The Federal Capital Territory Administration has prohibited open grazing of cattle in Abuja, the nation’s capital. . The Administration said it had communicated the directive to the leadership of the Fulani herdsmen in the FCT. . Disclosing this in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, the Director, Abuja Environmental Protection Agency, Dr Hassan Abubakar, stated that the one-month ultimatum issued to the pastoralists had expired, adding that violators would be sanctioned henceforth. . The decision of the FCTA is coming against the ban on open grazing by the Northern Governors’ Forum, which described the practice as outdated. . The AEPB director said over 100 cattle earlier confiscated were returned after their owners were fined by courts, adding that any herdsman found grazing his animals on Abuja streets would be penalised heavily. . A special team, he said, had been constituted to enforce the directive. . Abubakar further revealed that the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, had earmarked five locations for cattle grazing in Abaji, Kwali and Kuje Area Councils. . He said, “We held meetings with the leadership of Fulani herdsmen in the FCT and they have agreed on so many issues. We have given them time, which they asked for, and when the time lapses, we will strike. They are not allowed to graze inside the city; that’s prohibited. . “Even the minister has approved some grazing areas where RUGA is going to be created; about five areas. We have one around Kwali; another one in Abaji and one in Kuje. -- Follow us for breaking news and videos. -- #RUGA #opengrazingban #FCT #herdsmen #classicbeatradioupdate
Marketers of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, on Wednesday met in Abuja on matters regarding the price of the commodity. . Although most filling stations in Abuja and neighbouring states of Nasarawa and Niger dispensed PMS at the approved N162/litre price, it was gathered that this price might be adjusted upwards in the coming days. . Filling stations such as NIPCO, NNPC and others located on the Kubwa-Zuba expressway in Abuja dispensed patrol at N162/litre on Wednesday. . Some oil marketers said the N162/litre would not be sustainable, considering the recent rise in crude oil price. . Some filling stations in the Lagos/Ogun axis had on Tuesday adjusted their pump price to N170 per litre. . Officials of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency said the downstream sector had been deregulated. They said that was why the PPPRA had not released any price guide for several months. . “The downstream sector has been deregulated; you know that. And you know that PPPRA has not released any guiding price for a while because the sector is deregulated,” an official of the agency, who pleaded not to be named, stated. . The official said oil marketers were better positioned to speak on patrol price in a deregulated market, adding that the rise in global crude oil prices would definitely affect petrol price in Nigeria. . Commenting on the matter, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said dealers were meeting on the petrol price issue in Abuja. .. “We are meeting right now at Transcorp (Abuja) and it is on the issue of petrol price and other matters in the sector,” he said. . Ukadike added, “We all know of the price disparity in states, although it is not that pronounced in Abuja. But the truth is that the change in crude oil price is affecting petrol price and we are discussing the matter now.” -- Follow us for breaking news and videos. -- #fuelprice #hike #abuja #meeting #classicbeatradio
Four of the five suspects who are on trial for the April 5, 2018 Offa bank robbery in the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State on Wednesday told a Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin how they killed no fewer than 11 persons during the incident. . The suspects, Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Azeez Salawu and Niyi Ogundiran, were all present in court during the trial. . At the resumed hearing of the case, counsel for the prosecution, Mr. Rotimi Jacob, SAN, called the seventh witness, Inspector John Nwoke, who is the cinematographer attached to the Force Public Relations Unit, Abuja. . Nwoke then presented a DVD video to the open court that contained the confessional statements of the accused persons. . All but one of the accused persons, Ayoade Akinnibosun, said that they shot dead 11 persons, who were hauling stones and other missiles at them during the robbery incident. . Akinnibosun narrated how a dismissed police officer, Michael Adikwu (now late), sold the robbery idea to him, adding that he in turn conscripted his other four accomplices into the deal. . Akinnibosun, who claimed to be the ring leader in the video, revealed that he owned the two vehicles used for the bloody operation. . He said that one of the vehicles, Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle was given to him as an empowerment grant by the then governor of the state, Abdulfatah Ahmed, as he was the leader of the Political Liberation Movement in Kwara South. . He stated, “I came into contact with the dismissed policeman (Adikwu) through a revenue collection staff. After the meeting with Adikwu, I relayed to Ibikunle Ogunleye who also relayed same to Adeola Abraham otherwise known as Adex. Azeez Salawu and Niyi Ogundiran are both mechanics by profession. . “On the fateful day of April 5th, 2018, the five of us moved from Oro, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state to Ajase-Ipo, where we parked the SUV under a tree, and we all drove in the Mercedes Benz to Offa. At Offa, we parked in front of the Total filling station, where late Adikwu was waiting for us in a black Audi car." -- Follow us for breaking news and videos. -- Click on the link in our bio for more.