Three police officers die in Ebonyi road accident Three police officers in Ebonyi State died on Wednesday in a road accident at the Isieke Junction on Abakaliki-Enugu Highway. The Commissioner of Police in the State, Garba Aliyu, who confirmed the incident to journalists, said 10 other police officers sustained injuries in the accident. Mr Aliyu said the accident occurred while the officers were returning from a “peace-keeping mission” after a communal crisis in Ezza-Effium, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state, the police commissioner said. A leadership tussle among members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the two communities degenerated into a communal crisis recently.
# The Soun of Ogbomosoland, Oba Oladunni Oyewumi, has hailed the President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the establishment of Federal Polytechnic in Ayede, Ogbomoso. The monarch also lauded the President for approving a take-off grant of N2 billion Naira for the new institution. Oba Oyewumi in a statement on Wednesday called on the host community to give the institution the maximum support it requires for its smooth take off. He also lauded Governor Seyi Makinde; the Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Dare Sunday and other stakeholders#.
The Oworonshoki bound lane of the Third Mainland Bridge will be closed totally to vehicular movement by midnight on Saturday, February 6th till 7pm on Sunday, February 7th to remove the last expansion joint on the Oworonshoki bound lane. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Transportation on Wednesday, the closure is vital to enable the contractor move its equipment to the Oworonshoki bound lane within the given period without any interruption. The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, said Motorists from Ogudu, Alapere and Gbagada were advised to use Ikorodu Road, Jibowu and Yaba as alternative routes, while Iyana Oworosoki bound traffic from the Lagos Island, Iddo, Oyingbo, Adekunle and Yaba should use Herbert Macaulay Way, Jibowu and Ikorodu road as alternative routes#.
The Nigerian Communications Commission on Wednesday said it was working seriously to activate Emergency Communication Centres in states where the facilities were currently non-existent. It also stated that state governments had been calling on the commission to establish the centres in their states, as this was in recognition of the significance of the facilities. NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Umar Danbatta, stated this while receiving two international recognitions which the commission got from the International Public Relations Association and the African Public Relations Association. Danbatta noted that with 19 ECC’s already established in 18 states of the federation and Abuja, the centres played vital roles during emergencies as they facilitated responses from emergency response agencies whenever 112 was dialled from any network. He outlined the response agencies to include the Nigerian Police Force, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, fire and ambulance services and the National Emergency Management Agency. The NCC boss was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja by the commission’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Adinde, as saying, “Because of the recognition of the important role the ECC is playing in states where we have activated them, many states are asking us to come and activate their ECCs.
# The pioneer Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, on Wednesday, described the decision of the Mai Mala Buni-led National Caretaker Committee to embark on a fresh membership registration as an aberration. He also advised the committee to resist the temptation of falling for the sit-tight syndrome which he noted usually characterized most “handpicked authorities in most underdeveloped countries of the world. Akande said this while receiving in audience members of the Governor Abubakar Bello-led APC Membership Registration/Revalidation team at his country home in Ila, Oragun, in Osun State.
