Metro
BREAKING: Protest Rocks Okomu Oil Over Alleged Marginalisation, Oppression [Video]

Information reaching Info Daily says there is an ongoing protest at Oil Palm Company PLC by host communities over an alleged blockade, digging of trench on the road leading to the communities by the company.
The protest which started yesterday, May 3rd, 2022, saw men, women and youths of the communities particularly AT/P, Marioba communities coming out as early as 6:00am today, May 4th 2022, to continues the protest on what they tagged as “treating us slaves in our father land.”
Speaking to our correspondent on phone, the Edionwere of Marioba community, Chief Gabriel Eigbe Okwolegbe, accused the company of treating the host communities like slaves without them benefiting much from the company.
He added that though the palm trees of the company are at the door steps of the communities, nothing to show for being host communities, rather the company dug a big trench on the road leading to their home.
He lamented: “I don’t know why this company keep treating us like slaves. You can see that the Palm Trees are at our door steps, yet there is nothing we are benefiting from the company. The only road we manage to get to our houses, the management has dug a big trench to cover so that we will no longer have access to our houses.”
Another native from one of the communities who identified himself as Rex Akpokiniobo said: “We have been enduring the arm-twisting devices of the MD of the company for too long, but this one was too much. How can you dig your trenches to block our road? How do we get to our houses or come out from our houses.”

The big trench dug
A youths leader from one of communities, Lucky Okeodion, while berating action of the company said: “Action of the MD was very barbaric and we shall continue the protest until the MD cover the big gutter with which he has destroyed our road.Sad that communities around multinational plantation companies are often treated with disdain.” (sic)
READ ALSO: Okomu Oil Company Host Communities Protest Over Maltreatment, Harassment
Reacting, a human rights activist and environmentalist, Chief Ajele Sunday, blamed the Edo State government for the maltreatment the communities have been subjected to.
He said: “Edo State shares in the responsibility because it signed a contract that cannot be implemented without violating the rights of the community people. How can a state government bring investors without some caution, without check? You allow the investors to operate and act with impunity.
”Just recently on the 20th of May 2020, Ijaw-gbini Community was burnt down by security operatives of the company. The Governor pretended to set up a committee headed by Hon Lucky WASA but it died a natural death. But the day unknown gunmen attacked the company, the Governor went there himself. So who is given so much power to these investors?,” he added.
But in his reaction, spokesperson, Okomu Oil Company PLC, Fidelis Olise denied the allegations, saying: “There is nothing of such. These are just blackmail against our company. You can come over and I will take you to the said place if you see such a trench as claimed. Though as a company, we have right to dig any trench within our company, but I want to tell you categorically that such does not exist”
Watch video bellow:
Metro
IFAD, Life-ND Train 630 Agriprenuers In Edo

Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises for Niger Delta (Life-ND) in collaboration with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Federal Government on Tuesday trained no fewer than 630 youths in agriprenuer in Edo State.
The trainees, regarded as incubatees, were simultaneously trained across the three Senatorial Districts of the state with the theme: Building a New Generation of Agriprenuers for Sustainable Food Security in Edo State.
Speaking at the orientation programme in Benin, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Jerry Uwangue, said the programme “aligns perfectly with the vision of our state,” adding “to nurture young farmers into successful agriprenuers who can transform subsistence farming into profitable agribusiness ventures.”
Represented by Principle Igbinadion, Programme Manager, Agricultural Development Project (ADP), Uwangue said
the programme was not about training individuals, but “breeding a new generation of innovators, leaders, and wealth creators who will drive Edo State towards self-sufficiency in food production.”
READ ALSO:Anambra, Lagos, Others Top 2025 Fiscal Performance Rankings, As C’Rivers Dropped from 5th to 30th
Uwangue expressed the state government’s readiness to support the beneficiaries through “improved Access to inputs, Extension services, value chain development, and Linkages to markets.”
“We are also integrating LIFE-ND initiatives into the broader state agricultural transformation framework to ensure sustainability beyond donor support.),” he added.
The commissioner, while urging the incubatees to take the opportunity seriously, said: “Agriculture today is no longer about hoe and cutlass; it is about innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.”
“Through your dedication and creativity, you can build thriving enterprises that will not only feed our people but also employ others and contribute to the State’s economic growth,” he added.
READ ALSO:Obaseki Has Paid N147m Counterpart Fund For LIFE-ND Agric Project, Says Coordinator
He urged the incubatees to “seize the opportunity, remain diligent, and be proud ambassadors of the agricultural transformation we are driving in Edo State.”
Earlier in his remarks, State Coordinator, Life-ND, Mr. John Omoruyi, said the training “represents the beginning of a transformative journey,” adding that over “3,000 agriprenuers women and youth in the promotion of cassava, rice, fish and poultry commodities along with the corresponding value chain as well as Business Development Service (BSC) in Edo State,” have been captured.
He added that “together, we are building a new generation of skilled, self-reliant, and prosperous youths who will transform the agricultural landscape of Edo State and increase in the food basket of Nigeria.”
Metro
Ogun FRSC Spokesperson Dies After Protracted Illness

The Public Education Officer of the Ogun State sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Florence Okpe, a Chief Route Commander, is dead.
The State Sector Commander, Akinwunmi Fasakin, confirmed the demise of Okpe to our correspondent in a phone conversation on Tuesday.
Fasakin said that the former image maker of the command had been on a sick bed for a while before succumbing to death on Tuesday in her hometown in Cross River State.
READ ALSO:FRSC Warns Officers Against Bribery, Unethical Practices
The sector commander said, “We lost Okpe this morning, Tuesday; her family has confirmed the sad news. She had been sick for a while and attending the clinic here in Ogun until she was given medical leave, after which she travelled to her hometown in Cross River State, where she eventually died.
“Okpe was no doubt an enigma, a very sound, resourceful and professional officer of unparalleled dedication to duty. I have sincerely lost a very dutiful officer. She was very dear to me, and it’s been a sad day since we were told of her death.
“The command commiserates with her family and loved ones and pray that the Almighty God will grant all of us the strength to bear this irreplaceable loss.”
Metro
Two Dead, 28 Rescued As Building Collapses In Lagos

Two people have been confirmed dead, while 28 others were rescued after a two-storey building collapsed at 49 Coates Street, off Oyingbo Road, Lagos, early yesterday.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) said it received a distress call around 12:20 a.m., and responders from the Sari Iganmu Fire Station arrived nine minutes later to begin rescue efforts.
The Director of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Beatrice Makinde, confirmed that the deceased were a man and an elderly woman. A resident, who declined to be named, said he was awakened by a loud cracking sound moments before the building gave way. Another resident said a man who visited the premises late on Sunday had not been seen since the incident, though officials have not confirmed this.
READ ALSO:Lagos: Festac DPO, Matilda Ngbaronye Is Dead
Teams from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), LASAMBUS, the Fire Service, the Nigerian Police and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were at the site, using heavy machinery to search through the rubble.
LASEMA’s Permanent Secretary, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the operation would continue until everyone was accounted for. He added that investigations were ongoing to determine whether structural fatigue or substandard materials caused the collapse, and that anyone found culpable would be prosecuted.
Residents said the building had been repeatedly marked for demolition by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) over structural defects, but the owner allegedly ignored the warnings and carried out unauthorised renovations. Some tenants reportedly moved out after noticing cracks, while others remained until the collapse.
READ ALSO:Lagos Inaugurates 24-hour Traffic Management Operations
Emergency officials provided water, medical care, and temporary relief supplies to displaced residents, while authorities urged the public to stay away from the area to allow rescue operations to continue smoothly.
Earlier, LSFRS Controller General, Margaret Adeseye, said 15 people: seven men, four women and four children, had been rescued with varying degrees of injury and taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Ebute Meta and the Lagos Island General Hospital. She confirmed that the collapsed structure had previously been declared unsafe but remained occupied.
Adeseye added that the LSFRS and other emergency agencies were fully mobilised to ensure that all victims were rescued and accounted for.
“It is an ongoing rescue involving an existing two-storey building which had reportedly been marked distressed before collapsing on the occupants,” she said.
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