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BRT Operator To Assemble Buses In Lagos Next Year

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Lagos Medium, High Capacity Buses Set To Commence Operations

… To Phase Out Manual Ticketing

The operator of Bus Rapid Transit system in Lagos, Primero Transport Services Limited, has said its bus assembly plant being built in the state will begin operation in the second quarter of next year.

The Managing Director of the firm, Mr Fola Tinubu, disclosed this in Lagos on Tuesday.

He also spoke on plans by the firm to phase out manual ticketing and replace it with a card system in the first quarter of 2019.

Tinubu said that Primero had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with one of the biggest bus manufacturers in the world, Yutong, to establish the bus assembly plant in Lagos.

Already, he said that the plant had been set up in Epe and expressed the hope that it would go into mass production of high capacity buses by the second quarter of 2019 when a new BRT corridor being constructed by the Lagos State Government between Oshodi and Abule-Egba would have been completed and allowed to operate.

According to him, the transport firm which started full operation in November 2015, currently has 434 buses conveying 150,000 people daily across major terminals between Ikorodu and Tafawa Balewa Square.

Tinubu said the company planned to increase to 200,000 passengers daily on the Ikorodu/TBS corridor, adding that should Primero win the bid to operate the Abule-Egba/Oshodi corridor, it would deploy additional 350 buses in the route.

He said the organisation hoped to increase its buses to 2,000 with capacity to convey one million passengers daily.

On the plan to completely phase out manual ticketing in the first quarter of 2019, he said all passengers would be compelled to embrace the card system to remove the hassle of queuing to buy tickets.

He called for a conference of all the stakeholders to discuss how to make the public transportation work in Lagos and ensure its viability for investors.

“The discussion must hold if you don’t want the BRT system to collapse like the LSTC and other public transportation arrangements,” he said.

The MD said Primero, 100 per cent privately-owned, had been paying certain percentage of its revenue to the state government giving it the exclusive right to use the dedicated BRT lanes constructed by the government.

Tinubu, however, noted that there had not been any increase in bus fares in the last eight years, despite continuous rise in its operational costs.

“Our biggest challenge is the naira devaluation. We borrow a lot of money in dollars; we import parts in dollars and when the naira nose-dived, our debts doubled and the cost of parts we use has doubled,” he said.

Credit: Punch

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Third Explosion In A Week Rocks Dansadau-Gusau Road, Claims Lives Of Travellers

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Tragedy struck yet again on the Dansadau-Gusau road as another explosion killed multiple travellers on Friday, marking the third such incident in less than a week.

The explosion occurred between Dansadau to Malele road, causing significant damage.

A resident of the area who pleaded anonymity for security reasons told Channels Television that a truck vehicle conveying about 100 bags of grains and passengers to Dansadau market hit an improvised explosive device (IED) planted along the route, resulting in a devastating explosion.

Authorities and locals have yet to confirm the exact number of casualties, but the resident said several travellers killed during the blast.

“Till now, we are yet to confirm the exact number of people killed, we are waiting for the people from Malele community to give us the actual figures,” the source said.

“The incident happened around 8:30 am, the distance between the scene of the explosion to Dansadau is just few kilometres.”

The source added that the second explosive planted by the terrorists was discovered by the troops who defused it.

“The soldiers who rushed to the scene of the bomb discovered another bomb that was yet to detonate, they used their machine to check and took it inside the bush to defuse it,” he stated.

The recurring blasts have heightened fears among residents and commuters, who now consider the highway a death trap.

Just two days ago, a similar incident claimed the lives of six persons, sparking widespread calls for urgent government intervention.

The police authorities in the state had earlier accused the newly formed terror group Lakurawa as the mastermind of the recent explosions that occurred along the Dansadau-Gusau Road.

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Nigeria’s Economy Still Facing Crisis, CBN Admits

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The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Yemi Cardoso has acknowledged that Nigeria remains in a financial and economic crisis, a situation inherited by the current CBN administration.

Speaking at the 14th Annual Bankers’ Committee Retreat in Abuja, Cardoso explained that the role of the bankers’ committee remains critical towards addressing the challenge as well as reflating the economy.

The CBN boss said that the nation faces challenges in how to address poverty, rising inflation, infrastructure deficits, insecurity, and unemployment, among others.

He called on members of the bankers’ committee to reflect on the past year’s challenges and devise actionable tools to address them effectively.

On his part, the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs Tope Fasua expressed concerns over excess charges by point of sale operators (PoS) while calling on the apex bank as well as deposit money banks to make cash available at all ATM points.

The three-day event brings together key players in the banking sector and has the theme “Contract and Commitment to National Development and Economic Growth”.

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Alleged Mass Killings: NHRC Demands Justice For Victims

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A member of the NHRC Governing Council, Kemi Okonyedo, speaks in Abuja on December 6, 2024 at the presentation of the report from the investigative panel on human rights violations in counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, to the army.


The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has demanded justice and accountability for civilian victims who were allegedly killed by operatives of the Nigerian Army in the Abisari community in Borno state.

A member of the NHRC Governing Council, Kemi Okonyedo, made the demand at the presentation of the report from the investigative panel on human rights violations in counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, to the army.

The report had vindicated the military of forced systemic abortions administered on women but indicted them of intentionally killing civilians in the Abasari community

Okonyedo is demanding that those affected, be compensated.

“The killing of civilians in Abisari remains a grave violation that demands justice, accountability and immediate action,” she said.

“These are not abstract issues, they are real. Lives affected are real, families impacted exist, and communities impacted are still suffering and must be acknowledged and addressed.

“The recommendations of the panel provide a roadmap for addressing these violations, holding perpetrators accountable and ensuring that similar violations do not occur in the future.

“Among the panel’s key recommendations is compensation for the victims of the Abisari killings with the Federal Government ensuring that the families and communities affected are provided adequate reparations.”

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