NEWS
Accidents: Lawmaker Seeks Speedy Completion of Lagos-Badagry Expressway Project
A lawmaker, Prince Sesi Whingah, has urged the Federal Ministry of Works, and the contractors involved, to accelerate completion of the reconstruction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Whingah, lawmaker representing Badagry Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, made the call in a statement on Monday, in Bagagry.
The statement was issued by his media aide, Mr Peter Dansu, against the backdrop of an accident in the area on Sunday, which has so far claimed 15 lives.
Whingah said the completion would facilitate the reopening of both sides of the highway for vehicular movement, and reduce such accidents.
Recall that five members of a family, on Feb.
13, were also feared dead in an auto crash in the same Agemowo axis of the expressway where the Sunday accident occurred.Whingah said the news of the Sunday crash, with reports indicating a significant number of lives lost, and some injuries, was shocking to him.
“This is truly disheartening, while it is not the first accident since the reconstruction of the road began years ago.
“We have witnessed a disturbing frequency of auto crashes, often caused by reckless driving or speeding.
“Many of these accidents could have been prevented if the construction of the Lagos- Badagry Expressway had been completed promptly.
“Prior to this incident, I have been in constant communication with the relevant government authorities and contractors, stressing the urgent need to expedite the reconstruction process.
“Opening up the Badagry Federal Constituency to development and economic growth has been a key priority.
“Little did we know that such a tragic accident would occur,” he said
The lawmaker said he was personally committed to visiting the Federal Ministry of Works and, if possible, meeting with the contractors to emphasise the urgency of the matter.
“It is crucial to address this issue promptly in order to prevent or minimise the recurrence of such incidents.
“This unfortunate occurrence is something we all wish to forget,” he said.
He commiserated with families of passengers who lost the lives in the accident, which involved a Mazda commercial bus and a truck.
The lawmaker prayed that the families should find strength and comfort during the difficult time. (NAN)
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)
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. (NAN
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)
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