The road lies in wait by Reuben Abati

FRSC Corps Marshal B.O. Oyeyemi

"May we never walk when the road waits, famished" – Wole Soyinka, The Road

Two major road accidents in the last week brought to the fore again the dangers that lie in wait on Nigerian roads.  The Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James Ocholi, SAN, his wife and son lost their lives in a vehicle accident that occurred on the Kaduna- Abuja road, when their Lexus SUV vehicle somersaulted, following a burst tyre and the driver's loss of control.  There was also the death on the Maiduguri-Damaturu road of Major-General Yasha'u Abubakar of the Training and Operations Department of the Nigerian Army. Both accidents have been a source of enormous grief, perhaps because of the status of the persons involved, but the truth is that Nigerian roads are treacherous and deceitful, marked as they are everyday, by a harvest of deaths and sorrow.

      To report that the state of the roads is bad is to proclaim the notoriously obvious, and to say that more people die every minute on our roads is to iterate that the road in Nigeria is no respecter of persons or class. In its annual reports, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has tried to identify the primary and secondary causes of road accidents, and in the current Ocholi case, it has offered a preliminary report, which reinforces the notion about every death being in the long run, a revelatory comment on man's existential crisis.

How Nyanya blast was planned, executed — DSS

Abuja— Four weeks after the Nyanya bomb blast that claimed 74 lives and injured many others, the identities of the masterminds of the blast were made public by the Department of State Services, DSS, yesterday.

Parading the suspects at its headquarters in Abuja, DSS Deputy Director of Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar, announced that the bombing was masterminded by one Rufai Abubakar Tsiga, described as a Boko Haram leader and assisted by one Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, an army deserter and son of a retired Nigerian Army officer.
Ogar, who was flanked by the Defence, military and police spokesmen during the briefing, said the two men, who were now at large, hatched and carried out the bombing of the busy transport terminal on April 14.
The DSS said it was Tisga and one Muhammadu Sani Ishaq, who moved the explosive-laden vehicle to Nyanya bus station on the night of April 13, while Tsiga personally drove the vehicle to the actual position in which he detonated the bomb the following morning.

Nyanya bombing: DSS arrests five, declares two wanted

Ahmad Abubakar (aka Abu Ibrahim/Maiturare),
Mohammed Ishaq,Yau Saidu (aka Kotar Rama),
Anas Isah and Adamu Yusuf

THE Department of State Service has arrested five  persons  in connection with the April 14, 2014 bomb blast at the El-Rufai Motor Park, Nyanya  in Abuja.

 The   suspects  are  Ahmad Abubakar (aka Abu Ibrahim/Maiturare), Mohammed Ishaq,   Yau Saidu (aka Kotar Rama), Anas Isah and Adamu Yusuf.

The  DSS Deputy Director, Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar,  who paraded the suspects in Abuja  on Monday,  said the masterminds of the blast, Rufai Tsiga (aka Dr. Tsiga), and a military deserter, Aminu  Ogwuche, had been declared wanted.

PRESIDENT JONATHAN's REMARKS AT THE WEFA OPENING PLENARY SESSION

PRESIDENT GOOLUCK JONATHAN ADDRESSING JOURNALISTS
AFTER THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ON AFRICA IN ABUJA
ON FRIDAY (9/5/14)

Opening Remarks
by Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
At the World Economic Forum Opening Plenary Session,
May 8, 2014
PROTOCOLS
1.   As this is the first plenary session of this Conference, let me use this opportunity to welcome you all to Abuja for this gathering of the World Economic Forum. Nigeria is proud to host this event, the first time the Forum is coming to West Africa. We wish you a fruitful conference and a productive stay in our beautiful capital, Abuja.

Security Agencies Seek Road Users’ Understanding Over Abuja Traffic Gridlock

The Ministry of Defence in Nigeria says the traffic gridlock on Nyanya-Abuja highway experienced by road users is in the overall best interest of the public and necessitated by the emerging security threats.
After a bomb attack last week Monday at Nyanya Motor Park, about 16 kilometres to Abuja, the Federal Capital territory was put on red alert, resulting in the check of vehicles coming into the city from that direction.

10-month-old baby reunites with ‘missing’ mother in hospital

A 10-month-old baby simply identified as Goodness, who was rescued from the scene of the Monday bomb blast in Nyanya near Abuja,  has been reunited with her mother in hospital.

Goodness was separated from her mother, Gloria Adams, who was presumed dead in the explosion.

Before she was taken from the Asokoro Hospital to the Wuse General Hospital where her mother is receiving treatment in  the Intensive Care Unit, Goodness spent Tuesday morning sleeping.

Sorrow, tears as Abuja blast kills 89

A bomb attack by suspected Boko Haram members on a crowded motor park in Nyanya on Monday threw the Federal Capital Territory    into confusion.

Although security agencies put the number of the dead and the injured at 71 and 124 respectively, independent findings by our correspondents showed that at least 89 people, including three bombers died.

Two hundred and fifty seven others sustained various degrees of injury.

It was gathered that five luxury buses in the park were fully loaded when the blast occurred.

B’Haram crisis temporary, says Jonathan

Jonathan was initially billed to attend the centenary birthday service of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Odulana Odugade. President Goodluck Jonathan,  who cancelled his planned trip to Ibadan, Oyo State, visited the scene of the explosion amidst tight security. He  arrived the scene at 12.20am with the President of the Senate, David Mark, and the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’Azu. Security chiefs, led by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.), who arrived ahead, briefed the President  and showed him the spot, where the bomb was detonated.

Boko Haram kills scores in Abuja motor park bombing

Scores of people were killed and maimed as an early morning bomb explosion rocked a motor park in Nyanya area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Monday.

Nyanya is a satellite town bordering the FCT and Nasarawa State.

The explosion reportedly occurred in a section of the park allocated to luxury buses popularly called “El-Rufa’i buses.”

Worst hit was the area where vehicles plying Abuja-Ilorin-Kabba were parked.

Workers on their way to their workplaces were most affected.

An eyewitness, who survived with a deep cut in his right leg, told our correspondent that the explosion occurred while he was calling passengers into his car.

He claimed that human flesh littered his car and others around it.

A combined team of security agencies and fire fighters are currently retrieving bodies and putting out fire at the scene.

The incident had led to disruption of movement into Abuja from that area with many workers, who were on their ways to work, stranded.

The loud sound and thick smoke that characterised the explosion attracted people to the scene from neighbouring areas such as Karu, Mararaba and Masaka among others.

Source: Punchng

FCT Administration Completes Lower Usuma Dam Water Project

Bala Mohammed

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed,  has announced the completion of the multi-billion naira Phases III and IV Water Treatment Plants at the Lower Usuma Dam, Bwari, Abuja, which was awarded by the FCT Administration on November, 2011.

Mohammed who stated this  Tuesday as one of the highpoint of the Bi-Monthly FCT Operations Briefing Session at the Banquet Hall, FCT Minister’s Residence, Abuja, noted that its is line with the Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government and the promise made to the residents of the Nation's Capital.
The Minister disclosed that the FCTA has already linked these Water Treatment Plants to the existing Phases 1 & 2 Water Treatment Plants being used by the entire 250 Square kilometers of the Federal Capital City, Abuja as well as some of its suburbs.
Source: This Day

PHOTOS: INAUGURATION OF LOWER USUMA DAM WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN ABUJA

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN CUTTING THE TAPE TO INAUGURATE THE PHASE 3 AND 4 (20 MILLION LITRES/HR) LOWER USUMA DAM WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (10/4/14). WITH HIM ARE: FROM LEFT: CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON POWER, SEN PHILIP ADUDA; FCT MINISTER, SEN BALA MOHAMMED AND FCT MINISTER OF STATE, OLOYE OLAJUMOKE AKINJIDE

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN CUTTING THE TAPE TO INAUGURATE THE PHASE 3 AND 4 (20 MILLION LITRES/HR) LOWER USUMA DAM WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN ABUJA ON THURSDAY (10/4/14). WITH HIM ARE: FROM LEFT: CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON POWER, SEN PHILIP ADUDA; FCT MINISTER, SEN BALA MOHAMMED AND FCT MINISTER OF STATE, OLOYE OLAJUMOKE AKINJIDE

Apo killings: NHRC indicts Army, DSS

The  building where the suspected Boko Haram members were killed

ABUJA — The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, yesterday, said its investigations revealed that eight persons that were killed by a joint team of the Nigerian Army and operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, at an uncompleted building situated at the Apo District of the Federal Capital Territory on September 20, 2013, were not members of the Boko Haram Islamic sect as was alleged by security agencies.
In a report it released yesterday, the commission, which had earlier conducted a public hearing on the matter, said there was no shred of evidence to show that the deceased victims belonged to the dreaded Jama’atu ahlus sunnah lid da’awati wal jihad, also known as Boko Haram.
*SSS Raid Boko Haram in Abuja: Uncompleted building where Boko Haram members reside  behind Apo Legislative Quarter in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan .
The  building where the suspected Boko Haram members were killed.

Address by His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR At the First African Legislative Summit, Abuja

Address by

His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR

At the

First African Legislative Summit, Abuja

Monday 11th November, 2013

PROTOCOLS
1.            On behalf of the Government and People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I warmly welcome you all - our highly esteemed guests and distinguished parliamentarians from across Africa and beyond, to Abuja, for this very important First African Legislative Summit.