The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured an order for the final forfeiture of a warehouse allegedly traced to a former top official of the government facing alleged money laundering charges.

Highly placed sources, who spoke in confidence with New Telegraph, said the order was granted on Thursday by Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

According to our sources, the property, which sits on a landed property measuring 1.925 hectares, is situated along the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, Magboro.

It was further learnt the warehouse contains 54 general-purpose steel containers filled with sewing machines of various shapes.

This development comes a few weeks after the anti-graft agency seized a property with 753 duplexes and other apartments located in the Cadastral Zone area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This newspaper gathered that the judge had, on November 28, ordered the interim forfeiture of the assets upon consideration of the Commission’s application for their forfeiture.

One of the sources said: “Following the directive of the court to the EFCC, which is the lead anti-graft agency in the country, to publish the order in two national dailies for any interested person (s) to show cause why a final forfeiture order should not be made, the Commission later approached the court for the final forfeiture of the assets.

“Interestingly, the court also made another order for the forfeiture of the land holding the warehouse to the government”.

On the proceedings leading to the final forfeiture on Thursday, it was gathered that Counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) told the court that the applicant had complied with the court’s directives to publish the assets in two national newspapers.

Placing reliance on Section 44(2) (B) of the constitution, as well as Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006, the learned silk prayed the court to grant the final forfeiture of the assets.

“Justice Dipeolu granted the order, making the forfeiture another milestone in the asset recovery drive of the EFCC”, another dependable source disclosed.

Less than one month after the Port Harcourt Refining Company appeared to have resumed production, the facility has stopped working.

Our correspondent, who visited the refinery on Thursday, December 19, 2024, observed that the lifting of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) had stopped.

It was gathered that lifting of petrol actually stopped since December 13, as the 18-arm loading bay of the new Port Harcourt refinery was empty.

While about 18 trucks littered the stretch of the busy road leading to the refinery itself, nine trucks were spotted inside the parking yard, while the loading bay was empty.

The depot, which is usually a beehive of activities where tankers scramble for space at the parking yard, was a shadow of itself with literally no vehicular or human activity relating to operations.

$1.5bn celebration

Recall that the inauguration of the 60,000 barrel per day production capacity plant by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, was met with celebration and fanfare. This was after $1.5bn was approved in March 2021 and spent on the rehabilitation of the facility.

During the re-opening of the facility, there was lifting of petrol to the excitement of the cheering crowd.

However, less than 10 trucks of petrol were lifted that day as against widespread claims that about 200 trucks carried petrol out of the bay.

Our correspondent also reported that no sooner had Kyari returned to Abuja than things returned to the old way, amidst allegations by stakeholders that the petrol lifted during the inauguration was old stock from the storage tank.

When our correspondent first visited the refinery three weeks ago, it was discovered that the loading bay was deserted without the lifting of products.

In response to the discovery, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria said operations were scaled down due to the calibration of meters at the loading bay and de-watering of the old stock, which had to be emptied to pave the way to receiving newly refined products.

A fortnight ago, tanker drivers drove in and started loading once again.

Journalists were also taken on a guided tour of the refinery, led by its Managing Director, Ibrahim Onoja.

Onoja stated, “The plant is running and we are trucking out our products. We have carried out an extensive revamp of this plant and changed most of the equipment.

“The pump and instrumentation, the cables are all brand new. So what we have done here is massive change and upgrade of the plant.”

Afterward, there was marked improvement as about 11 trucks lifted products, even as it was better the next day.

Back to default

However, when Saturday PUNCH visited on Thursday, it was learnt that production activities stopped one week ago.

A handful of drivers were seen sleeping in their trucks while doing nothing.

One of them, who spoke Hausa, said he learned the lifting of PMS would resume next Monday.

He, however, expressed doubt about the information as he counted the number of days with his fingers and muttered, “Three days; they said they would load on Monday.”

The number of workers and visitors could easily be counted as there were more security men clad in black trousers and blue shirts.

The guards were stationed at the entrance of the depot and the loading bay, and inside the loading bay itself. They kept themselves busy as they chatted away.

Speaking to our correspondent, another truck driver said, “It was Friday last week they loaded last. About 15 trucks or so loaded that day. Since then, not even a single truck has been loaded till now.”

Asked if any explanation was given, he replied, “I don’t know. Nobody is giving us any information or telling us anything. Some trucks that were here have left. I’m just here because my director said I should wait a bit.”

Meanwhile, a petroleum product marketer, Dappa Jubobaraye, has decried the state of refineries in the country.

Jubobaraye alleged that since Kyari inaugurated the plant, no production had taken place, pointing out that everything was just a show.

He stated, “It was intended to deceive Nigerians that the refinery is working and that is why they came up with that show. That day, only about four or five trucks loaded products.

“The loading meter was not calibrated before they started operation. Of the 18 loading arms at the bay only three are working and they have leakages. So, they have been trying to load three, four, five trucks, sometimes 10 just to show that they are working while they are not working.

“Since Mele Kyari came and left, the independent marketers have yet to load products from this depot because the NNPC is yet to fix prices for them to buy tickets and start loading products. They are only loading them to their own mega stations.

“The situation right now is that loading of PMS is not taking place because they don’t have the intention to make this place work. It is just to deceive the people.

“If you come into this place (depot), you will see trucks packed and think that loading is on; but the truth is that they are not working. Some tanker drivers have gone because they can’t come and waste time here.”

He continued, “How can you come here with the hope of loading and you stay here with your truck for two weeks, for what? Before the work stopped last week, they were loading up to 10, 15 but below 20.

“Ordinary one of the arms in the loading bay can load up to 20 to 30 trucks in a day. But for now, they are using only three arms out of the 18 loading arms inside the bay and the three are just for PMS alone. They have not started loading DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel). And kerosene is what concerns the ordinary more.”

Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the NNPC, Femi Soneye, were abortive as he did not take his calls or respond to a text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report.

Zambian police have arrested two men accused of being witch doctors allegedly hired to bewitch President Hakainde Hichilema.

Police arrested the suspects in Lusaka, the capital city, and gave their identities as Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, 42, and Leonard Phiri, 43.

A police statement issued on Friday said “their purported mission was to use charms to harm” Hichilema.

“The suspects were found in possession of assorted charms, including a live chameleon, and are alleged to be practicing witchdoctors,” the statement reads.

The police said the suspects were hired by Nelson Banda, the younger brother of Emmanuel Banda, a member of the parliament.

The MP was reportedly arrested last month in neighbouring Zimbabwe over robbery charges.

Emmanuel denied the charges but has not been seen in public.

He is also accused of having escaped from custody in August while waiting to appear in court.

Police said the suspects were promised K2,000,000 (about $72,166) after the execution of their mission.

The statement added that the suspects would appear in court “soon”.

The court of appeal in Abuja has ordered MTN Nigeria to pay N15 million in damages over the unlawful deduction of a subscriber’s airtime through unsolicited services.

On Friday, the appellate court in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, described as fraudulent, the regular deduction of airtime of customers by the telecommunication giant, for the auto-renewal of services not subscribed to.

According to the court, the sending of unwarranted text messages by the company amounted to a breach of subscribers’ right to privacy under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as the violation of Regulation 28 of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.

The judgement followed an appeal marked: CA/ABJ/CV/137/2022, brought before the court by an aggrieved customer, Ezugwu Anene.

Anene had approached the court, alleging that he received over 244 unsolicited text messages from MTN for ‘weekly guidance and counselling,’ a service he said he did not subscribe to. 

The appealant told the court that from 2016 to 2018, N20 was unlawfully deducted from his airtime balance, each time he received the text message on his mobile telephone line he gave as 08030735301.

Anene alleged that MTN continued to deduct his airtime for ‘caller tune services’ that were imposed on him.

He told the court that the unwanted deductions persisted, even though he protested at the Abuja office of the telecommunication company and also used a code, 2442, which he was told would activate a ‘Do Not Disturb’ service on his line.

Responding, the appeal court agreed that the unsolicited text messages caused the appellant anxiety.

The judge said MTN was likely profiting substantially from the practice, and Nigerians “may not know this”.

“If MTN had sent unsolicited messages to 10 million phones at the time, owned by innocent Nigerians, it would unlawfully enrich itself to over a trillion naira,” the judge said.

The judge, therefore, set aside the N300,000 general damages imposed by the high court.

The court agreed with the high court that the claimant had complained to MTN and made a personal complaint to its customer care team.

It also agreed that the claimant had activated the DND option, but despite the efforts, MTN persisted in sending unsolicited messages.

“In all, I award N15 million in damages in favour of the appellant and against MTN. The appeal succeeds and is allowed,” the judge said.

MTN SAYS ANENE SUBSCRIBED TO SERVICES

On September 22, 2021, at a high court sitting in Abuja, Anene, through his legal team, had sought over N200 million in general damages for the “disturbing unsolicited messages sent to the claimant weekly,” as well as for the “imposition of callertunes on the claimant’s mobile number.”

He told the court that although he subscribed to MTN’s network services, he never signed up for the weekly clarion child guidance, counselling, or caller tune services provided by MTN.

Anene said instead, “the MTN inundated him with a large volume of messages and deducted money from his airtime for unsolicited services from July 2016 to March 21, 2018, at inappropriate hours”.

He added that his refusal to answer calls from certain numbers denied him the opportunity to receive important business calls, while the strange calls were continuously recurring and embarrassing.

On its part, MTN, represented by its staff member Emmanuel Iteade, informed the high court that when a prospective subscriber purchases a SIM starter kit, the prepaid terms and conditions are clearly placed in the kit to allow careful review.

The official said the company did not breach the claimant’s right to privacy or the quiet enjoyment of his airtime and did not make any fraudulent or illegal deductions from his airtime.

“All services complained about by the claimant were subscribed to by him, and the defendant merely debited him for the services,” Iteade said. 

The court awarded N300,000 as general damages but noted that the claimant could not sufficiently prove the assertions about the 88 calls.

Dissatisfied with the N300,000 awarded, the claimant approached the appeal court for redress, arguing that the amount was too low.

MTN’s legal team also cross-appealed, saying the total deductions from the claimant amounted to about N14,000 and that the N300,000 award was generous.

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has narrated how former President Goodluck Jonathan’s political calculations influenced his political journey to the National Assembly and eventually his present office.

Speaking at a service of songs in honour of late Madam Ani-Gunn Rhoda Ikiogha, mother of a former Chief of Staff and Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, in Yenagoa, also attended by Jonathan and his wife, Diri recounted how the former president’s decision altered his political ambition at some point but became a blessing in disguise.

He stated that Ikiogha and himself had been political sons of Jonathan even before he became president and worked together until their political interests failed to align.

“I have come a long way with Chief Ikiogha. We worked together at some point when he was Chief of Staff, Government House and I was Deputy Chief of Staff. We have been in politics over this period mostly working together.

“But there was a time he left me because we had a conflict of interest. We were very clear on what we wanted, and then our leader was in Abuja as president. So we plotted our political graph with the former governor, Senator Dickson, who was our boss here.

“We agreed that I should go to the Senate and Chief Ikiogha to the House of Reps. We even bought our party’s nomination forms. But we knew that our boss in Abuja will have his own agenda, which we cannot stop and can only collapse ours into his plan.

“Eventually the former president came with his agenda and it consumed all of us. We had agenda number two and that was when my friend, Ikiogha, disagreed with me and for the very first time we parted ways.

“That agenda was what paved the way for me to be elected as a member of the House of Reps (in 2015) by virtue of the Senate position being zoned to Yenagoa, and Ikiogha could not get the ticket.“

Diri however noted that Ikiogha contributed greatly to his re-election in 2023 to the point of being a target of the opposition, who attacked his residence because he left their camp to work for him.

He stressed that in all that transpired, the late Ma Ikiogha was a rallying point for her son and his political associates, including those in the opposition, noting that she was always accommodating.

He urged the family to take solace in the fact that she left glowing legacies as a devoted Christian and that her life was being celebrated for touching lives in different ways.

In his tribute, Dr. Jonathan said the late nonagenarian was a mother to him and others that were close to her son.

He recalled that when Bayelsa was first created, she accommodated many who usually traveled from Port Harcourt to Yenagoa in her home.

Jonathan described her as a kind and generous woman, who received him and his close associate, King Amalate Turner, like her blood relations and that she lived such exemplary life until her last days on earth.

The former president equally recounted how after losing the presidential election in 2015, she was so saddened by the outcome that she starved herself of food for days.

He thanked God for sparing her life till the age of 91, adding that her little contribution to society will last the test of time.

In a sermon titled: “And She Died,” a cleric with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Amos Tubogbo, said in life, one might have the impression of living right but was not so in the sight of God.

Pastor Tubogbo noted that unless an individual lives according to the word of God, he or she will not be justified in the end.

The chief mourner, Dr. Ikiogha, appreciated those that identified with his family in their moment of grief, particularly the former president, his family, the state government for its support as well as the RCCG family.

He said his mother was being buried according to her wish to have a church crusade organised in her honour at the Kpansia Primary School field in Yenagoa.

Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the country needs to invest $20 billion annually to achieve the government’s economic targets by 2027.

Edun spoke on Friday during the citizens and stakeholders engagement on the implementation of presidential priorities and ministerial deliverables for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, in Abuja.

The minister said the additional $20 billion per year was required to grow the economy by an average of 6.3 percent in the medium term.

“We need significantly more growth, an additional $20 billion is the target we need for social infrastructure to facilitate logistics for agriculture,” he said.

The minister also said the government would rely primarily on increased revenue to meet the ambitious target.

He said there was a need for a robust tax revenue framework to secure the necessary funding, adding that sustainable economic growth hinged on the strategy. 

“To achieve this target and grow the economy, the government can only secure the funds from revenue,” Edun said.

“Tax revenue needs to be increased to reach the desired levels.”

He said controlling the fiscal deficit and ensuring a stable exchange rate would boost investor confidence.

According to Edun, it will lead to more business activity in the country and increased tax revenue from investments.

“Once the deficit and exchange rate are under control, it will encourage investors to come and do business in Nigeria. In turn, they will pay their taxes,” he said.

Edun further said President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda had been a huge success.

On her part, Doris Uzoka-Anite, minister of state for finance, said the federal ministry of finance, just like every other ministry, has a bilateral engagement with departments and agencies under its supervision to report the ministry’s performance quarterly.

“The two major revenue generating agencies under the supervision of the ministry are the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigeria Custom service,” Uzoka-Anite said.

“They performed above their target and this is highly commendable.”

Uzoka-Anite said all the agencies under the ministry have performed well.

N50TRN BUDGET FOR 2025

Edun said the government projects a N50 trillion budget for 2025, with N35 trillion in expected revenue, nearly doubling 2024 levels.

According to the minister, the plan is to focus on strategic investments and robust reforms.

“To achieve this goal, the government has implemented subsidy reforms, which have stabilized the macroeconomic environment, reducing the fiscal deficit to 4.4 percent and debt service-to-revenue ratio from 149 percent in 2023 to 67 percent,” Edun said.

“Foreign reserves have also grown significantly, reaching $42 billion.

“The plan focuses on several key sectors, including energy, agriculture, industry, and social protection.

“Investments in compressed natural gas, LPG, and renewable energy are accelerating, while efforts to achieve food security include large-scale farming programs.

“Nigeria is also leveraging its digital economy, with startups dominating Africa’s unicorn landscape.”

Edun said with the comprehensive plan, Nigeria is poised to achieve sustainable growth and poverty reduction, improving the quality of life for all Nigerians.

Yakubu Dogara, former speaker of the house of representatives, has criticised northern leaders for failing to develop the region despite decades of political dominance.

Speaking at a town hall meeting for Christian leaders in northern Nigeria on Friday, Dogara said the region remains impoverished due to its leaders’ inability to invest in meaningful projects.

At the event, themed “Church and Society: Tax Reforms and Matters Arising,” Dogara addressed issues surrounding governance and development in the country.

“We are all northerners, and it should be made clear that President Tinubu or the South is not our problem; they have not come to cheat the North,” Dogara said.

“That is out of the question. Some are claiming that Yoruba people are getting appointments, but let’s reflect.

“We ruled this country for over 40 years when northerners were in power. What did we achieve? The North remains the same, impoverished by our own leaders.”

Dogara said the tax reform bills proposed by President Bola Tinubu are designed to bring transformation to the country. 

He urged Nigerians to back the initiative, adding that the president should not be blamed for the current state of the north.

The former speaker also criticised northern governors for failing to utilise resources such as value added tax (VAT) revenue and federal allocations for meaningful development.

Dogara pointed to the Ajaokuta Steel Company as an example of the region’s wasted potential, saying the project, which was near completion, has since deteriorated due to neglect.

“We have had so much, but what did our governors do with the resources? They squandered them instead of investing in meaningful development,” he added.

“The (Ajaokuta Steel Company) project was almost finished, yet it was left to rot.”

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has shut down eight illegal rice shops and a warehouse in Karu LGA of Nasarawa state.

A statement by the agency on Friday said officials  also seized “over 1,600 bags of counterfeit rice worth N5 billion” at Wuse and Garki markets in Abuja.

Kenneth Azikiwe, head of NAFDAC’s FCT directorate and leader of the operation, said the agency’s officials discovered counterfeit rice being repackaged in branded bags.

“Upon receiving these intelligence tips, NAFDAC Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, issued a directive that only safe, quality, and wholesome food products should be available to Nigerians during the yuletide and beyond,” he said.

“She specifically instructed that those counterfeiting popular brands of rice should be arrested and their products removed from the market.

“This act of counterfeiting rice is illegal. Consumers believe they are buying quality products, but the quality is often substandard.”

Azikiwe said after surveillance activities, the agency uncovered facilities where a woman specialised in repackaging popular rice brands for sale to the public.

He said the counterfeiting was only done at night at a warehouse behind the woman’s residential house.

“Once the repackaging is completed, the products are moved to another warehouse during the day for sale to unsuspecting consumers,” he added.

A court of appeal in Kaduna has ruled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) should not impound foreign rice in the open market or on highways.

In a judgment delivered on December 6, a three-member panel of justices led by Ntong Ntong held that existing laws restrict NCS’ enforcement to land borders only.

The judgment was delivered in an appeal filed by the NCS, against a decision of the federal high court that acquitted one Suleiman Mohammed, a businessman, of charges related to the importation of rice.

BACKGROUND

Customs had arrested Mohammed after seizing a truck carrying 613 bags of foreign rice and 80 bags of millet belonging to the businessman on June 14, 2019, along the Kaduna-Zaria expressway.

Mohammed was charged and arraigned on a two-count charge.

However, in a judgment delivered on November 10, 2021, Z. B. Abubakar, trial judge, acquitted the defendants of the charges.

Abubakar held that the plaintiffs (customs) failed to adduce enough evidence to prove that the defendant imported the goods.

The judge also held that there is no subsisting blanket ban on the importation of foreign rice as claimed by the plaintiffs.

“…the evidence led by the prosecution through PW1, PW2, PW3 and the Exhibits tendered has not established that the Defendant imported Exhibit ‘NCS B1-B612’. Even the investigation conducted by the complainant (Nigeria Customs Service Board) on Exhibit ‘NCS B1-B612,” the judge held.

“As a matter of fact, Exhibit ‘NCS D’ could not reveal who imported the said Exhibits or where they imported from.

“It should be borne in mind that importation of foreign rice is not absolutely or totally prohibited. It is only importation of the product through the land borders of this country that was proscribed by the Federal Government vide Circular No. NCS/TXT/1XE/045/S.416/VOL.1X of 18th March, 2016. The circular provided that foreign rice only be imported into the country through seaports.”

The trial judge held that the prosecution failed to show that the goods were imported through land borders, adding that “the said exhibits could have been imported through the seaport, and the court is entitled to presume so”.

Furthermore, the lower court held that “loading any foreign rice into a truck is not an offence under both Sections 46(b) and 47(1) (a) (ii) of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) (Supra)”.

“It is the landing or unloading of goods or foreign rice at designated customs port CA/K/33/C/2022 or wharf that is prohibited by the aforementioned provisions of the Act,” the judge ruled. 

‘APPEAL IS A HOAX’

Aggrieved by the trial court’s judgment, NCS filed an appeal.

However, the appellate court commended the trial court judge for “doing justice in the evaluation of the law and evidence adduced before it”. 

Ntong said he agreed with the arguments put forward by the respondent’s lawyer and the judgment of the trial court.

“Truly, I also agree with the learned trial judge, that Kaduna-Zaria expressway is not a “Land border” as stipulated by the law and Exhibit “NCS D,” the justice held.

“Importation of foreign rice in any wise is not generally prohibited. It is restricted to land borders alone.

“If I were in the shoes of the appellant (NCS), I would have honourably thrown in the towel as this appeal is simply a hoax, a fluke and unmeritorious whatsoever.

“From the evidence in the Record of Appeal, the Respondent was merely a purchaser for value and not an importer. The Appellant ought to have arrested the importer and not a mere purchaser from open market with a receipt of purchase Exhibit NCS D.

“How can a fowl leave to attack who killed it to pursue who is de-feathering it? This is an Annang-African Idiom that means the Appellant ought not to shut its eyes away from the importer and be chasing petty traders and consumers who buy from the open market. After all prohibited or contraband goods always pass through the borders which are the beats of the Appellant.”

Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal in favour of the respondents.

The court further ordered customs to return all the goods seized from the businessman in 2019 or pay him the money equivalent.

“Consequently, the Appellant is hereby ordered to release or cause the release of the 613 bags of foreign rice, 80 bags of millet, Exhibit “C” and DAF truck with Registration Number: 57 BS 45 impounded and confiscated from the Respondent on 14th June, 2019 to the said Respondent Suleiman Mohammed or his representative forthwith,” the judge ruled.

“Where it has become difficult or impossible to return the items aforesaid, the Appellant shall pay to the Respondent a sum of money equivalent to the current price or cost of the items aforementioned.”

An infant’s tiny shoes, a toddler’s pink heels, and a baby girl’s white cap; this was the scene around Islamic High School in Bashorun, Ibadan, Oyo state, 36 hours after a funfair that was meant to be held in the school premises turned tragic and claimed the lives of 35 minors.

The event, organised by Naomi Silekunola, ex-wife of Ooni of Ife, was intended to cater to 5,000 attendees. It received a good promotion, especially on Agidigbo FM, which is said to be the most-listened-to radio station in Ibadan.

The news of a free event with promises of gifts and scholarships spread quickly, and people thronged from far away to attend.

PEOPLE CAME FROM FAR AND NEAR

Idayat Abubakar, a witness, told TheCable that people travelled from as far as Ogbomosho, Iseyin, and Osun state on Tuesday — a day before the event was meant to commence — and camped inside the school, enduring the crisp coldness of the night.

Abubakar, who lives about 4km away, said she had gone to the place on Tuesday evening and interacted with the attendees who had already arrived. She showed the reporter a video of her and the other women in a merry mood, excited about meeting the ex-queen and enjoying the event.

She said as of 10 pm on Tuesday when she left the school, there were already about 2,000 people in the school, “if not more”.

“If you ask why someone like me was there, the event was not for the poor. For me, it was more or less like fun, like we went for a picnic; we had our dishes and lots of snacks for our kids, watched those that would win the scholarship and made posts on social media. I bought new shoes for my baby and made a new hairdo for her, just for the event,” Abubakar said.

She had invited her sister, who lives at Olodo, 12km away from the school, to spend the night at her place so they could arrive at the venue early enough.

“We got there as early as 5 am. When we arrived, I was number 49 in the queue; my sister was number 50. A woman made us take numbers to keep it organised. Some people had been there as early as 3 am, and some people slept there,” noted.

According to her, Oriyomi Hazmat, CEO of Agidigbo FM, had told the attendees that ticket sharing would begin at 6 am. She said Hazmat did not arrive at the venue until a few minutes before 8 am on D-day, and with his arrival came chaos.

She recollected that shortly before Hamzat’s arrival, some buses had dropped even more people off, further expanding the crowd.

‘THERE WAS NO SECURITY TO CONTROL THE CROWD’

“Immediately he got to the scene, people started hailing him. When he saw the crowd, he put his hand on his head. They had to smuggle him inside. While opening the gate for him, people rushed in and started falling on themselves. There was no security, no police,” Abubakar said.

“My younger sister got injured; she was stepped on with her baby. Till now, she has not recovered.

“A lot of us were trapped with our babies. I was backing my baby, and my sister was holding hers. So, when they pushed her, she fell on the floor. She fainted twice, and when I saw her, they were already pouring water on her head. At one point, the baby could not even breathe.

“They opened the walkway gate when the stampede started at the main gate. I was at the front of the gate, so I was able to walk in unhurt.”

Hamzat was said to have tried to manage the crowd from the gate’s entrance but was overwhelmed. Together with the officials he arrived with, they rescued some fallen children.

“When he could not control the crowd anymore, he and his boys had to jump the fence to control people from behind. But at this point, it was already out of control. He started hitting people with a big stick to stop them from falling further on those at the front,” Abubakar said.

“That was when I started hearing different things. We started seeing casualties; people fainted, lost their phones and belongings, and people fell on their children.”

Abubakar’s sister told TheCable that at some point, she had to bite some people to get them off her after she fell.

“People started climbing on our heads. I didn’t even have the energy to help myself, and I was carrying my 2-year-old baby. I was even biting some people because I didn’t have the strength to stand up and rescue myself. My daughter was crying; I was crying, but there was no one to help us,” the sister said.

“Oriyomi started pushing people to leave the road; some were jumping the fence. When I entered, I fainted. People were beating my chest and pouring water to revive me. Little children also fainted, and people were looking for their kids.”

Another witness, who identified as T & K, said the setting-up for the event was yet to be done when the incident happened.

According to him, the trucks bearing the gifts and refreshments could not access the school gate as the crowd blocked it.

He blamed the tragic turn of events on the impatience of the attendees.

When TheCable visited the University College Hospital (UCH), where some of the victims were rushed for medical attention, Funmilayo Adetuyibi, spokesperson for the facility, said five children were brought in dead immediately after the incident.

He said no patients were being tended to at the facility at that time and that relatives of the victims had recovered the corpses.

The security personnel at Best Western Hospital, Bashorun, told the reporter that there were also no victims at the facility. He said the patients brought in had either been discharged or transferred elsewhere.

The Oyo state police command said six people were critically injured and receiving treatment.

It added that Silekunola and seven others were arrested for their role in the event.