A man who was convicted after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a pregnant woman, Tshegofatso Pule, said he was hired by her married lover to kill her in order to hide the pregnancy from his wife, the South Gauteng High Court Johannesburg heard during a plea deal on Friday, February 19.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng sentenced Muzikayise Malephane to 20 years in prison for murder, five years for defeating the ends of justice and five years for the possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.

                                The convict, Muzikayise Malephane

Pule, a 28-year-old Johannesburg-based beauty products representative, was eight months pregnant when she was killed in June last year. Police said at the time that she was found with a stab wound in her chest and her bloodstained body hanging from a tree in the Durban Deep area of Roodepoort. Her unborn child was a daughter.

Pule was last seen leaving her boyfriend’s home. Malephane, 31, was arrested while travelling back to Gauteng from Mpumalanga.

The murder sent shockwaves throughout the country amid the scourge of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

The court heard that the convict intended to turn State witness against the former lover. He entered into a plea agreement with the State and as a result, was given a lighter sentence in exchange for his co-operation.

Malephane said he was approached by Pule’s ex-lover on several occasions to kill her‚ as the man did not want his wife to learn of his lover’s pregnancy.

In his plea agreement read out by his lawyer, Malephane told the court her ex-lover had first offered him R7,000 to kill Pule, but he declined.

He said the man later offered him R20,000 but he still felt the amount was too little. After an offer of R70,000 was made, Malephane said, he agreed to kill Pule. Malephane said he had shot Pule and hung her.

He pleaded guilty on Friday morning after he and his legal team had entered into a plea agreement with the state.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatleng said, given Malephane’s willingness to testify against the “so-called mastermind”, he saw no reason not to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence for murder, which is life.

Meanwhile, the married lover and alleged mastermind of Pule’s murder has been arrested.

Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters confirmed that the 32-year-old man was arrested at his home in Florida, on the West Rand, on Thursday evening.

He is expected to appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on February 22.

By Kingsley U.

Instagram comedian, Mr Macaroni who was arrested yesterday at the Lekki Tollgate protest alongside 39 other #occupytollgate protesters, has released a video saying they were beaten and dehumanised by the Nigerian police.

He said he has bruises all over his body and was heading to the hospital to check himself. He also said both of his phones were smashed.

Macaroni has since been released and back home but said it was a traumatic experience.

He said: “I’m going to the hospital for a complete check. I have bruises all over. Them beat me, them beat me well, them say I go get sense.”

He called out the government for their action towards protesters.

He said: “The government is responsible for protection. So, let me ask, you had over 200 policemen out there yesterday, and you want to tell me you could not guarantee a peaceful protest if there was going to be one? It shows that you guys are irresponsible, all of you are irresponsible.”

He said he’s certain the police would have killed protesters if word hadn’t already gotten out that they had arrested some people and were detaining them.

He said: “If word was not out that people were already being arrested, If word was not out, people would have died clean and clear.

“They were saying it, they were telling us that ‘we’ll shoot you, nothing will happen. If it was night all of una for don die.’ “

He denied allegations that he collected money from the opposition to speak against this government. He went on to curse those making the allegations.

He thanked the lawyers and everyone who played a part in getting him released and said he’ll speak further after getting medical attention. 

Watch the video he shared on his Instagram page today, February 14.

By Lucky B.

The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has demolished an unapproved building at Ilupeju area of the state.

Speaking during the demolition of a building at Olutunda Street, off Ade Akinsanya Street Ilupeju, Lagos on Monday February 15, the General Manager of the Agency, Arc. Gbolahan Owodunni Oki, said the building in question was identified by a team of LASBCA monitoring officers in August 2020 and all efforts by the Agency to prevail on the recalcitrant owner to follow due process and best practices, in consonance with the directive of the Agency, proved abortive.

“The illegal structure which has no building approval was built on a drainage channel, wall fenced with no airspace. The building had previously been served all statutory enforcement notices in line with the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning Development Law of 2010 with no response from the owner/developer, hence the Agency had to remove the building”, Oki said.

The General Manager emphasised that the decision was taken after a thorough engineering appraisal and monitoring of the building by the Agency to ensure a better physical planning environment for sustainable development and averting needless loss of lives and property.

He added that the demolition is a signal to any would be recalcitrant developer who circumvents Government rules and regulations of the law, stressing that the structures shall be removed by the Agency and the cost of removal shall be borne by the owner.

While noting that people have shown disregard for State laws on building construction in the past with worrisome resultant effects, Oki appealed to building owners and developers to desist from starting building projects without obtaining necessary building approvals.

He insisted that building owners/developers should seek authorisation from LASBCA, hire the services of relevant building Professionals, speak to safety and test their building materials before commencement of building construction, subject to the type of structures they are putting in place, to make the buildings safe, secure and fit for habitation.

By Lucky B.

At the outset of his administration, Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu promised Lagosians that he would revamp the state’s entire infrastructure, rejuvenate the economy and enthrone a mega city-state that is clean and where the pace of life would be smooth and seamless among other lofty plans. His developmental agenda christened T.H.E.M.E.S (Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st Century State; Security and Governance) seemed starry-eyed, but Sanwo-Olu affirmed that he was committed to achieving them. He didn’t, however, reckon with the corona virus pandemic which led to a shutdown of the global economy for the past year. Despite that, it is visible to residents and visitors alike that there is a concerted and clearly thought-out revival and rebuilding of important socio-economic infrastructure.

By Tayo Williams

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND TRANSPORTATION

• To aggressively address the challenge of bad roads and ease traffic congestions across the state, the first thing Governor Sanwo-Olu did on assumption of office was to introduce the ‘Zero Tolerance for Potholes Initiative’ by directing the Public Works Corporation to commence the patching and rehabilitation of the roads and the clearing and cleaning of all secondary and tertiary drainage systems to ensure the free flow of rainwater during the rainy season across the state. He also directed the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to operate a minimum of two shifts by managing traffic until 11:00 pm daily.
• The ubiquitous okada motorcycles and tricycles were also banned across 15 local councils as a stop-gap solution to the endless traffic jams. To ameliorate the attendant inconvenience of the ban, the state government rolled out 65 high-capacity buses in addition to the existing buses in the fleet of the Lagos Bus Services Limited. 550 medium-capacity vehicles are expected anytime soon.
• To further strengthen the drive for a multi-modal transport system, Governor Sanwo-Olu launched the Uber Boat water transportation service, a partnership between the global ride-hailing company and the Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, which is exploring the state’s abundant waterways and, thereby, reducing the pressure on roads.
• Similarly, the Lagos Ferry Services (LAGFERRY) launched its commercial operations in February. In its fleet are 14 boats with a capacity of between 30 and 60 passengers. Apart from the Badore Ferry Terminal in Ajah, other modern jetties are being built in Ijegun, Badagry, Lekki, and Ajegunle.
• Significantly, to improve traffic management and transportation, the Blue Line Mass Transit Rail project, which started in 2009, has been revived with the completion of the sea-crossing track. The five-kilometre elevated sea-crossing track of the project in Marina was completed last December. Other rail lines on the drawing board are the 68km – Green Line from Marina through Victoria Island, Lekki Phases 1 and 2, Ajah, Ogombo, Lekki Airport to Lekki Free Trade Zone; the 60km – Purple Line from the Redemption Camp through Ogba, Iyana Ipaja and Igando ending at Ojo; and the 34km Yellow Line from Otta through Isheri Osun, Ejigbo Mafoluku, Isolo to National Theatre. There is also the 48km Orange Line from Ikeja crossing through Mile 12, Ikorodu, Alapadi, Eligana, Isiwu, Imota and ending at Agbowa.
• Also, the Oshodi – Abule-Egba section of the Lagos–Abeokuta expressway has been reconstructed and commissioned last September. The 13.68 kilometre-long BRT corridor has reduced commute time on the route by as much as 75 per cent.

INFRASTRUCTURE

• The state government has resuscitated the Adiyan Waterworks, Phase Two with contractors mobilised to site. The water treatment plant, with a production capacity of 70 million gallons per day, was started in 2013. About N600million compensation was paid to owners whose property had to give way for the reconstruction works. After resuscitation, it will provide drinking water for more than five million Lagos residents and will help to address sanitation challenges and fight water-borne diseases.
• In Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, 31 roads, which adds up to a total of 20.216 kilometres, have been completed and commissioned by Governor Sanwo-Olu.
• The hitherto abandoned Pen Cinema flyover project is expected to be completed and commissioned in the first quarter of 2021.
• A newly constructed section of the Lagos – Badagry expressway has been declared open. The 4-kilometre section stretches from Agboju and cuts across strategic locations like Maza-Maza and Alakija to Trade Fair.
• The state government entered into a Public Infrastructure Improvement Partnership (PIIP) agreement that involves banks handling the rehabilitation of roads as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For instance, Access Bank is partnering with the state government in the infrastructural upgrading of the Oniru network of roads under the PIIP arrangement.
• Under Governor Sanwo-Olu, the China Development Bank has injected a $629million financing facility to accelerate the completion of the Lekki Deep Seaport project, which started in 2011. When completed in 2022, the deep seaport would have two container berths of 680-metre long and 16.5-metre water depth. It will also have the capacity to be berthed by fifth-generation container ships, with a capacity of 18,000 TEU ship. Governor Sanwo-Olu affirmed that the project will transform the Lekki corridor into a new economic hub and offer a new impetus for socio-economic growth in the state.

HOUSING

• In January 2021, Governor Sanwo-Olu commissioned 264-units of flats ranging from one to four bedrooms for upper and middle-income earners in two different estates in the Ikate Elegushi and Lekki area of the state.
• The 492-flat housing project in Igando area of Lagos was completed, commissioned and handed over to its new occupants in 2019. The project, which originally started in 2012 under the Home Ownership Scheme of the administration of ex-Governor Babatunde Fashola, but was abandoned by the immediate past administration, is a testimony of Sanwo-Olu’s campaign pledge to complete and deliver all critical projects inherited from the last administration. The estate is fittingly named after the first civilian governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who died February 11th, 2021. Similarly, the recently commissioned 132-unit Lagos HOMS project at Iponri in Surulere area was named after former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.
• There are also an additional 360 units in Igbogbo, 744 in Sangotedo, 660 in Agbowa and 680 in Egan Igando are slated for commissioning soon.

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

• In a bid to create more awareness and sensitisation on the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS), the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) has launched ‘Ilera Eko’ campaign to achieve universal health coverage for all Lagosians. This is intended to achieve universal health coverage for Lagos residents.
• There is a renaissance in the state’s public health sector. A 149-bed Maternal and Childcare Centre, MCC, in Alimosho General Hospital was commissioned recently. The specialist centre is equipped with ultra-modern equipment that aids prompt delivery of maternal and child care services.
• A four-floor 110-bed Maternal and Child Centre (MCC) was also recently commissioned in Eti-Osa. Specially designed to provide integrated healthcare for mothers and children, the facility has four operational surgical theatres, defibrillators, ventilators, and oxygen therapy and phototherapy units. The Eti-Osa MCC is the eighth facility completed by the state government to provide specialized mother and childcare services while two other similar facilities located in Epe and Badagry are nearing completion.
• The Healthy Bee Initiative of the Lagos government, a free healthcare programme aimed at combating organ impairment and life-threatening ailments in children saw over 25,000 residents benefitting from free treatment and surgery recently.
• Lagos has also been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria with a functional incident command centre and, apart from the existing isolation centre, recently opened another in Victoria Island. The new centre is a purpose-built medical facility equipped with ICU capacities in response to the resurgence of the coronavirus in Nigeria with Lagos still the hub of the infection.
• The Lagos State Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, acquired 10 boats to boost its marine waste operations. The agency also launched the Lagos Blue Box initiative, a single stream recyclable collection program that encourages the separation of recyclable materials from the general waste at the point of generation and which aims to, among other objectives, encourage zero waste generation in the state and promote a healthier and cleaner environment; reduce carbon footprints and increase economic security by tapping the domestic source of the material.

EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY

• To promote a smart city with technology, the Sanwo-Olu administration organised the Art of Technology Lagos where the governor announced a N250m grant for tech start-ups to encourage young people with fantastic ideas.
• The administration gave N350million bailout for personnel cost and increased the subvention of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education from N200million to N250mllion.
• As part of the reforms for the education sector, the Eko Excel, an acronym for ‘Excellence in Child Education and Learning’, was launched in January 2020. It is already empowering teachers to deliver at the same level as their counterparts around the world; and providing strong continuous support that will encourage improvement in teachers and pupils. An estimated 14,000 primary school teachers are expected to benefit from the initiative while over 500,000 pupils would be positively impacted. Microsoft recently partnered with the state government to train 18, 000 teachers on its Microsoft Office suite.
• In continuation of the use of skill acquisition as a tool of empowerment, 4, 885 youths graduated from 17 skill acquisition centres located in the five divisions of the state.
• More than three decades after it was established, the Lagos State University, LASU, is set to become a residential tertiary institution as the state government, under the Public-Private Partnership, PPP, has signed a Build, Operate and Transfer, BOT, agreement with six property developers to construct 8,272 units of hostel in the school’s premises to be ready in the Year 2021.

EMPOWERMENT/SOCIAL WELFARE

• To help legal residents whose businesses were affected by the carnage trailing the END SARS protest to resuscitate their businesses, the governor launched the N5bn MSME Recovery Fund under the Lagos State Entrepreneurship Trust Fund (LSETF).
• In fulfilment of his pledge to end poverty through the implementation of socio-economic empowerment programs, Governor Sanwo-Olu recently empowered a total of 1,050 vulnerable and indigent residents in the state. Beneficiaries received, in addition to financial support, business support tools and equipment such as grinding machines, hairdressing tools, sewing machines and tyre repair kits among other materials. The governor promised that this initiative would be done quarterly.
• Last November, the state government paid about N1.3 billion into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of 246 retirees in the state’s public service for October. The beneficiaries included employees from the mainstream service, Local Government Service, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), and other parastatals of the state government.

AGRICULTURE

• Under the Agro-Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) Women and Youth Empowerment Scheme (WYEP), 350 have graduated being the batch 1. Out of these beneficiaries, 165 majored in the poultry value chain, 35 in the rice value chain and 150 in the aquaculture value chain. The thrust of the project is to increase farmers’ productivity, production, and improve the processing and marketing of the target value chains, which would foster job creation along identified value chains.
• The Imota Rice Mill in Lagos is nearing completion. The 38 metric tonnes per hour mill will be one of the biggest on the continent when completed. It is expected to throw up between 1000 and 1,500 jobs and positively impact the rice value chain that will produce 2.4 million bags of 50kg rice yearly.
• The governor also unveiled a five-year master plan that would guide the state’s intervention and investment in agriculture for a long-term return with the objective to reduce food importation and over dependence on finished products from outside the country.
• The state government is also in the process of establishing the Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (LACE) to drive fish production in the state. The centre will have a hatchery with a capacity to produce 50 million fish – enough to supply 5,000 smallholder farms. It will also include a 24,000 tonnes feed mill and a 20,000 tonne capacity fish processing centre. He said that the annual demand for fish in the state was 374,000 tonnes, considerably below the state’s current 155,000 tonnes of production.

SECURITY

• Effective security is an essential component of the Sanwo-Olu developmental agenda for Lagos State. As such, he has been proactive and pragmatic in the handling of the state’s security providing the required support for the police for effective discharge of their duties. He recently commissioned the new Area L Police Command in Ilashe, Ojo; the Area ‘J’ Police Command administrative building at Elemoro town in Ibeju-Lekki and donated 125 patrol vehicles and 35 patrol motorcycles for the use of security operatives in the state.

By Jide N.

Sani Rimo has been identified as the senior official with the Kano State Hisbah Board caught with a married woman in a hotel.

SaharaReporters had on Tuesday reported how a commander of the Islamic police was arrested in a hotel in the Sabon Gari area of the city.

Rimo is said to be in charge of arresting beggars and prostitutes in Kano metro area.

He was taken into custody after the husband of the woman with whom he allegedly had an affair filed complaints.

Hisbah officers regularly arrest unmarried people caught in hotels, presumably for sexual activities, as part of their enforcement of the Sharia.
They are also notorious for destroying truckloads of alcoholic drinks.
Established to enforce Sharia, Hisbah recently banned stylish haircuts, sagging of trousers, playing of music at social events by disk jockeys and seized tricycles from riders for adorning them with pictures considered to be obscene and against the tenents of Islam in some states.
Hisbah also banned commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders from carrying two women at a time.
This was in addition to other unusual directives reeled out by the Islamic police.

By Jide N.

The students and staff of GSSS Kagara who were kidnapped by armed bandits in Niger state have been released.

The secondary school students were abducted in the early hours of Wed, Feb 17, from their dormitories within the school premises in Kagara, Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, and were held captive in the hideout of the bandits around Bangi forest in Mariga Local Government Area of the state for close to 48 hours.

However, they were said to have been released to Sheikh Gumi, according to Tribune.

They were then taken to some undisclosed public health facilities for medical checkup in Minna, the state capital in order to ascertain their health status and to receive treatment shortly after they were set free.

The students were freed shortly after Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, had met and dialogued with the leader of the bandits identified as Dogo Gide and some of his members.

By Lucky B.

Former Chief of Defence Intelligence, Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Usman who is also one of the ambassadorial nominees has revealed that they had an intelligence report about Dapchi girls’ abduction before it occurred. 

Recall that over 200 schoolgirls were abducted by the terrorists from a secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State, in February 2018.

Usman who appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Thursday February 18, said the abduction occurred because the intelligence they got was not managed properly. 

He said; 

“There was an intelligence report on Dapchi before it occurred. We saw indicators building up but it was not managed properly.

“State governors have a role to play because if you are given intelligence, we expect troops to move in but this does not happen in the North-East because of bad roads and difficult terrains.

“There is the need to partner with state governments to deny the bandits the use of forests. We need to manage these forests.

“Unfortunately, these forests are lying fallow. We have partnerships with defence agencies in different countries and it is critical that we build these partnerships to prevent future attacks.”

By Lucky B.

Worried by the increasing spate of insecurity in the country, the Taraba State governor, Darius Ishaku has asked the Federal government to allow Nigerians to carry licenced guns to defend themselves against criminals elements.

Ishaku stated this when he received 15 local government chairmen of the state in his office on Tuesday, February 2. The local government chairmen were in his office to pay him a condolence visit after the burial of one of them who was kidnapped and subsequently killed by gunmen.

Expressing his concerns over the worrisome state of insecurity in the country, Governor Ishaku said

“The security in this country has gone to the lowest ebb and we have to all wake up. We as leaders have given our advises severally as to the change to the security architecture, you cannot keep doing one thing over and over and expect a different result,” he said.

If we cannot be able to provide security for our citizens, then allow all the citizens to buy AK-47, because if everybody is licensed with AK-47, I swear nobody will come to your house, or peradventure he does then it depends on who is faster.

In a situation where we are all gagged with one security system that has been unable to work, and we are told to sit down and be counting the day our turn will come, I do not agree with it.”

By Kingsley U.

Aggrieved Edo women blocked major roads in the state on Wednesday, February 3, as they demanded the immediate eviction of herdsmen in the state.

According to the protesting women, they have lost a lot of their farm produce as a result of the destructive activities of the cows belonging to the herdsmen in the state.

The protesters noted that they were no longer safe, saying Fulani herdsmen had taken over all the surrounding forests and bushes in the area. 

According to the women, the solution to the problem is for Fulani herdsmen to leave the area. 

See photos and video from the protest below

By Jide N.