BusinessDay 18 Feb 2018

Sunday 18 February 2018 C002D5556
BD SUNDAY
News
‘Private sector investment will strengthen competitiveness of next generation youths’
KELECHI EWUZIE
Deepak Singhal,
Managing
Director/
CEO, Dufil
Prima Foods
Plc, say private sector
involvement in education is
to complement the efforts of
the government in providing
necessary educational tools.
Singhal who was
represented by Tope
Ashiwaju, Group Public
Relations and Events
Manager, at the donation
of full science laboratory
equipment to Iganmode
High School, Ota, Ogun
State said the gesture
is the main thrust of the
company’s corporate social
responsibility activities.
He said investment
such as this will enhance
learning especially in
the area of science and
technical education and
that the company will look
at other social investment
opportunities that the
community can reap
benefits from.
Ashiwaju urged the
teachers to ensure they
utilise the laboratory
equipment effectively
to teach and improve
performance of the
students in science subjects,
especially in their West
African Senior Secondary
Certificate Examination
(WASCE) and the National
Examination Council
(NECO) exams.
Mayor Hakeem Amodu,
Chairman of The Parents
Teachers Association (PTA),
Iganmode High School
responding on behalf of
the parents, commended
Dufil Prima Foods for the
donation. He urged parents
to ensure they groom their
children well to take full
advantage of the science
laboratory equipment for
their advancement and
to ensure that Ota as a
community produces more
graduate students in science.
On his part, Olalekan
Akinosi, principal of
the school expressed
appreciation to the company
for the donations which will
go a long way in changing the
face of the school.
According to him,
government cannot
shoulder the responsibility
of the education sector alone
and requires the support of
responsible organisations
like Dufil.
Residents recount ordeal ...
Meanwhile industry
experts insist that
continuous investment by
private sector in educational
development is the best
solution for Nigeria if it hopes
L-R: Folakemi Fatogbe, director, Risk Management, Central Bank of Nigeria; Victor Gbolade Osibodu, chairman,
Benin Electricity Distribution PLC (BEDC); Funke Osibodu, chief executive officer, BEDC; and Michael
Ade-Ojo, founder, Elizade University, at the graduation ceremony of Graduate Trainees and Technician
Trainees Programmes held in Benin City… Friday.
7
to grow the next generation
of globally competitive
youth population.
Continued on Page 1
it was not so late into the
night. She was relaxed.
But just after the Army
Signals Barracks approaching
Mile Two Bridge, the
story changed. Her car
drove past an apparently
abandoned vehicle on the
service lane. In front of the
vehicle was a similarly abandoned
motorcycle lying
half onto the road. Then
in front of the motorcycle
were two vehicles. They
created the picture of a
collision scene, and they
were almost blocking the
entire road leaving little
or no space for oncoming
vehicles to pass. There was
intense traffic.
Seeing there was no easy
way of manoeuvring out of
the situation, Ese asked her
driver to engage the reverse
gear. Just then, orders were
barked at them from all
directions.
“Stop there! Wind down!”
The voices must have
sounded like a thousand
demons inside her head.
She was in shock.
“I immediately hid my
bag. My driver had his salary
that I had just paid him and
was determined not to let it
go,” she recounted.
“Our resistance was followed
with a deafening
sound. It was the crash of
glasses as splinters flew
around. The car windows
were gone, alongside some
of my personal belongings,
my driver’s salary, my wallet
which contained very important
business contacts
and identity cards,” she narrated
to BDSUNDAY.
The robbery was over
as quickly as it had begun.
Everything happened in a
flash.
“My plea to have back my
wallet was met with a growl
from a deep, frightening
voice: ‘I will stab you o! You
no dey fear?’” Ese said.
Ese’s experience is becoming
a common story on
Lagos roads in recent times,
adding to the city’s not-sopalatable
record as the third
worst city to drive in, with
60 percent congestion and
10.70mph average speed,
according to Forbes.
It seems that after years
of commendation for its
relative safety, Lagos is back
to the old days of violent
attacks and traffic armed
robbery, with Mile Two,
Obalende and CMS topping
black spots. These robbers
target mainly women
and family cars. Each new
case seems more daring
and violent than the one
before it.
John Obi, another victim
of a similar attack, told
BDSUNDAY that he was
returning home from a function
with his young family
when they were attacked at
CMS on Lagos Island.
Narrating his experience,
Obi, who said his sixyear-old
daughter is still
frightened, said he had just
wound down in traffic to
buy water for his son who
was sitting at the backseat
when two young men
showed up and ordered
them to hand over all their
valuables.
“I pleaded with them to
please avoid pointing the
knife to my family, but they
barked out orders endlessly
and sped away after collecting
my phones and those of
my wife,” he said.
Another Lagosian, who
gave his name simply as
Cosmas, said he had experienced
a similar robbery
operation on the Oshodi-
Oke Bridge.
Just last Friday, one of
the guests at a business
luncheon in Victoria Island
narrated how he was
dispossessed of his valuables
at about 6.00 p.m. on
Ozumba Mbadiwe Road
while stuck in a traffic jam.
In the presence of his driver,
a man pointed a gun at him
and made away with his
phones.
“Just like that, in broad
daylight. It was like a film
scene,” he narrated to his
friends who related the
story to our correspondent.
At about 9.30 p.m. last
Wednesday, two men on
an unpainted taxi were attacked
by robbers, leaving
one of them dead. The
driver of the cab who ran
to seek for help in a nearby
house narrated his encounter.
“Two men boarded my
taxi at a location on Apapa-
Oshodi Expressway. On
reaching Five Star Bus Stop,
some armed men in a Mercedes
Benz car blocked my
vehicle and ordered that
I should stop. They came
out from their vehicle and
searched me. They later
shot at the two men at the
back. The one shot at the
chest died immediately. The
other passenger survived.
The robbers snatched their
bags and disappeared,” the
driver narrated.
At the same spot about
a month ago, an employee
in one of the companies
along the expressway was
attacked and robbed of his
personal effects, including
the meat he bought for his
family.
At Toyota Bus Stop along
Apapa-Oshodi Expressway,
which the State Police
Command has added to
its list of “black spots” in
the metropolis for intense
surveillance, robbers take
advantage of the darkness
to attack and rob the residents.
“The robbers come out
from about 7.30 p.m. to
rob commuters who wait
to board buses to different
destinations. Sometimes,
if you are crossing the expressway
to the other side,
they also cross to meet
you,” said Uche Nwogu, a
victim.
“When they observe that
the number of passengers
has thinned down, some
three or more would surround
the passengers and
rob,” he said.
There are other sets of
robbers who go on motorcycles,
otherwise called
Okada, to rob.
“Whenever they are operating,
you see two sitting
as passengers. They
operate around Toyota to
7 & 8 Bus Stop on Murtala
Muhammed International
Airport Road at about 8.00
p.m. They trail their victims
before robbing. Nobody
is safe,” said a resident of
the area who preferred
anonymity.
A customer who parked
in front of a telecommunications
company around
Five Star in broad daylight
was shocked to see four
men surround his vehicle.
His friend who was seeing
him off threatened to harm
the hoodlums. As they leapt
back, he tapped the friend’s
car. The friend understood
the language and sped off.
Nwogu called on government
to provide streetlights
along the area as the place
is usually too dark at night.
Police response
Chike Oti, an assistant
superintendent of police
and the Lagos State Police
spokesman, confirmed to
BDSUNDAY that the police
are aware of the return of
robbery on Lagos roads.
He, however, promised that
the police are on top of the
situation.
“It is not only traffic robbery;
the police remain
committed in making Lagos
safe,” Oti said.
“We have increased
patrols and surveillance
across the state. One of
such places is Third Mainland
Bridge, where we have
our men stationed right at
the middle of the bridge
24/7 to forestall attacks.
A number of arrests have
been recorded,” he said.
While acknowledging
that the ongoing expansion
and reconstruction work on
Lagos-Badagry Expressway
has made the area a black
spot, Oti promised Lagosians
that the police are fully
committed to making the
axis and other areas safe.