Metro

Heavy Storm Hits Lagos Community, Residents Decry Government Neglect

Published

1 year ago

June 1, 2024

A severe storm that reportedly struck the Ibeshe area of Ikorodu, Lagos State, on May 25, 2024, has left residents devastated and questioning the emergency response capabilities of the state.

A resident and X user, @swaagsphotos, on Tuesday described the incident as a “Disastrous #Storm” which caused extensive damage to houses, schools, and electric poles in the area.

Despite reaching out to various agencies, including the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, the affected residents claimed their pleas for assistance have gone unanswered.

“Around 1:30am on Saturday 25th of May, 2024 in Lagos State, Ikorodu in Ibeshe precisely, there was a diastrous #storm which damaged so many houses and electric poles. I called the @lasemasocial 767 emergency services. After explaining that there was a storm, and it is now a #Disaster, the 767 agent still asked me, ‘So what is your Ememergency’?” @swaagsphotos wrote.

The resident shared videos of the aftermath, showing the extent of the destruction, with numerous families left homeless and schools affected.

He lamented the lack of response from authorities, tagging the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency and the Commissioner of Environment, Tokunbo Wahab, but with no response.

“So many people have nowhere to sleep from that day onward, so many schools affected too. I tagged @LasepaOfficial and the Commissioner of Environment @tokunbo_wahab, still, nobody reached out to me,” @swaagsphotos alleged.

“Till this moment @IkejaElectric people have not come around to fix these broken electric poles. Who really is in charge of things like this? Is it NEMA or @LasepaOfficial or @rrslagos767? Help me, I am confused right now,” he added.

Meanwhile, in a recent meeting with a reporter from The Economist, UK, the commissioner, Wahab, had emphasised the state’s efforts to combat the effects of climate change and mitigate flood situations.

“Lagos is a small state by land mass but one in every 10 Nigerians is in Lagos. That puts a lot of pressure on the space, and 1 in 4 of Lagos’s space is water. We must take ownership of our climatic situation, it is not just a government thing, it is about all of us,” he stated on X in a post on Saturday.

Metro

PHOTOS: Retired Police Officers Protest Under Rain At N’Assembly Gate

Published

2 hours ago

July 21, 2025

Editor

Amid rain, some retired police officers on Monday staged a protest at the entrance gate of the National Assembly in Abuja.

The protesters are demanding their removal from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The demonstrators, comprising elderly ex-police personnel, held placards and chanted solidarity songs as they stood in the rain, insisting that their welfare and dignity had been neglected for too long.

Speaking during the protest, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Manir Lawal (retd.) called on the government to exit police retirees from the pension scheme, which he described as exploitative and unjust.

He said, “We are here to ask the government to remove us from the CPS. The pension scheme is exploitative and unjust.

“I am 67 years old. Many of us here are in our 60s and 70s. We have served this country faithfully and deserve to retire in dignity. This scheme has impoverished us. It is our right to demand better,” he said.

Despite the rain, the retirees stood firm, vowing not to leave until their concerns were addressed by the leadership of the National Assembly.

Security operatives were seen monitoring the protest to prevent any breakdown of law and order.

Metro

27-year-old Delta Man Nabbed For Lover’s Death

Published

3 hours ago

July 21, 2025

Editor

The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 27-year-old man, Kelvin Obakpororo, for killing his lover, a mother of two, simply identified as Excellence.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed this on Sunday in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

He said, “You remember between June 26 and 27, 2025, the social media was awash with the mysterious murder of a girl named Excellence in Sapele, who was murdered by his boyfriend and the father of her two kids.

“The suspect initially escaped but was eventually arreste. He is in the custody of the command.

“For those who are demanding justice for Excellence, we want to inform you that he (the suspected killer) has been arrested and we are assuring you that very soon, he will be arraigned in the court.”

Confessing to the crime, the suspect, Mr Kelvin Obakpororo, lamented that he was under the influence of drugs when he killed her.

“She was doing a hook-up. Whenever she came to my house, she would carry some clothes and change to see another man. So, on that fateful day, she came to my house and we had an argument. She took a knife and I took a hammer.”

After I overpowered her, I used the hammer to hit her on her forehead three times before she fell and died.

“I didn’t know she would die, and it wasn’t my clear eyes. I took 200mg of tramadol. It’s a mistake. I’m so sorry. She had two sons: three and two-year-old sons, for me,” he narrated.

The suspect said he was into pressing (Internet fraud), and regretted killing the mother of his children.
(PUNCH)

Metro

Pension Protest: Sowore Leads Retired Policemen To Force HQ

Published

3 hours ago

July 21, 2025

Editor

Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore on Monday led a protest to the Force Headquarters in Abuja over poor welfare and pension conditions affecting serving and retired police officers.

The protest, organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Union of Retired Police Officers, demanded urgent pension reforms and called for the removal of police personnel from the Contributory Pension Scheme.

The aggrieved protesters, who were initially denied entry into the Force Headquarters, were later escorted by police officers as they proceeded to the National Assembly complex.

Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Decent Salaries Now,” “End Police Slavery,” “Pensions for Police Officers,” “Dignity for Those in Uniform,” and “CPS is a death sentence,” the demonstrators insisted that the current pension system is unjust and dehumanising.

The retired officers had earlier vowed to picket the National Assembly in a renewed push for legislative intervention in what they described as a prolonged neglect of their welfare.

Details later…