed for several hours on Wednesday at the popular Igbudu market in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State as traders embarked on a peaceful rally in protest against alleged extortion by the market administrator popularly called market master.

The protesters accused the market master, said to be an official of Warri South Local Government Council, of allegedly collecting illegal levies from the traders.

They alleged that the market master’s action has been crippling their economic activities and causing untold hardship on them and their customers, as the burden of the levies are passed on to the customers.

While calling on the Chairman of Warri South Local Government, Dr Michael Tidi, to intervene urgently in the matter which they described as worrisome, the leadership of the protesting traders attributed the rampant price increases partly to the illicit activities of the market master.

The PUNCH reports that many visitors to the market were visibly disappointed as the shops and stalls were under lock and key while the traders were outside protesting.

The protest also resulted in heavy gridlock on the ever busy Warri/Sapele Road as the angry traders marched to the secretariat of Warri South Local Government Council chanting solidarity songs, and demanding urgent intervention of the local government authorities.

At the Warri South secretariat where they met the Council Chairman, Dr Tidi, the President-General of Igbudu Market Traders Association, Oghenerume Kugbere, alleged that the market master has been extorting traders at the market through the collection of several illegal levies and sought to know if the collections had the blessings of the Local Government administration.

He noted that if the illegal levies were allowed, the traders will have no choice but to pass the high cost of wares to customers, a situation that is bound to worsen the economic situation for the customers.

Comrade Kugbere stated that several efforts to prevail over the market master on the issue have been unsuccessful and appealed to the Chairman of Warri South Local Government to intervene so as to restore peace between the traders of Igbudu market and the Market Master.

Responding, the Council Chairman commended the traders for the peaceful protest and promised to wade into the issue.

The Local Government Council boss appealed to the aggrieved traders to return to their duty posts whilst their complaints were being addressed.

However, the embattled market master could not be reached to respond to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.

Metro

JUST IN: Truck Rams Into BRT On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Published

1 hour ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

A truck has rammed into a Lagos State BRT bus at Ibafo bus-stop along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.

The PUNCH correspondent who went to the scene gathered that the accident occurred around some minutes to 6am on Saturday.

Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and Police on response call at the accident scene insisted that only their Public Relations Officers were authorised to speak.

However, unconfirmed reports from onlookers noted that several people on the BRT bus were injured.

Onlookers accounts noted that the BRT was parked loading its passengers at the bus stop before the truck loaded with cows heading to Lagos rammed into it, taking it off the road to destroy shops and kiosks by the roadside.

The cow truck had been towed a little away from the scene so as not to hinder traffic.

Details later

Metro

Court Jails Social Media Influencer For Celebrity Scam

Published

11 hours ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, has sentenced Aluko Tunmise to one year in prison for his involvement in a celebrity scam.

Tunmise was prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a cybercrime-related charge.

This was disclosed in a post on X by EFCC on Friday, May 17.

The post reads: “Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, convicted and sentenced one Aluko Tunmise, a self-acclaimed social media influencer and model, to one year imprisonment for celebrity scam.

He was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on cybercrimes.”

“One of the counts reads: “That you, ALUKO TUNMISE JUWONLO (A.K.A. KEANU REEVES), sometime between January and March, 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, directly made a false statement, wherein you held yourself out as a white man by name “KEANU REEVES” on your Telegram Account, knowing same to be false and with intent that the representation is relied upon for the purpose of procuring the issuance of financial instrument to yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015′.

He pleaded ‘guilty’ to the charge when it was read to him.

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, C.C.Okezie, sought to present an operative of the EFCC, Vincent Sunday Kwambuge, to review the facts of the matter.

Kwanbuge told the court that the defendant was arrested sometime in March, 2024 at Lekki County Estate, Lagos, following credible intelligence received by the Commission on the activities of some internet fraudsters operating in the area.”

Metro

Three Children Rescued As Fire Guts Storey Building In Delta

Published

12 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Editor

Three children have been rescued as fire gutted a-storey building at the Obi Onuorah Crescent back of Okowe plaza in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

The PUNCH correspondent who visited the fire scene on Friday, observed that the roof and the two apartments were razed down as property worth millions of naira was damaged.

However, the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained as at the time of filling this report

Speaking, a widow and mother of four children, Mrs Gloria Sado who wept profusely appealed to Nigerians to come to her aid.

She said, “I came back Thursday night around 9 pm when I saw a fire burning in our house.

“My three children were in the house, one went with me to market, thank God, it was a lot of effort for my children to be rescued. I didn’t know the cause of the fire

“All the three fire services that came did not have water to quench the fire, our property was burnt to ashes”

Also, her neighbor, Simon Amalimen, and father of two said, “I was in my apartment when I heard fire, fire, I came out and noticed that the fire was coming out from my neighbor’s apartment.

“When learned that the three children were inside the apartment sleeping, we immediately moved into the fire to rescue the children, then, the fire had to gut my apartment.

“Before we could rescue them, the fire had entered my apartment and my two children and my wife were rescued. Only the boxers I wear are the clothes I came out with.”

He said before the third fire service could arrive, the two apartments and property had been burnt.

The victims were currently homeless as sympathizers were said to have gone to buy some clothes for them.

An official of the state fire service who did not want his name mentioned confirmed the incident.