Within eight days in September, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has recorded three landmark crashes that claimed the lives of 91 people, FRSC Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, has lamented. Speaking in a press briefing and meeting with stakeholders in Abuja on Thursday, he said the crashes included one that occured in Niger State on September 8, which claimed 48 lives, another in Sabon Wuse on the September 12, which claimed 18 lives as well as another in Kaduna State on September 15, claiming 25 lives. Hence, he said it called for concern. According to him, the three crashes proved to have been obviously avoidable.He frowned that while the government was doing its best to provide and maintain transport facilities in accordance with global best practices, some road users especially drivers continued to make a mockery of the efforts by exhibiting high level of recklessness on the roads. He lamented that despite measures taken by the corps through the Road Transport Safety Standardization Scheme (RTSSS) launched to address issues with fleet operations in the country, there was a need to meet with the stakeholders.Mohammed therefore directed commanding officers of the corps to ensure round the clock enforcement of traffic offences so as to mitigate the excesses immediately, stressing that a special patrol operation would be instituted and enforcement would be carried out nationwide.He said the meeting was to address the current road safety challenges such as carrying inflammable substances, night trips, speeding, overloading and their devastating effects on the nations highways, hopefully after the meeting, road crashes would drastically reduce by the end of the year. He noted that the challenges were a threat to the national health campaign and there was a need for collective action against carnage on the highways.On his part, Representing Luxurious buses association, Chief Buruche Julius said luxurious buses prefer to travel at night because the roads were free at night to enable them travel conveniently. He said the roads were in a bad shape due to several portholes as well as the various vehicles travelling in the day time who made the roads busy, hence, night travels were faster and safer for the luxurious buses adding that they have barely recorded crashes.According to him, Road Safety officials have always trained and advised the drivers in how to be safety cautious while travelling, he added that managers of some luxurious buses also got managers to join in the journeys to monitor the drivers.Speaking to journalist, President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alh. Abubakar Maigandi Shettima, noted that tanker drivers had been advised several times not to drive in the night which they try to adhere to. He said that sometimes the accidents were caused due to the bad roads but assured that the tanker drivers would always be sensitised to do the right thing and avoid crashes.

The Indigenous People of Biafra said on Wednesday that it had no intention to force Igbo people to resign from the Nigerian Army and other security agencies. The separatist group also denied the Nigerian Army’s allegations that its members abducted and assaulted a soldier sent to the South-East to spy on the Biafra movement. The Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, had claimed in a press statement on Sunday that Simon Ekpa, a self-proclaimed leader of IPOB, circulated a video showing the torture of retired Corporal Toriola Adewale. The Nigerian Army strongly condemned the alleged assault on the retired soldier, which it attributed to IPOB members. But in a response on Wednesday, IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, dismissed the Army’s claims as “propaganda” and a “self-staged crime” by the Nigerian Army’s leadership. Powerful argued that the video of an abducted “spying soldier,” who was reportedly forced to call for the resignation of Biafran soldiers from the Nigerian Army, was a “false flag operation” and not produced by IPOB. According to him, the IPOB Directorate of State has long distanced itself from Simon Ekpa, but the Nigerian Army continues to link IPOB with Ekpa to tarnish the group’s reputation. He said, “The Directorate of State of IPOB wishes to debunk the Nigerian Army’s concocted propaganda that peaceful and unarmed IPOB activists abducted a Nigerian soldier sent to Biafra land to spy on the Biafra movement and forced him to call for the resignation of Biafran soldiers in the Nigerian Army. “The propaganda from the Nigerian Army spokesperson claiming that IPOB captured a spying Nigerian soldier and forced him to deliver a message to Biafran soldiers to resign is a self-staged crime by the Nigerian Army’s leadership. Although IPOB has called for Biafrans serving in Nigerian security agencies to resign, IPOB has never and will never force our brothers and sisters in the Nigerian security agencies to resign under duress. “IPOB can only appeal to the conscience of Biafrans but will never impose anything on anyone at gunpoint. The Biafra Nation IPOB is championing, which is a nation where rights are guaranteed and respected, guides our people through reasoning.” “The so-called video of an abducted spying soldier is another false flag operation by the Nigerian Army and their provocateurs to continue their murderous onslaught against Ndigbo. The Nigerian Army has reduced itself to mere social media gossip.” “IPOB did not abduct any Nigerian soldier. The Army spokesperson should stop linking IPOB to their criminal agents in their efforts to destabilize the South-East. IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu have no relationship with the so-called Biafra Liberation Army.” According to Powerful, IPOB does not have an army and will not establish one until Biafra is restored. He added that IPOB operates only the Eastern Security Network, an armed vigilante group targeting marauding Fulani terrorists. “The call by the Nigerian Army to the ICC, UN, and Amnesty International to take action against IPOB is null and void because these institutions know the truth about IPOB activities. They operate under international laws and respect the right to self-determination. IPOB has not violated the laws governing self-determination. “These institutions also understand that IPOB is non-violent and that IPOB members are persecuted by the corrupt Nigerian government and its murderous security agencies. There is ample evidence of the Nigerian government’s repression of peaceful IPOB members. “The Nigerian government and its security agencies should stop blackmailing IPOB. Our non-violent approach should not be mistaken for weakness. It is our respect for international laws governing self-determination, not a sign of weakness,” he said.

The Federal Government has called on agencies recruiting for the private sector to adhere to the N70,000 minimum wage, warning that any deviation would not be tolerated. According to the FG, the new minimum wage is necessary to address the current economic reality, emphasising that no Nigerian worker, whether in government or private employment, should be paid less than the minimum wage. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Kachollom Daju, stated this on Wednesday while speaking at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies of Nigeria, held in Ikeja, Lagos. Daju, who was represented by the Director of Employment and Wages of the ministry, John Nyamali, said, “The minimum wage is now a law, and as a result, it is a punishable crime for any employer to pay less than N70,000 to any of its workers. “The private employment agencies should make it compulsory in any contract they take from their principal that their workers should not earn less than the minimum wage. The least paid worker in Nigeria should earn N70,000, and I think that should be after all deductions. “The minimum wage is a law, and you can be jailed if you fail to implement it. The Federal Government is committed to ensuring that the least paid worker goes home with N70,000.” In his remarks, the President of the Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies of Nigeria, Dr. Olufemi Ogunlowo, asked the government and Nigeria Labour Congress to clarify whether the N70,000 minimum wage is net or gross, stating that all ambiguities in the Act should be highlighted and explained. According to Okoye, the EAPEAN is already committed to the minimum wage, as well as providing decent jobs for Nigerians and guarding against the exploitation of human resources. “As a labour union in the private sector, we are committed to the implementation of the minimum wage. We are a law-abiding and guided association. Our principals and clients have also keyed into the minimum wage. “However, the government must clarify whether the N70,000 minimum wage is net or gross. The government and NLC should address all ambiguities in the minimum wage,” he stated. Speaking at the programme, the Chairperson of the NLC, Lagos State chapter, Funmilayo Sessi, said the prevailing hardship had made a mess of whatever income any worker was earning in Nigeria, calling on private employers to ensure the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage. She said: “The N70,000 isn’t enough in the current economic realities. By the time the consequential adjustment is concluded, all private employment agencies should immediately start paying their workers the N70,000 minimum wage. “The NLC in Lagos State will see to the strict enforcement of the minimum wage. EAPEAN should avoid confrontation with the NLC on the minimum wage.”