Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun has expressed great sympathy for the victims of a gas explosion at the Ita-Oshin area of Abeokuta, the state capital.

According to reports, there was a fire incident at about 5pm caused by a lone accident of a gas truck with the inscription Gasco Marine Bar 250 at Ita Oshin junction a few metres from the roundabout.

The truck, moving inward Abeokuta, lost control and ran into the road pavement before it eventually stopped.

The driver fled the scene while the truck boy lost his life. His mutilated remains have been deposited at the General Hospital, Ijaiye.

It was gathered that four parked vehicles were burnt to ashes. The inferno also affected five shops, with one completely burnt.

Four trucks from the Federal and the Ogun State Fire Services were on the ground to put out the inferno.

Governor Abiodun, in a statement on Saturday night, regretted the loss of life in the inferno and the attendant destruction of properties.

He, however, called for calm, assuring that everything was being done to put the situation under control.

He said: “I am deeply saddened by the tragic gas explosion that occurred in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Saturday, which led to the loss of an innocent life and destruction of properties. This is a devastating incident that has brought pain and anguish to many families.

“On behalf of the government and people of Ogun State, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of the lone victim of this tragic incident. My prayers are with them during this difficult time.

“I also wish to express my sympathy to those who suffered damage to their businesses.”

The governor praised the quick intervention of relevant agencies of government and first responders, which brought the situation under control.

Governor Abiodun noted that relevant authorities have been mandated to ascertain the cause of the explosion and ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to prevent a recurrenc

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Leadership and Citizenship, Ms Rinsola Abiola, has urged schools to set up mechanisms to address incidents of bullying and other related negative attitudes in schools.

Ms Abiola stated this following the recent incident of bullying recorded in a school in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), when she spoke at a Behavioural Pattern Initiative seminar organised by the Advocacy for Positive Behavioural Pattern Initiative (APBPI) in partnership with the Federal Capital Territory Secondary Education Board.

The seminar, which was held at the Government Secondary School Gwarinpa, Life Camp, Abuja, had in attendance hundreds of students and representatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The presidential adviser said bullying is not a generally positive development and should be discouraged and condemned.

“It is very important that schools set up mechanisms to properly address these issues before they become a public matter where Nigerians will start weighing in directly.

“As Nigerians and parents, when it comes to young people, we have to be very sensitive and mindful in how we approach those issues,” she said.

Abiola further stated that the incident is a wake-up call for the management of schools across the country to be mindful of what transpires between children and students and see that there is prompt intervention when it comes to young people displaying negative behaviours.

Commenting on drug abuse, she noted that it is a scourge bedevilling the youth population, and recent studies showed that young people from 25 years to 39 years are very severely impacted by drug use.

“We are starting to see high incidents of drug use among young people between 16 and 24. It is very important that we make young people understand that whatever benefit they think they derive from drug abuse is very short-lived and that there are serious health consequences attached to abusing drugs.

“The price of drug abuse is very high; it is something you pay with your entire life, with your well-being and body, and we have to deter our young people from drug abuse as much as possible,” she added.

Mann Bamidele, Chairman and Director, Campaign Team, Advocacy for Positive Behavioural Pattern Initiative, said they took their campaign to schools and found out that students of the Government Secondary School Gwarinpa, Lifecamp, have this lackadaisical attitude towards their academics, and this is borne out of their behavioural pattern.

“We took this campaign to this school because we did our findings and we found out that in some of these schools, the students over here have this lackadaisical attitude towards their academics, and this is borne out of their behavioural pattern.

“And we found out that over the years, from the statistics that we have with us, there has been some form of violence among the students, especially when it is towards the end of the term. You see them engaging in one form of fighting or another.

“So, we brought this advocacy campaign here in order to tell them why they need to stop the violence and change it into cooperation so that, with togetherness, they can get to higher ground in life.

The Principal of Government Secondary School Gwarinpa, Lifecamp, Mrs. Akerele Irene, who was represented by the Vice Principal Administration, Bilikisu Ibrahim, said that in society today, especially among the younger generation, it is imperative to foster behavioural patterns in order to safeguard children.

The demolition of buildings on the right of way of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road has been flagged off by the Minister of Works, David Umahi.

The demolition exercise began at the Mani Chula Beach, Oniru Waterfront on Saturday.

The minister said compensation for owners of the affected structures has been adequately factored into the project and urged those affected to see the greater good of the project.

The demolition process is expected to continue for some days.


The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Korede Keisha, had on Thursday, asked all those whose houses were marked for demolition to come to the Ministry’s Secretariat in Lagos to sort out whatever process was required by the ministry.

She said the demolition squad would move in on Saturday to begin the removal of the marked properties.

Umahi recently said the Lagos-Calabar coastal road construction will cost N4bn per kilometre.

The 700 km Lagos-Calabar coastal road will be constructed for N15 trillion, and a kilometre of the road will cost N4 billion. It is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states, before culminating in Cross River.

The project has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians including the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, who described it as a misplaced priority by the Federal Government. Also, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar had described the project as a fraud, a comment which was refuted by the Presidency.

However, Umahi has dismissed the criticisms and said the comments are a “gross misrepresentation of facts, and figures and a ploy to mislead Nigerians by darkening counsel without knowledge”.

“He (Atiku) doesn’t understand figures. I am going to run figures for him to understand, and he will understand how prudent the administration of President Tinubu has been. He will understand how prudency is taking the centre stage in this administration,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement by his spokesman, Uchenna Orji.

“The President has once queried me on the cost of on-going projects nationwide. I had to analyse every basic rate of construction materials to arrive at our unit rates. I showed it to Mr. President. He still thinks I should bring down the cost of projects.”

He also said the road will be completed in eight years.