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Shops, goods destroyed in Lagos tanker explosion

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Shops, goods destroyed in Lagos tanker explosion
• The scene of the explosion. 
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A yet-to-be-ascertained number of shops with goods were destroyed in a Tuesday late-night fire that occurred when a gas tanker caught fire along the Agbado Road in the Toyin area of Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, confirmed this to PUNCH Online in a WhatsApp conversation on Tuesday.

According to Adeseye, the impact of the fire left some shops destroyed while the operatives of the state fire service were able to curtail its spread.

She said, “The fire which was reported at 22:04hrs Tuesday as a result of a gas tanker that accidentally caught fire and accompanied by an explosion, has been confined to the tanker and the adjoining row of shops it spread to as concerted efforts are ongoing to forestall further spread to protect the environment and property including the nearby Kerozone Petroleum Filling Station.”

Reacting, the Lagos State Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, Ibrahim Farinloye, further disclosed that the tanker had a collision with an electric pole while trying to enter the premises of where it was to offload its content leading to a cable snapping that resulted to the explosion.

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He disclosed further that the intervention of the emergency responders including the Lagos State Fire Services and NEMA brought the fire under control without casualties.

Farinloye said, “There was a fire incident. It started when a tanker that was about to offload its content in a filling station along the road collided with an electric pole. The impact of the collision led to a cable falling on the container and therefore resulted in a spark.

“Emergency responders were able to contain the spread of the fire to avoid casualties. No lives were lost but some shops were destroyed.”

Several persons escaped death last weekend when a fire gutted some makeshift structures in the Ikate-Elegushi area of Lekki in Lagos State in the night.

The fire affected the makeshift structures around the vicinity of Star Road, by Horizon Heights, Ikate-Elegushi, Lekki Lagos.

Adeseye confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday.

She said the incident involved residential makeshift structures, encompassing approximately an acre of land.

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APC wins all Chairmanship, Councillorship seats in Enugu

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The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all chairmanship and Councillorship seats contested in the Sept. 26 Local Government Election in Enugu State.

The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) conducted election into the 17 Chairmanship and 260 Ward Councillorship positions in the state on Saturday.

Declaring the election results at the ENSIEC headquarters in Enugu on Sunday, the Chairman of the Commission, Prof Christian Ngwu, said that the election was free and fair.

Ngwu said that the election was conducted according to rules guiding the Commission, and “subsequently, we are issuing the winners with certificate of returns.”

Speaking after collecting his certificate of return, Chairman of Enugu South Local Government Area, Chief Caleb Ani, attributed the landslide victory of the candidates of APC to the massive developmental works of Gov. Peter Mbah.

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Ani urged the residents of the state to vote for Mbah en masse in the forthcoming 2027 General Election to continue the good works.

“Gov. Mbah has done well in all ramifications, this is partly while the APC candidates won overwhelmingly.

“I urge the people to vote for him, come 2027 General Elections so that he will continue with his good works and do more,” he said.

Reacting, the APC Chairman in Enugu State, Dr Martin Chukwunweike, said that the resounding victory at the polls indicated the dominance of the national ruling party, APC, in the state.

“We will not rest as we push the developmental efforts of President Bola Tinubu and our amiable governor, His Excellency Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, for the world to see.

“Tinubu, Mbah and all the APC candidates will be reelected in 2027 as they have performed exceptionally well in the past three years,” he said.

In the numerical figures of the results pronounced, APC chairmanship candidates won with margins while the opposition parties trailed behind with minimal votes.

For instance, in Udenu, Igbo-Eze North and Igbo-Eze South local Government Areas respectively, the APC chairmen elect secured virtually the whole votes cast.

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‘Where is Nigeria’s president?’, Peter Obi questions Tinubu’s absence from UNGA

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Peter Obi and President Bola Tinubu
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Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has questioned the absence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, contrasting it with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama’s participation in the global gathering.

Obi raised the question in a post on his Facebook page while commenting on Mahama’s address to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

Mahama attended the UNGA and delivered Ghana’s national statement, where he addressed issues including global governance, Africa’s representation in international institutions and Ghana’s economic recovery.

Obi described the Ghanaian president’s address as “remarkable,” saying it demonstrated what leadership could achieve when competence, capacity, compassion, commitment and character were brought together in the service of a nation.

He subsequently asked why the president of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, was not personally present at the gathering.

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“Where is the President of Africa’s most populous nation, a country of more than 200 million people – more than Ghana – whose leader has been absent from the global stage for three consecutive UNGAs?” Obi asked.

The former Anambra State governor said Nigeria’s president ought to be representing the country and providing leadership for Africa at the international level, particularly at a time he said the country was facing significant domestic and international challenges.

Although Vice President Kashim Shettima is representing Nigeria at the 81st UNGA and leading the country’s delegation, Obi said his presence did not answer the question of the president’s absence.

“Although our Vice President, Kashim Shettima, was present, the question remains: Where is the President?” he wrote.

The Federal Government has said President Tinubu mandated Shettima to represent him at the UNGA and lead Nigeria’s delegation, with the Vice President authorised to deliver Nigeria’s national statement and participate in high-level meetings and bilateral engagements.

Shettima’s participation included meetings and engagements focused on Nigeria’s priorities and strengthening the country’s role in multilateral cooperation.

Obi, however, urged Nigerians to continue praying for the President’s return and for his leadership in addressing the challenges confronting the country.

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Europe-based newlywed arrested with cocaine at Enugu airport

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The suspect, Lovely Chukwulobelu
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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 25-year-old newlywed businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, for allegedly attempting to traffic 72 wraps of cocaine to Portugal.

The NDLEA said Chukwulobelu resorted to drug trafficking to offset expenses incurred during his wedding held on September 13, 2026.

The agency disclosed this in a statement released by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday.

According to the statement, the suspect, who resides in Portugal, was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the departure hall of the Enugu airport on Thursday, September 25, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa.

He said the suspect was found with cocaine concealed in his stomach and was wearing his wedding ring when he was arrested.

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Babafemi said the suspect was subsequently placed under excretion observation, during which he egested a total of 72 wraps of cocaine.

The statement partly read, ” The groom was intercepted by NDLEA officers at the departure hall of the Enugu airport on Thursday, 25th September 2026, with cocaine in his gut and a wedding ring on his finger, while he attempted to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal via Addis Ababa. He was subsequently placed under excretion observation during which he egested a total of 72 wraps of the Class A illicit drug.

“The suspect, who claimed he was into the car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos before he relocated to Portugal in May 2023, said he returned to Nigeria recently to get married on 13th September 2026.
He said he resorted to the criminal trade to offset expenses incurred during his wedding.”

Babafemi also said 2,550,000 pills of Tramakings 225mg and 250mg, and Royal Tapentadol 250mg were recovered at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

He said the drugs, weighing 1,640.55kg, were uncovered during a joint examination of three monitored consignments imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.

In Bauchi State, he said operatives arrested two suspects, Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, with 300 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 262.5kg.

According to him, the cannabis was concealed in the false bottom of a truck marked MUB757 YH along the Maiduguri bypass.

Similarly, he said two cannabis farms with a combined estimated yield of 1,360.23kg were destroyed at Eko Camp, Ilushi, Edo State, by NDLEA officers supported by soldiers.

In Lagos, Babafemi said two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested at Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, with 3.4kg of skunk.

Another suspect, Ugwu Johnson, 58, was intercepted at Ebute-Ero motor park with 5.920kg of skunk, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol.

In Oyo State, two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, were arrested along the Iganna-Ilero road with 305.6kg of skunk concealed in two pickup vans.

The NDLEA spokesman said the suspects were allegedly involved in a cross-border trafficking racket moving Ghanaian-sourced cannabis into Nigeria through the Oyo axis.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, he said five suspects were also arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, weighing 1,688.4kg.

The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.

Two vehicles used to convey the consignment from the border into Lagos were also seized.

The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, AIIA, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Seme and Bauchi Commands for the operations.

Marwa urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the agency’s ongoing balanced approach to drug control efforts.

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