NEWS
Corps Marshal Expresses Displeasure over Reckless Driving Habits on Nigerian Roads
The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Malam Shehu Mohammed has expressed concern over reckless driving habits of some drivers on Nigerian roads.Mohammed made this known in a statement by the FRSC Spokesman, Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide in Abuja.Mohammed sympathised with the families of victims of the fatal crashes that occurred on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.
He said that the fatal crashes occured at Ajao, opposite Bovas fuel station on the Ojoo/lwo road; as well as that of Malo, both on the Lagos/Ibadan express way on August 13. The corps marshal described the accidents as devastating and avoidable, stressing that drivers must imbibed safe road use attributes and discard any temptation to contravene established road traffic regulations.He added that the Ibadan crash occurred at 09:20am and involved four vehicles, resulting in 16 deaths and 17 injuries adding that the Malo crash occurred at 03:14pm and involved a white mazda bus, resulting in 12 deaths and four injuries.“The Ibadan crash which occured at 09:20am, involved four vehicles; a White Mack Truck (AKM 548 ZY) which had a break failure, lost control and crashed into three other vehicles: a White Nissan Bus (MUB 20 LG), Red Nissan Micra (BDJ 520 YC) and a Blue Honda CRV (KRD 707 ER).“The Malo fatal crash occurred at exactly at 03:14pm involving a White Mazda Bus (DDA733XA). The driver had indulged in a wrongful overtaking, which made him loose control of the wheels and eventually crashed.“Reports received at the national headquarters show that the Ibadan crash involved 35 people comprising of 14 male adults, 10 female adults, six female children, and five male children.“From that number, 17 sustained varying degrees of injuries while 16 victims were killed,”he said.Meanwhile, the Malo crash had 16 people involved (12 male adults, three female adults as well as one female child).“Out of this, 12 victims (8 male adults three female adults and one female child) were killed while the remaining four people (All male adults) got rescued with injuries.“The injured victims of the Ibadan crash were taken to Amudalat Hospital, Ibadan for medical attention while the dead bodies were handed over to the Nigeria Police Force Divisional Office in Ibadan.“The bodies of the 12 victims killed in the crash have been deposited in FOS Morgue in Ipara,”he said.Mohammed, however, directed the immediate arrest of the fleeing driver of the articulated vehicle for prosecution.The corps said it was intensifying efforts in its partnership with the Judiciary to ensure that all drivers involved in fatal crashes, would have their licences suspended.The corps also said that such drivers would be made to face the wrath of the law.(NAN)NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)