Metro
Lagos Judicial Panel pays Surprise Visit to Army Hospital, finds no Mortuary
Towards unraveling claims of massacre by the military at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos during the #EndSARS protest, the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led Judicial Panel of Inquiry for Restitution for Victims of SARS and the Lekki shootings, yesterday paid a surprise visit to the Military Hospital in Ikoyi, in search of its mortuary.
There had been allegations that the bodies of some protesters were dumped at the mortuary after being allegedly killed by soldiers while trying to dislodge them at the toll gate.
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But gaining access to the mortuary was initially tough following a mild standoff between members of the panel and soldiers manning the gate of the military hospital.
The soldiers claimed that they were not aware of their coming and that it was against protocol coming without prior notice.
After initial resistance by the soldiers for about 30 minutes, the panel members were eventually allowed into the premises of the hospital, Thisday reported. The soldiers apparently got approval from their superiors to allow the panel members into the hospital.
While inside, they were conducted round the military facility by General A. I. Taiwo. Surprisingly, no mortuary was found at the facility during the inspection.
General Taiwo disclosed to the panel that the hospital did not have a mortuary.
The panel members were also informed that the hospital had been under renovation in the past one year.
Addressing journalists before they were allowed into the military hospital, a member of the panel, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, said the panel had “confidential information” about the military hospital relevant to the investigation of the Lekki shootings of Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
He said, “We are exercising our mandate on behalf of the governor of Lagos State under the tribunal laws.
“We have already inspected the Lekki toll gate today (yesterday) and we are here to pay an unscheduled visit to the mortuary of the Military Hospital.
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“We have confidential information concerning certain events that took place at the hospital here and we are waiting for them to grant us access to inspect the mortuary because we have reasons to believe that that facility is relevant to our investigation.
“We don’t want to make any conclusions yet until we get access to that mortuary. We have a pathologist with us who is here to help us conduct medical examination of bodies in the mortuary.”
But all the claims by the panel turned out to be a ruse.
Members of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry had earlier visited the Lekki tollgate scene of the shootings where five bullet shells were found.
During the visit, the Managing Director of the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), operators of the tollgate, Mr. Abayomi Omomuwa, who conducted members of the panel round the facility, revealed that the footage of what transpired at the toll plaza on October 20 was intact.
He said a camera on the mast worked until the carnage on Wednesday, October 21, 2020.
He said: “We are yet to carry out our private investigation into the shootings. Yes, we have the footage intact but there has been no investigation or document from us on the shootings.
“We have the toll plaza one and the Lekki toll bridge which is also known as TP3. We have the last location which is around the Chevron area. We don’t collect toll there. It is our main office and that is the Toll Plaza two. This is where the shooting of that day occurred.
The Petroleum Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, has increased the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to N155.17 per litre from N147.67 per litre Punch reports,
The PPMC disclosed this in an internal memo with reference number PPMC/C/MK/003, dated November 11, 2020, and signed by Tijjani Ali.
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The memo, a copy of which was seen by our correspondent, said the new ex-depot price would take effect from Friday.
The ex-depot price is the price at which the product is sold by the PPMC to marketers at the depots.
In its PMS price proposal for November, the PPMC put the landing cost of petrol at N128.89 per litre, up from N119.77 per litre in September/October.
It said the estimated minimum pump price of the product would increase to N161.36 per litre from N153.86 per litre.
The National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Mike Osatuyi, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the over N7 increase in ex-depot price would translate into an increase in pump prices.
“Crude oil price is going up,” he said, noting that the Federal Government has fully deregulated petrol prices.
Following the deregulation of petrol prices in September, marketers across the country adjusted their pump prices to between N158 and N162 per litre to reflect the increase in global oil prices.
Petrol price band had also risen from N121.50–N123.50 per litre in June to N140.80-N143.80 in July and N148-N150 in August.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said in September that the government had stepped back in fixing the price of petrol, adding that market forces and crude oil price would continue to determine the cost of the product.
A parody account of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has given undergraduates seven pieces of advice on how to spend their time because of the union’s indefinite strike.
“Here are 7 ways you can make the most of this period.
1.Intern or get a small-time job
This may be a great time to draft your CV and pitch yourself to employers. Already, there are a couple of opportunities since the announcement of this strike.
2.Join the family business
Some of us have ‘family businesses’. This the business our parents have been doing for some time. It can be a big-time company or a small supermart. Whichever one it is, it’s not a bad idea spending holiday working here. It’s one way to give back and also add to your professional experience.
3. Learn a new skill
I have an engineer friend who makes a living today from graphics design. He learnt it while we were in school. There’s almost no limit to the skills you can learn during holidays. If anything, start with learning basic and intermediate computer operations(if you don’t know that by now). Code schools are also popping up
everywhere so you can join one. You can also join the growing community of Nigerian freelancers and hone your skills.
4. Be active in church or mosque, other groups
Refuse to be an onlooker anywhere you find yourself. Be a part of people who make things work. Join a group in church, your community, and be active in it. These experiences also contribute shaping the person you’ll be in the future.
5. Travel
There’s no harm in travelling if you can afford it. Travelling is also a form of learning. If you happen to have relations scattered around Nigeria and abroad, consider travelling. Life’s too short to not explore more places.
6. Read books
We don’t mean only course-related books. Take up a novel, read a book on investment, study Nigerian history, look up spiritual books. Read far and wide.
7. Have fun
Well, you still have to catch some fun. Plus, it’s perfectly okay to spoil yourself a little. You can binge watch your favourite TV series, play football, go to more events etc etc.
*Story re-edited to reflect that the advice is from an ASUU parody account.
Traders burn 10-year-old boy for allegedly stealing food
A 10-year-old boy, Ifeanyi, was on Saturday thrown into a fire for allegedly stealing a small measure of uncooked rice in a market at Inikiri Benard village, Effium community, in the Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the lad’s mother was late, while his father was mentally-challenged.
A community source said, “The boy was thrown into a fire by two traders who accused him of stealing rice from a shop at the market to cook for himself and his father.”
The Chairman of Human Rights Defenders, Ebonyi State chapter, Mr Sam Nweke, condemned the inhuman act meted out to the kid.
He said, “HURIDE got a call from one Mr George Etamesor, on the grave abuse of this poor boy. This was because he was caught trying to steal some rice in their village market. They tied him up, threw him into the fire in a refuse dump in the market and allowed him to roast like a goat.
“The perpetrators are from the village. After committing this evil and seeing the critical condition of their victim, they still abandoned him to groan to death.
“It took the intervention of sympathisers to rush him to AMURT Hospital in Effium. But due to the severe nature of the injuries, boy was denied treatment. Efforts were thereafter made to take him to the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, where he is currently struggling between life and death.”
Nweke added, “When we inquired from the perpetrators why they went that far in maltreating the boy, they said he had the habit of stealing cassava, yam and others. So this time, they caught him stealing their rice and they decided to teach him a lesson so that he would not come back to steal their food again.
“They said it was not their intention to burn his whole body. They said they only tied him up and after beating him, they tried to roast his toes in the fire, but because he was struggling, he slipped off their hands and fell into the fire and got burnt beyond their expectation. We have reported the incident to the police.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Loveth Odah, said though she was aware of the incident, the police had yet to receive an official complaint on the matter.
She said, “I heard about the ugly incident as a person; it is painful. But the command has not been officially communicated.
“We wanted to arrest those who did this evil thing to the small boy, but the attitude of the human rights group which drew my attention to the incident is not encouraging. The HURIDE people told us that we should not arrest them for now because they want them (the perpetrators) to first take care of the boy’s medical bills in the hospital. I don’t know why they keep doing this.”
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