NEWS
Lagos State Government and indiscriminate towing of Petroleum Tanker Trucks.
Petroleum Tanker Drivers are lamenting the incessant harassment and extortion by men of LASTMA under the authority of Lagos State Commissioner of Transport and S.A on Transport, Sola Giwa.
The lamentations are coming after a movie- like clamping on the drivers at the Ibeju Lekki area by the men of LASTMA, Lagos State Task Force and some thugs working for them.
According to the drivers, LASTMA officials together with some police officers and thugs arrived the area at the wee hour of Saturday 22nd of February,2025 and started sending them away from their trucks and eventually towed them away.
According to one of the drivers,he says
‘When we try to explain to them that we were not obstructing the road but parked on a single lane as we could not travel at night because of the safety instruction by our union, they started manhandling us’. They shot into the air, shot teargas directly at us and eventually arrested some of us.
The drivers narrated how the state officials put their thugs who are non-tanker drivers to drive loaded trucks at that hour of the night. They do not even care about accidents that may occur in the process.
The drivers wondered why Lagos state government and it’s agencies are always after Petroleum Tanker Drivers. According to them, they pay their taxes, pay for their vehicles documents and make other obligations as a working citizen of Nigeria, so they ask to know why Lagos State in particular is making work difficult for them.
The drivers call on the state governor, Gov Babajide Sanwoolu and the PTD-NUPENG leaders to intervene in the matter and put a stop to the recurrent disruptive acts of the state transport commission and agency.
The drivers further wondered what the Lagos State Government and its Agencies have contributed to support the functionaries of the seaport, refinery, depot and other businesses in the area.
What extra road did they build? What trailer park did they build? What facilities did they provide in that community to make life easy for citizens and workers?
Any vehicle driving from Eleko to the refinery will have to turn back to the same Eleko to exit the road. There is no other link road in the area. God forbid that there is any serious blockage on the road, there is no way out for anybody.
Instead of the Lagos State Commissioner of Transport and Sola Giwa to think of a solution and advise the government to provide an access road for people and businesses in the area, they are busy towing Petroleum Tanker Trucks and imposing E-Call up because of their pockets.
According to one of the drivers,he said he heard from a reliable source that Aliko group proposed to build a 10,000 truck-capacity Park to support his refinery BUT that Lagos State Government dissuaded him from building the park, promising him that they will provide Trailer Park in the axis. Where is the park today? the driver asked.
All they did was to connive with a private consultant to come up with a questionable E-Call up system where they will charge N12,500 per truck for a single loading, money they want to share among themselves.
With the way they are going about it, having seen Petroleum Tanker Trucks as their easy target for fund raising,
they will eventually ask Petroleum Tanker to pay up to N50,000 before they can have access to loading in Lagos State Refinery and depots.
We cannot continue to be extorted like this. We cannot continue to be subjected to this ill treatment and constant humiliation by Lagos State Task Force and LASTMA
We are not criminals, why will they attack us at midnight. What work is LASTMA doing by 2am.
We want the authority to come to our rescue from the hands of this wicked officials.
The family of Chief Samuel Ayodele Adebanjo, revered nationalist, elder statesman, and leader of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has formally announced the funeral arrangements following his passing on February 14, 2025, at the age of 96.A series of events have been planned to honour the life, legacy, and values of the late Pa Ayo Adebanjo — a man widely respected for his lifelong dedication to democracy, Yoruba unity, and national development.In a statement by the chairman of the burial planning committee, Dr. Biodun Shobanjo, on behalf of the family, they expressed their deep gratitude for the outpouring of support and prayers received since his passing and welcomed well-wishers to participate in celebrating the life of their beloved patriarch.The funeral arrangements are as follows:Day of Tributes/Service of Songs Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 || 2 p.m. Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, LagosColour: Shades of GreenWake Friday, May 2nd, 2025 || 4 p.m. Pa Ayo Adebanjo’s Country Home,, Isanya Ogbo, near Ijebu Ode, Ogun StateColour: Alari of GoldChurch Service/Funeral Saturday, May 3rd, 2025 || 10.a.m. St. Phillips Anglican Church, Isanya Ogbo, near Ijebu Ode, Ogun StateColour: Powder Blue Gele/Cap on Ankara or Royal Blue LaceThanksgiving Sunday, May 4th, 2025 || 10.a.m. St. Phillips Anglican Church, Isanya Ogbo, near Ijebu Ode, Ogun StateThe family invites friends, colleagues, political associates, and the general public to join them in paying final respects to a man whose courage, integrity, and unwavering belief in justice left an indelible mark on Nigeria’s political history.Chief Samuel Ayodele Adebanjo, widely known as Chief Ayo Adebanjo or Pa Ayo Adebanjo, was born on the 10th of April, 1928, in Ogun State, in the south-western region of Nigeria. He was born into the family of Joel Adebanjo Adedairo and Salamotu Odubanke. Chief Adebanjo began his public journey as a journalist before proceeding to the United Kingdom to study law. He was called to the English Bar in 1961.His political journey began in 1943 as a member of the Zikist Movement, before joining the youth wing of the Action Group in 1951, where he became a political disciple of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Throughout his life, Chief Adebanjo remained a fearless advocate for democratic governance, true federalism, and Yoruba interests within the Nigerian federation.He will be remembered as a titan of Nigeria’s nationalist struggle and a principled voice in the country’s post-independence political evolution.SIGNED:Mrs. Ayotunde Atteh (nee Ayo-Adebanjo)Mrs. Adeola Azeez (nee Ayo-Adebanjo)Mr. Obafemi Ayo-AdebanjoFor The FamilyApril 24, 2025
Governor Umar Bago of Niger State has declared zero tolerance for rascality even as he has directed security agencies to arrest individuals wearing dreadlocks in Minna, the state capital.
The directive was issued during Tuesday’s high-level stakeholders’ security meeting at the Government House.
Governor Bago instructed security agencies to not only arrest those with dreadlocks but also forcibly shave their hair and impose fines on them.
“We will have zero tolerance for rascality. Anybody that you find with dreadlocks, arrest, barb the hair, and fine him,” Bago declared.
“Nobody should carry any kind of haircut inside Minna. I have given marching orders to security agencies.”
The meeting, attended by security operatives and traditional rulers, focused on clamping down on what the governor described as rising criminality and disorder in the state.
“Parents should warn their children. From this moment, it’s 100% fire-for-fire,” he said. “Also, any house found harbouring criminals should be demolished. Niger State is not for useless people.”
Among other measures announced were restrictions on commercial motorcycles and tricycles, which are now banned from operating between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., except for emergency medical purposes.
The governor also directed traditional and community leaders, including district, village and ward heads, to ensure accurate documentation of all residents in their areas.
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc led by Yetunde Oni, is currently grappling with a massive N9.3 billion fraud following a significant operational system breach, THE WITNESS reports.
The development comes exactly one year and three months after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sacked the bank’s board and entire management, citing governance failures. A new management team was subsequently appointed to lead the financial institution.
Union Bank is battling to recover the sum of N9,329,322,870.00 (nine billion, three hundred and twenty-nine million, three hundred and twenty-two thousand, eight hundred and seventy naira), withdrawn from customers’ accounts without authorization.
In a suit marked FHC/L/CS/629/2025, filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos, seen by THE WITNESS, Union Bank sought a preservative order compelling the financial institutions involved to place Post No Debit restrictions on the accounts of all beneficiaries and to return the stolen funds traced to their institutions.
According to the bank, the fraud followed an operational failure and fraud in its core banking system on March 23, 2025, which led to unauthorized transfers from customers’ accounts.
An affidavit deposed to by Oluwasegun Falola, head of the E-Fraud Investigations Department at Union Bank, stated that the funds were fraudulently and erroneously transferred from the bank to various accounts across 53 financial institutions.
Falola explained that on March 23, 2025, the bank observed that N9.3 billion had been debited from customer accounts and dispersed into various accounts maintained by the respondent banks. He added that Union Bank immediately contacted the banks involved in a bid to halt further dissipation of the funds.
“The Fraud Desk Department of the bank, in the course of its investigations, discovered that the monies were transferred in trickles into several accounts domiciled with the 1st to 54th Respondents,” the affidavit stated.
Union Bank attributed the unauthorized debits to a system glitch and exploitation, which it says enabled the illicit transfers.
“The funds were erroneously and fraudulently transferred from customers’ accounts.
“Upon further investigation, it was found that the funds were subsequently moved from these primary beneficiary accounts to other accounts also held by the respondents.”
The bank disclosed that it had submitted the list of recipient accounts to the respective financial institutions as a preliminary measure to recover any remaining funds
To support its recovery efforts, the bank said its internal audit and legal departments compiled detailed reports tracing the flow of funds and identifying all beneficiary accounts.
When the case was mentioned on April 2, 2025, Union Bank’s counsel, A. Adedoyin-Adeniyi, informed the court that the stolen funds were still being moved.
“₦9.3 billion has been moved from the account, and they are still moving funds. We now have more people involved in moving the funds,” the lawyer told the court.
To support its recovery efforts, the bank said its internal audit and legal departments compiled detailed reports tracing the flow of funds and identifying all beneficiary accounts.
When the case was mentioned on April 2, 2025, Union Bank’s counsel, A. Adedoyin-Adeniyi, informed the court that the stolen funds were still being moved.
“₦9.3 billion has been moved from the account, and they are still moving funds. We now have more people involved in moving the funds,” the lawyer told the court.
In his ruling, Justice Deinde Dipeolu agreed with the submissions and thereafter granted a motion ex parte filed by the bank concerning the unauthorized fund transfers.
“Having reviewed the motion ex parte, the application is hereby granted,” the judge ruled.
The incident has raised broader concerns about the security of Nigeria’s banking infrastructure, especially as interbank transactions continue to increase. Financial analysts suggest that outdated systems and inadequate oversight may be exacerbating vulnerabilities, heightening the risk of fraud and transactional errors.
Union Bank did not respond to THE WITNESS’ inquiries as at press time.
(S) Witnessngr
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