₦airaland Forum

The body and luggage scanners at the National Assembly Complex entrances have stopped working.

The equipment stopped functioning during the parliament’s two-month annual recess, our correspondent learnt.

Our correspondent observed that while the body scanners have since ceased to function, the luggage scanners stopped working before the House of Representatives resumed on September 17 and the Senate a week later.


Before the devices broke down, persons except the lawmakers and their aides were usually asked to pass through the body scanners, dropping their bags and other items on the luggage scanners for security checks.

However, workers and guests entering the building now do so freely without checks. The two aluminium bars placed at the point where items are dropped on the devices indicate they are not available for use.

There is a pair of body and luggage scanners at each of the two entrances to the White House section of the complex, which houses the Senate and House of Representatives chambers.


Scanners are also placed at the three other entrances to the building, one at the Senate’s New Wing and two at the House’s New Wing.

As of Friday, our correspondent observed that these other scanners were not working, though it could not be confirmed if they had also become faulty.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari is billed to present the 2020 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Vehicles abandoned on the premises

Several abandoned superbikes of the BMW brands used for escorting presiding officers are on the premises of the Annex building.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly has acquired 10 new ones. The superbikes, of the BMW R1200RT/R1250RT series, were parked close to the Senate’s New Wing, close to where Senate’s presiding and principal officers park their vehicles.

Also on the Annex premises, opposite the Federal Fire Service office are 12 new electric tow tractors and golf cars (also known as golf buggy) of different sizes and models covered in dust.

Some Toyota Coaster buses were also abandoned at a space between the National Assembly Complex and the Annex.

The Director of Information, National Assembly, Mr Rawlings Agada, who spoke to our correspondent on Monday, said he was not aware that the scanners had not been working.

He said, “I think the equipment has a lifespan. What we should consider is that the poor performance of this year’s budget is affecting everybody. Most of these equipment you are talking about, we don’t have the money to maintain them.

“The body scanners should be upgraded from time to time. The software of some of the machines has to be upgraded and it takes time. And you cannot call anybody on the streets to come and service those things; they are under the supervision of the security agencies.”

Agada also said since the devices were being manned by security officials, they might have reported the development to the maintenance department.

A body scanner

He added, “But I know that these things are what the management and the leadership (presiding officers) are talking about when they were putting out their concerns about the need for them to upgrade most of the facilities we have here. They are within the contemplation of the management. It has been reported that the management and the leadership met and talked about the facilities.

“There are so many things that are not in place, and like we keep saying, most of the things you see that we do there are from the little budget that is available to the management. Those things are manned by the security officials. With this observation (by our correspondent), maybe they are being prepared for maintenance, but I will find out; I have to get my facts right.”

Speaking on the abandoned superbikes, the director said they were not serviceable. While admitting that the motorcycles were expensive, he said they would remain there until they were auctioned.

Agada said, “We don’t have any other space to keep those things. By regulation, you cannot just throw them away. What is done most of the time is that they are either sold through auction to people who can fix them – and they are very expensive.

“I know that some of the machines (superbikes) started with the National Assembly (in 1999). Some of them were involved in accidents while some of them broke down. Most of those that are not serviceable are kept there and if they are not auctioned, they will remain there.”


The director, however, said the electric vehicles on the premises were displayed by a firm that sought a contract from the National Assembly.

He said, “Those things have been there for over three or four years. Yes, they are new. But if a contractor comes with an item that they want to sell and you don’t have the money to buy it, what happens? The best is to give it back. I heard, I cannot confirm, that a contractor brought the vehicles for display but they didn’t buy them, and they were left there.”

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on July 1 when the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, visited him in his office, lamented the level of infrastructural decay at the National Assembly Complex.

He said, “Part of the sundry list again is that we are going to be asking that we hand over the maintenance of this building to the Federal Capital Territory because as it is today, the building is almost collapsing. The maintenance is at zero level and that is because those who are supposed to maintain it, funding has been a bit of a problem.

“So, we believe it should be handed over to the FCT where it will be a lot easier for them to maintain it.”

The PUNCH reported on December 9, 2018 and January 11, 2019, how security officials lamented the failure of the Closed Circuit Television cameras to capture the thieves who stole vehicles or vandalised some.

For me taking my child to a government school was not only a commitment I made but a clear expression that I have enough confidence in the quality of our public schools for my child to attend.

“We have already given directives that all the staff of our Ministry of Education who are in charge of managing our education system must have their own children in government schools,’’El-Rufai said

Four persons reportedly died in clashes between two rival cults in the Odogunyan area of Ikorodu and Itire in Lagos State on Friday and Saturday.

In Odogunyan, it was learnt that three persons were killed around the Power Line area, near the First Gate.

A tricycle rider was said to have been hit in the arms by bullets from the hoodlums.

A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she did not know what triggered the clash between members of the Aiye and Eiye confraternities, but noted that the area was under siege for the period the clash lasted.

Another source told one of our correspondents that the fight had not ended as both groups had vowed to deal with each other.

The source stated, “The fight has not ended. On Saturday, the police and local vigilantes in the area recovered three bodies. Many of the Aiye and Eiye members were arrested on Saturday in connection with the killings and the unrest in the area.

“About 74 of the cult members have been arrested and are being detained at the Sagamu Road Police Station, Ikorodu, since the crisis started. A police source told me that the operation is continuing as many of the cult members are being picked up daily.

“The operation is being carried out by the police and the Onyabo local vigilante group. Since the crisis started, about 14 persons have been killed. But those killed on Friday were three.”

In the Itire area of the state, a suspected cultist, Aliu Lamidi, was reportedly stabbed to death by a member of a rival group during a supremacy battle on Saturday.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the clash between members of the Aiye and Eiye confraternities also led to the burning of three vehicles and escalated tension in the area.

Man sentenced to death for killing APC chieftain
It was gathered that Lamidi was stabbed in the neck allegedly by the son of the owner of a hotel in the area during an argument that broke out between members of the rival cults, who were said to be drinking at a bar in the hotel.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said in a statement on Sunday that the suspect, who stabbed Lamidi, absconded after perpetrating the crime, adding that the victim died while being rushed to hospital.

He stated that 10 suspects had been arrested in connection with the crime, adding that men of the command had been deployed to restore normalcy in the area.

Elkana said, “On Saturday, September 21, 2019, around 10.50pm, the police received a distress call about a fire outbreak at the Chukwuma Hotel by Babashola Street, Itire. A combined team of policemen and firefighters were mobilised to the scene. The fire was eventually extinguished. Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was ignited by some members of the Eiye and Aiye confraternities, who clashed at a bar in the hotel.

“Trouble started around 10pm when an argument ensued between members of the two rival gangs at the bar. The son of the owner of the hotel, who is now at large, was said to have stabbed a member of a rival gang, Aliu Lamidi, 29, in the neck. The victim was rushed to hospital where he eventually died.

“Three vehicles that were parked by the roadside were also burnt. Ten suspects were arrested in connection with the incident. Security has been beefed up in the affected area. Investigation is ongoing and the suspects will be charged.”

In another development, a pastor, David Daniel, has been arrested for sexually assaulting a woman under the pretext of delivering her from spiritual problems in the Ejigbo area of the state.

Daniel

Elkana said Daniel, during a visit to the victim’s shop, claimed that she had spiritual problems and sexually assaulted her while delivering her at her residence.

The PPRO stated, “On Tuesday, September 17, 2019, around 8.45pm, the victim, a resident of No. 31 Olarenwaju Street, Ejigbo, Lagos, reported at the Ejigbo Police Station that one David Daniel, 41, came to her shop at No. 2 Ailegun Road, Ejigbo, under the pretext of being a prophet sent to her by God. Daniel claimed that he saw a vision that she was having spiritual problems and fibroid would grow in her womb in the future.

“He collected N3,050 from her and a bottle of perfume worth N1,000 for the spiritual cleansing. She stated further that the suspect followed her to her house and ordered her to remove her clothes for him to rob anointing oil on her buttocks. She became apprehensive when she noticed that the suspect was masturbating when robbing the anointing oil on her buttocks. The suspect was arrested and charged for indecent assault and was remanded in the Kirikiri Prison.”

In another development, personnel from the Traffic Division of the Ejigbo Police Division have arrested two suspects, Gift Michael and Nkem Douglas, for selling babies in the state.

According to Elkana, Douglas, who is an unregistered nurse, runs a maternity, Flofidel Clinic and Maternity Homes, at two locations in the state, and was arrested alongside Michael, when an angry mob, who were suspicious of their activities, found a newborn baby in their possession.

He said, “On Monday, August 26, 2019, around 3.30pm, a police officer attached to the Motor Traffic Division of the Ejigbo Police Division, while controlling traffic at the Jakande Estate gate, noticed a sort of commotion close to her traffic point. She intervened and discovered that a woman, Gift Michael, 24, was found with a suspected newborn baby. In her company was her madam, Florence Douglas, 50, both of the Ijegun area of Isheri.

“They were about to be mobbed due to the alarm raised by those, who had been trailing them from their residence in Ijegun, as the whole community had been suspecting them for being in the business of buying and selling of babies at the clinic.”

Elkana said during interrogation, Douglas confessed that the baby found in their possession was brought from Gombe State, adding that they were on their way to Akure, Ondo State, to sell the baby for N500,000 when they were accosted by the mob.

He said, “Investigation revealed that Florence Douglas, a native of Igueben in Edo State, who is not a registered nurse, operates two maternity clinics, Flofidel Clinic and Maternity Homes, with branches at No. I82 Shosanya Street, Ijegun Road, and Okunola Ijagemo area of the state. On interrogation, Florence admitted to have been in the business of selling babies for a while and that a baby girl was referred to as ‘Pink’, while a baby boy was called ‘Blue’, with both sexes were being referred to as ‘Market’.

“The rescued baby, who appeared sick with symptoms of jaundice, was promptly taken to hospital for medical attention. Worthy of mention are pictures of about 50 different babies on the phones of the suspects, who were suspected to have already been sold off. Babies are usually sold for between N500,000 and N1m, depending on their sex.”

In a related development, two suspected armed robbers, Seyi Ogundele and Ogunmola Akintola, have been arrested by men of the Ejigbo Police Division for robbing residents of the area of their valuables.

Elkana said the suspects were arrested during a raid on their hideout at Coker junction, Ejigbo, adding that Ogundele and Akintola would be charged.