₦airaland Forum

wonder233:
Why can't Nigeria sometimes wear this white-on-green as a jersey? Not everytime the boring green-on-green

Nigerian crime kingpin held

2003-10-19 12:08

Lagos - A suspected head of a cross-border criminal empire detained in Nigeria has been making some startling revelations that could help tackle crimes along Nigeria-Benin border, President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Saturday.

Amani Tidjani, a national of Niger, the alleged mastermind of a smuggling and robbery ring that operates between the two neighbouring countries has been making some "fantastic and unbelievable revelations" about cross-border crimes, Obasanjo said during a live interview on Radio Nigeria in Abuja.

Since the arrest, detention and interrogation of Tidjani, "cases of car-snatching and border crimes have drastically reduced" in Nigeria and along its border with Benin, he said in the interview.

Obasanjo did not give details of Tidjani's "revelations".

But Nigeria's oldest private newspaper, The Nigerian Tribune, reported on its front page on Saturday that the suspected robbery kingpin has implicated a lot of Nigerians and Beninese in his "revelations" during police interrogations.

"Tidjani is making very useful statements. Many people in this country and Benin have been implicated," inspector general of police, Tafa Balogun, told the newspaper.

The interview did not reveal the identities of those implicated by Tidjani.

Benin has returned 100 stolen "exotic" cars stolen from Nigeria, the Nigerian police said Friday in an official statement.

The return of these cars was part of an agreement on cross-border crimes reached at talks last August between Presidents Obasanjo and Mathieu Kerekou.

Tidjani has been at the centre of a recent diplomatic spat between Nigeria and Benin.

He was arrested on September 11 by police in Mali and extradited to Benin from where he was handed over to Nigeria last September 25.

He was arrested in Benin in July but was later released. Infuriated, Nigeria closed the two countries' common border on August 9.

The border was reopened a week later following the meeting between Kerekou and Obasanjo during which the two countries pledged greater co-operation in fighting bandits and smugglers who roam the border area.

Border closed to curb banditry and smuggling

10 August 2003
LAGOS

Nigeria closed its western border with Benin on Sunday and said it would remain shut until the Beninois government took tougher action against rampant smuggling and banditry along the 700 km-long frontier.

Thousands of travellers were stranded at the main border crossing at Seme, 60 km west of Lagos, after President Olusegun Obasanjo's government ordered the border gates to be shut. However, eyewitnesses said cars with diplomatic plates were still being allowed through.

Nigeria's surprise action effectively cut the main highway along the coast of West Africa that is used to exchange goods between countries as far apart as Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon.

The Nigerian foreign ministry said in a statement the border would remain closed until Benin's President Mathieu Kerekou took firmer action against smuggling and banditry.

For years cars stolen in Nigeria have turned up on sale in Benin and large quantities of cheap Nigerian petrol have been smuggled across the border.

At the same time, human trafficking has become rife in both directions. Nigerians seeking clandestine entry to Europe often leave via Benin, while West African children, recruited to work for low wages on plantations in Central Africa are dispatched in the opposite direction.

“In the past many complaints were made to the Beninois authorities, but failed
to elicit the appropriate and satisfactory response,” the Nigerian foreign ministry said. “The decision to close our border with Benin Republic was therefore taken in Nigeria's overriding national interest.”

Long queues of vehicles formed on each side of the border after barriers went down, leaving travellers uncertain about how they would get home.

“I went to buy goods in Lagos for my business in Cotonou and now I’m
stranded, I don’t know what to do,” Prosper Hunpounou, a Beninois
businessman, told IRIN.

The move by Nigeria may contravene its treaty obligations as a member of the Eonomic Community of West African States. The organisation's 15 member countries have pledged to allow the free movement of people and goods between them.

Although rising crime was cited as Nigeria's reason for sealing the border with Benin, commercial issues may also have played a role in the move.

In recent years, Nigerian officials have expressed concern at the huge volume of cargo traffic which has shifted from the port of Lagos, which is bedevilled by shipping delays, high port charges and corruption, to the more efficient port of Cotonou in Benin. From there, the goods are then trucked overland into Nigeria.

They fear that the transfer in freight movements has led to big losses in port and customs revenues for Nigeria.

EXOUSIAng:
Boss now we know better, these kids we have now are nothing super, matter of fact, I dont see no eagle in them kids

ojojo1985:
I think this 2000 or 2002 nations cup eagles

Seun4blue:
No no... This should be 2000 because majority of them were not in KoreaJapan2002

Seun4blue:
No no... This should be 2000 because majority of them were not in KoreaJapan2002

Ishilove:
It's still disturbing

Ishilove:
I find your username very disturbing...

mmsen:
Did they have title to the property?

Homextras:
The location has always been too juicy to leave alone. The relocation is going to be permanent, who them dey deceive? Is that the only jakande estate in Lagos in need of repairs... Vultures..

Lagos to relocate 400 Jakande Estate residents

November 25, 2019
Tajudeen Adebanjo

Lagos State government said it would relocate 400 residents of the Lateef Jakande Estate because of reconstruction.
The estate is in Ilasan, Eti-Osa Local Government Area.

The relocation, Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai said, will be temporary to one of the state-owned schemes which will soon be completed.

Akinderu-Fatai said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration is determined to regenerate the housing estate.

He said: “We are committed to the regeneration of Ilasan and other parts of the state in line with sustainable development goal SDG 11 which is focussed on creating sustainable and livable cities and communities.

“The regeneration programme will involve reconstruction of dilapidated structures and repair of run down infrastructures which are no longer safe for further human utilisation.

“In regenerating the estate, we will also take cognisance of access to quality education, health facilities, efficient public transportation, refuse collection services, sewage, human safety and good air quality, among other things.

“We are working with other ministries and agencies to promoting a robust neighbourhood life through availability of structures that encourage community activities.”

Akinderu-Fatai said habitation in Ilasan is dangerous and injurious to healthy living, hence the government’s determination to intervene by reconstructing the estate as soon as possible.

He explained that the decision was based on the need to set good standards of sustainability for future generations of Lagosians.

“The future of our state is very important, hence we must make the right decisions today in order to bequeath a legacy of sustainability to the generations yet unborn”.

“We are set to make the provision of housing beyond mere shelter by promoting a better quality of life through enhancing inclusive and sustainable urbanisation,” he added.

Hangulsaram:
How does Dangote start or any wealthy Nigerian

bigtt76:
Sad o! I just got back from the market now. There are lockup stalls there and a basement either for car par or something available to the traders to trade but we Africans, we like trading in the open. No sooner had the Lagos State environmental agents left than they continue on the streets. I guess they were well settled