Land use charge: Ogun grants investors 50% discount

Ogun state government has granted 50 percent to investors on all land use and amenities charges.This grace will be enjoyed by all investors who show up for payment on or before the end of September.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Mr. Kunle Somorin, stated that the Prince Dapo Abiodun led-government has put the mechanism in place to make it convenient for investors to pay their land use and amenity charges, barring in mind the harsh economy affecting many countries, as a result of the global pandemic of COVID-19.

It added that with the overall economic development of the state in mind and the need to further strengthen the existing relationship with various industries domiciled in the state, adding that the reduction was in good faith to ensure that the PPP agenda was built upon, as government alone cannot do the business of making the state a better place.

The statement noted that taxpayers who pay their Land Use and Amenities Charge between 1st and 31st of October, would be eligible to enjoy 25 per cent discount, while payment made between November 1st to 30th, 2020, would attract a 10 per cent discount, assuring that those who had already paid before the government made the decision would get their credit.

Payment according to the statement has been simplified for the convenience of business owners through the use of payment codes via the online platform, which could either be done through the use of the card, USSD, and internet banking.

To pay using the online platform, Business owners are to visit http://pay luac.ogunstate.gov.ng, enter their bills payment code and the payers’ contact details, click on make payment button, select card, USSD, or internet banking options to complete the payment.

The statement while adding that a payment receipt would be sent automatically by the REMITA platform, with a payment notification sent to the payer by the OGSG LUAC platform, added that on entering of the payers’ payment code, the discounted amount payable would on such bill be calculated automatically and displayed.

Business owners are advised to visit any bank branch of their choice nationwide to make their payment.

It could be recalled that the government had inaugurated the State Business Environment Council, to focus on sustainable reforms that would address challenges militating against Ease of Doing Business and limiting effective private sector participation of the State economy.

Hoodlums beat policeman to death in Ogun

The police in Ogun State said it has in custody four suspects who reportedly beat a policeman to death on Sunday.

The policeman, identified as PC Agada Akoh, was said to have been beaten to coma by the hoodlums, who left him in the pool of his own blood at Dalemo area of Sango-Ota.

The four suspects – Jelili Ismaila, 22; Amidu Bankole, 34; Elijah Samson, 36 and Moses Proboye, 34, were all nabbed after information reached the police at Sango division at about 9:30pm that a policeman has been beaten to coma by some hoodlums.

Ottagistreel learned that the DPO of the police station, CSP Godwin Idehai, led his men to the scene where he met the policeman already unconscious.

“The officer was quickly rushed to the general hospital Ota for medical care but he gave up the ghost while receiving treatment.”

A statement by Ogun Police Spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, on Monday, has it that preliminary investigation revealed that the dead policeman and one other had escorted their principal from Idah in Kogi state to Lagos State.

Oyeyemi said, “On their way passing through Sango Ota, a truck driver, Jelili Ismaila, drove dangerously and almost pushed their vehicle off the road. While trying not to hit the vehicle conveying the officers, the truck entered a pothole as a result of which its tyre got punctured.”

This, he added, made the two policemen come down and cautioned the truck driver, asking him to be mindful of other road users.

However, the Ogun PPRO informed that the driver accused them of being at fault thereby “mobilising hoodlums to attack the officers and their principal with dangerous weapons and beating the deceased to coma.”

When they realised that the policeman may not survive the attack, the driver and his hired hoodlums, Oyeyemi stated, took to their heels.

But, the police said, “luck ran out on four of them when the DPO and his men, on a tip-off, stormed their hideout and got them arrested while the other four escaped.”

The remains of the officer,Ottagistreel learned has been deposited at the Ota General Hospital mortuary.

Meanwhile, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has described the incident as barbaric, saying it was an act of lawlessness.

Ajogun ordered that a massive manhunt be launched for the four fleeing suspects, warning that an unwarranted attack on his men will not be tolerated.

The CP has then directed that the arrested suspects be transferred to the homicide section of the state CIID for in-depth investigations and prosecution.

Schools reopening: Ogun University sends message to students

As schools in Ogun State prepare for resumption, the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, has told its students to wait for formal announcement from its management concerning the day of resumption.

Ottagistreel recalls that Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has ordered the reopening of education institutions across the State, starting from September 21.

Schools in Ogun State have been under lock and key since March to forestall the spread of coronavirus.

In a statement on Monday, the OOU Registrar, Femi Ogunwomoju, disclosed that necessary actions are being taken for safe reopening of the university.

According to him, the management of the university is aware of Abiodun’s directive that tertiary institutions in Ogun should resume from September 21.

However, he said, “Parents, guardians and students are advised to be on the lookout for the formal announcement on resumption by the university.”

The Registrar hinted that necessary protocols are being taken to ensure safe reopening of OOU.

Truck crushes gatekeeper to death in Ogun

A man, who was identified as a gatekeeper in one of the private hospitals in Atan, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government area of Ogun State, has been crushed to death by a truck that fell on him on Saturday.

The man was crushed at the Atan market junction, along the Sango-Idiroko road.

The Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) Corps has confirmed the accident to DAILY POST, saying it happened around 11:50am.

TRACE spokesperson, Babatunde Akinbiyi, said the green Howo Sino truck, with registration number, AKM 560 ZT, was loaded with mud.

Akinbiyi blamed the accident on brake failure, coupled with loss of control.

“Learnt the truck developed a brake failure, while inbound Idiroko, lost control in the process and fell on a passer-by, at Atan market, who is a gatekeeper at a private hospital at Atan.

“The driver and the motorboy thereafter reported themselves to Atan Divisional Police Command, where they are presently with the vehicle,” Akinbiyi stated.

It was gathered that the body of the deceased has been buried by his relatives

I killed my aunty because she’s a witch – Man confesses in Ogun

Dansu Asogba, a 23-year-old indigene of Ogun State has been arrested by the police for allegedly killing his 60-year-old aunt, Iyabo Dansu over alleged witchcraft.

In a statement on Saturday, the Ogun State Police Spokesperson, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect was arrested following a report by two children of the victim at the Ipokia Divisional Police Headquarters.

According to Oyeyemi, the children had reported that they were informed on August 22 that their mother, who was not suffering from any illness had died.

Oyeyemi hinted that the children of the deceased “stated further that since they were not suspecting any foul play, they decided to bury her without necessarily reporting to the police.

“But immediately after the burial, they heard information that the suspect, who is a nephew to the deceased was seen in her house on that fateful day, and shortly after he left, the woman was declared dead.”

This, he said, aroused the suspicion of residents as they threatened to carry out a traditional ritual to expose the killer.

Hearing the determination of the community to go spiritual about the death of the woman, Asogba reportedly came out to confess being the one responsible for her death.

The DPO Ipokia Division, SP Adebayo Hakeem, was said to have detailed his men to the scene where the suspect was arrested.

“On interrogation, he admitted killing the deceased, but claimed that he did so because of his belief that the deceased was responsible for the death of his first child and the subsequent miscarriage suffered by his wife.

“He confessed further that it was an iron rod he used to hit the woman on the neck which resulted to her death,” Oyeyemi said.

Meanwhile, the Ogun Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered that the case be transferred transfer to the homicide section of the State CIID for further investigation

Abiodun Advises Foreign Govts, Investors to Replace Aids with Partnership

Ogun State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun has urged foreign governments and investors to work out symbiotic partnership programmes with sub-national governments in the federation rather than doling out development aid to them.

For the impact of donors and philanthropies to be felt, Abodun argued, there was the need for them to have a deep understanding of the challenges of the people and come up with detailed strategies of addressing them.

Abiodun stated this while speaking at a virtual humanitarian and philanthropic roundtable organised by Foreign Investment Network (FIN) on Friday, saying the people would only participate and take ownership on projects that address their concerns.

He said: “What this means is that not just on the part of the government, private donors, philanthropies must also develop a more in-depth understanding of the challenge of the people and then define a clear vision and detailed strategies with an action plan.

“This strategy must also include a tool to measure impact. Philanthropy should address the challenge of the people, not the fancy of the donor. And that has been one major bane of philanthropy in this part of the world and why it has not had the positive impact that it should have had”, he explained.

He noted that there had been an increase in the number of institutional philanthropy in the past years, which included private individuals, corporate entities and families, though regretted that there was little impact on the socio-economic development of the country.

Quoting from the Organization for Economic, Cooperation and Development (OECD and Development Assistant Committee (DAC) statistics, the governor disclosed that donors in the last 60 years have granted a total sum of $502bn to sub-Saharan Africa, which is worth over $866bn in current price, just as the United States annual aid between 2002 to 2015 rose from $2bn to $8bn, while additional development assistance of $89bn was granted to Nigeria, to support her development goals.

He lamented that despite the huge amount, little impact was felt from the receiving population, adding that his state has created a viable development partnership with investors and donors and consider the interest and needs of the people, as projects were situated, not for individuals or group, but the needs of the recipients to enable them take ownership, which would guarantee sustainability of the project.

“Our approach is that once projects and investments are at the needs of the people, the people will not only take ownership of these projects which in turn guarantees the sustainability of the projects.

“By doing this, the issue of multi million naira projects with zero impact on the people which are laying waste will not even arise. Let me say that this approach has continued to help in the last one year of the successful implementation of the “Building our Future Together” Agenda, Abiodun noted.

Abiodun emphasised that the introduction of town hall meetings in the process of putting together this year’s budget, was to allow for wider and deeper inputs, more practical way of identifying the needs and expectations of the people. So that the government could strategically allocate resources towards the successful execution of projects.

He insisted that the people must be made to participate in the project from inception, while all the levels of government should provide an enabling environment for philanthropists to thrive, maintaining that stakeholders needed to explore and introduce regulations to strengthen transparency and accountability in the process.

While informing the audience that Ogun State doors are open to genuine investors, the state helmsman called on individuals, organisations, to partner with the state government, as the people crave more partnership in education, health and other sectors of the state economy

Ogun LG election holds soon –Commissioner

The Ogun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Afolabi Afuape, says the state is gearing up to conduct local government election.

Afuape said the recent appointment of a new Permanent Secretary for the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission was an indication of this.

A statement on Sunday quoted him to have spoken to journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital “at the weekend.”

Afuape said, “We are also thinking of having the board of OGSIEC soon and preparing for local government election.

“The board, when constituted, will have to prepare for the election at least within a period not less than two to three months, while constitutionally, OGSIEC will have to give three months notice to allow all political parties to prepare themselves for the election

Herdsmen rob Ogun farmer, rape 16-year-old daughter

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested two herdsmen for invading a farm in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state, allegedly stealing the sum of N140,000 and gang-raping the 16-year-old daughter of the farmer.

The suspects, Abu Adamu and Muhammadu Aliyu, were arrested last Wednesday by policemen from the Ewekoro Divisional Headquarters.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

Oyeyemi said the suspects invaded a farm settlement at Afowowa Gbelu, dispossessed one Amina Okeshola of N140,000 and gang-raped her 16-year-old daughter on the cassava plantation.

They were arrested for robbery and rape after a distress call was received by the police at the Ewekoro Divisional Headquarters around 1am.

According to Oyeyemi, the police were alerted that armed men suspected to be herdsmen had invaded a farm settlement at Afowowa Gbelu village in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state and were attacking a family living in the farm settlement.

The PPRO added, “The suspects ransacked the house of one Aminat Okeshola, dispossessed the family of the sum of N140,000, after which they took the 16-year-old daughter of the family to the cassava plantation, where they took turns to forcefully have sex with her.

“On the strength of the distress call, policemen from the Ewekoro Division swiftly moved to the scene, combed the entire area and succeeded in arresting two of the suspects, who were hiding in the nearby bush on sighting the policemen, while the third one escaped.

“The two arrested suspects were immediately identified by the victims.”

The PPRO explained that preliminary investigation revealed that the herdsmen had always been passing through the farm settlement with their cattle in the daytime before they came back to strike on the day of the incident

Oyeyemi said the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, had ordered a manhunt for the fleeing member of the gang.

He also directed the immediate transfer of the case to the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation and prosecution

Birthday party ends in tragedy as uninvited teenage guest stabs celebrant to death in Ogun

A birthday party ended in tragedy when a teenage guest stabbed the celebrant,Omeika Josiah at Aminni Awo Village in Odeda Local government Area of Ogun state .

According to reports, the suspect identified as Sunday Philip, said to be an apprentice mechanic, arrived the party uninvited and was served a bottle of beer and a plate of spiced spaghetti.

As the party progressed, Philip got into a fight with a guest after a misunderstanding. The celebrant walk in on both men fighting and took sides with the guest identified as Jonah, and this got Philip angry. The suspect ran into a nearby house and returned with a knife which he used to stab Philip.

“One of the guests named Jonah sent a boy to move the sound system away from the scene when he noticed that food and drinks were pouring on the floor. But Sunday (Philip), an apprentice mechanic, prevented the boy sent by Jonah from taking the jukebox away and seized the sound gadget. Jonah tried to take the sound system from Sunday and a fight broke out between them,” the source explained.

“When Sunday realised that he could not overpower Jonah, he rushed to a nearby house and brought out a knife to attack Jonah. Unfortunately, on his way back to Jonah, he met the celebrator, Josiah, who warned him not to disrupt his party. But Sunday then became angry that Josiah had taken sides with Jonah, so he stabbed him to death.”

A community leader who confirmed the incident said he was not aware of the plan to hold a birthday party in the village and had the deceased celebrator told him, he would have informed the village head, Chief Kunle Aromokun, to put in place adequate security.

“It is sad that the life of the celebrator was cut short by an uninvited guest at his own party. If the late Josiah had told me that he was going to organise a party to celebrate his birthday, I would have told the Baale (village head), who would have in turn invited members of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) to provide security and prevent a breakdown of law and order at the event.” he said.

One of the guests at the party identified simply as Oladele said that the suspect lived on the same street as Josiah, but he was not invited to the party.

“Sunday (Philip) had left home for work very early in the morning. He had no idea that Josiah was going to throw a birthday party in the neighbourhood,” said Oladele.

“He however came to the party when he got wind that it was Josiah’s birthday celebration. Only God knows what came over him when he launched into a fight with another guest and close friend of the celebrator. If not for the timely intervention of the community leaders and other residents, he would have been mobbed to death when he was nabbed after he tried to escape from the scene where he stabbed Josiah to death

Abiodun Appoints Olaleye OGIRS Chairman

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has approved the appointment of Mr. Olugbenga Anthony Olaleye as the new chairman for the State Internal Revenue Service, OGIRS.

A renowned accountant, auditor, mortgage banker and tax consultant, a statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Kunle Somorin, said the new OGIRS boss, comes to the job with practice experience spanning more than 34 years.

Somorin said the new OGIRS chairman, “started his career with extensive exposure in Accounting, Audit, and Tax Management Consulting with international firms of Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Arthur Andersen (now KPMG in Nigeria).

“A distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), a Fellow of the Chartered Taxation Institute of Nigeria (FCTI) and a John Maxwell (JMT) certified coach. A well-trained Tax, Accounting and Management professional with highly rated qualifications and professional practice and licenses from relevant professional bodies, Mr Olaleye had his first degree in 1984 from the University of Calabar and was the best graduating student in Mathematic/Education Department.

” He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1989, became a Fellow of ICAN in 1997. He became a Fellow of the Chartered Taxation Institute (FCTI) of Nigeria in 2011. He had two international mini-MBA Certifications from CWC School for Energy and American Management Association (AMA), USA. Gbenga has attended various international and in-country Management Development Programmes with renowned organisations such as Lagos Business School (LBS), Management Centre Europe (MCE), PetroSkills USA, to mention a few, ”, the statements further reads.

Mr Olaleye spent 12-year career with Diageo Plc, the parent company of Guinness Nigeria Plc (GNPlc), working across Africa and the United Kingdom, which further gave him deep and extensive international experience. He was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd. (SAPETRO), an indigenous Upstream Oil & Gas company in Nigeria for over 6 years to April 2016.

His major skills cover almost all areas of Accounting, Auditing, Taxation, Management Consulting, Corporate Finance, Receiverships & Liquidations, Project Evaluation, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Controls & Compliance, Strategic Planning and People Development. He is also culturally sensitive to enabling environment and the people.

The starement said the Governor wishes Mr Gbenga Olaleye a successful tenure as OGIRS chairman.

Teacher arrested for serially raping 15-year-old WAEC candidate in Ogun

Mathew Adebayo, a teacher in a private secondary school, has admitted raping a 15-year-old student on several occasions during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, police have said.

Adebayo has been arrested by the police in Ogun State police “for forcefully having unlawful carnal knowledge” of the victim.

The Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told Ottagistreel that the said teacher was arrested when the proprietress of the unnamed school reported the incident at Sango police station.

The owner of the school had told the police that she got information from one of her SS3 students that “the suspect had been raping her repeatedly since the resumption of the school in preparation for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.”

“She stated further that the said teacher intimidated the victim by telling her that she will not pass the WAEC exams, if she didn’t allow him having sex with her, consequence upon which he has been calling her out of the dormitory in the night and taking her to a classroom where he used to have carnal knowledge of her.”

According to Oyeyemi, when the victim could no longer bear the sexual assault of the “randy teacher”, she reported to the proprietress.

With the report, the DPO of Sango Police Division, CSP Godwin Idehai, reportedly detailed his men to the scene where the suspect was arrested.

Police spokesman said “he has since then made a confessional statement admitting the commission of the crime.”

The victim, it was gathered, has been taken to hospital.

The State Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun has ordered the transfer of the case to the Anti-human trafficking and child labour unit of the State CIID

POLITICS Ogun announces postponement of local govt elections to 2021

Those jostling for the positions of local government chairmen and councillors in Ogun State may have to ‘calm down’ as government of the state said the election will not hold this year 2020, Ottagistreel reports.

The Ogun State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Afolabi Afuape, said the council poll cannot be conducted this year.

According to Afuape, the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) is yet to be constituted by Governor Dapo Abiodun.

After the constitution of OGSIEC, Afuape disclosed that political parties would be given three months notice for the local government election, adding that two additional months would be needed for preparations.

Speaking on Rock City FM, Abeokuta, the Commissioner blamed the delay in the conduct of the council poll on the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it did not allow government to source for the huge amount of money needed for the election.

In his words, Afuape canvassed for the takeover of the local government elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

This, he said, will ensure the conduct of the election within the stipulated time and relieve state governments of the huge fund required for same.

Ottagistreel reports that politicians aspiring to be local government chairmen and councillors have been reaching out to people to make known their ambitions as they thought the election would be conducted soon.

However, Afuape said the state may conduct the council election in the next six months.

At the moment, the 20 local governments in the state are being run by transition committees who were appointed in January by Gov Abiodun.

The three-month tenure of the transition committees, Ottagistreel reports, has been extended two times by the governor, through the approval of the Ogun State House of Assembly.

But, the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the extension of the tenure of the local government caretaker committees as well as the delay in the conduct of the council election.

According to the PDP, the continuous extension of tenure of offices of “such illegal committees” is a calculated attempt to reduce the values of Local Government administration, thereby subjecting it to the whims and caprices of state governors

Mob Attacks Ado-Odo/Ota Council, Injuring Officials After Car Kills Two Persons

Angry mob on Friday attacked Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Council after a Toyota Matrix over a commercial motorcycle, killing two passengers and injuring one in a bid to escape arrest by council officials, derogatively called "Cash am".

An eye witness account told gossip news that the owner of the Toyota car, having been arrested sometimes ago by the council officials who made him to pay N300 for an alleged tan traffic offence, offense wanted to escape when he was forced to stop right in front of the council.

"The driver of the car in a bid to escape the "Cash am" swerved his car to ran away. Unfortunately, he jumped over the road median and hit an oncoming okada with three people on it on the other side of Obafemi Awolowo Way, Okesuna, Ota", a witness claimed.

Gossip news further gathered that the scene attracted mob action, mainly commercial motorcyclists who stormed the council with stones and sticks.

The mob was said to have gone directly to the canopy base of the "Cash am" officials, dragged out some of them and beat, them flat.

Gov Abiodun probes projects awarded by Daniel, Amosun

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has probed the projects and contracts awarded by former Governors Gbenga Daniel and Ibikunle Amosun in the State.

The review of the projects is from 2009 to 2019.

Ottagistreel reports that Daniel ruled Ogun from 2003 to 2011 while Amosun was the helmsman from 2011 to 2019.

The committee set up for the review has submitted its report on Tuesday at the Oke-Mosan Governor’s office, Abeokuta.

Speaking at the occasion, Abiodun disclosed that the committee was mandated to identify all outstanding significant projects in the past 10 years.

This, he declared, was to determine the levels of execution and the quality of work done.

He stated that it was also to ascertain whether or not the contracts were awarded in line with due process.

The committee, Abiodun noted, was also mandated to look into the disbursement pattern and see if same was in line with established process.

According to Abiodun, Ogun State must now be mindful how resources are allocated these days that “resources are scarce”.

He reiterated his resolve to complete all projects that would bring good governance and impact meaningfully on the lives of the people.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Engr Adekunle Mokuolu, reported that a total of 114 contracts, valued at more than N349.376bn was awarded with total payment of more than N130.735bn.

Mokuolu said more than N20.741b was the total amount for Unpaid Certificate of Value for work done.

The Chairman revealed that more than N218.380bn was needed to complete the projects

Ogun criminalises trading in industrial used materials

Ogun State government has said that the newly passed Ogun State Waste Management Law 2020  will put an end to poor handling of industrial wastes which have been identified as a major source of hazardous waste contamination in the state as well as unregulated waste trading among industries.

The Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Environment and Waste Management, Mr Ola Oresanya disclosed this while addressing the virtual general meeting of the Ogun State chapter of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN)

Oresanya said the law has equally made it an offence for industries or producers to trade in discarded or industrial used materials to save people from the problem of contamination and other health hazards.

He noted that only waste collection companies accredited by the newly-established Ogun State Waste Management Authority (OGWAMA) will now be saddled with such responsibility.

The Special Adviser also let it out that Industries and Producers must now provide information on the characteristic of industrial waste, ensure proper storage of wastes within their premises, comply with the principle of duty of care on the environment prior to collection of discarded materials by designated collectors and maintain regular interaction with OGWAMA Client Service Managers on a first responder transaction level.

Mr Oresanya added that the state government through the waste management authority, OGWAMA will provide indemnity clause for protection of discarded materials for industries or producers, prevent flight-tripping and scrapping to protect the brand names and labels, issue regular environmental reports as required and develop reasonable tariff in response to prevailing market prices.

He, therefore, called on the industries and producers through their association to cooperate with the state government as the newly passed law is centred on the principle of circular economy which will encourage responsible industrial production by reducing, reusing and recycling of materials generated during production life cycle as well as promoting best practices in industrial waste management.

NRC to resume Lagos-Ogun route with increased train fares

The Nigeria Railway corporation (NRC)has announced the resumption of Lagos-Ogun Mass Transit Train Services(MTTS) from Monday after five months of suspension to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr. Jerry Oche, the District Manager, NRC, Lagos, made the announcement in a statement on Thursday by Dr. Khadijah Aroyewun–Adekomaiya, the District Public Relations Officer.

Oche said: “NRC is set to resume its Mass Transit Train Services on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. “The resumption is coming after a compulsory shutdown of train operations on March 23, 2020, due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“Following the guidelines set by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the reopening of rail transportation within established parameters, the Nigerian Railway Corporation has made important changes to the delivery of services on its Mass Transit Trains.

“Our MTTS would now cost N460 flat per trip and the trains would no longer stop at some stations.” According to him, trains originating from Ijoko will only stop at Ebute Metta Junction and Iddo stations.

He added that the return trains originating from Iddo would terminate at Ijoko only.

“It is to be noted that the MTT train would leave Ijoko by 6.30 am and Iddo by 17.30 pm. “In strict adherence to NCDC’s guidelines for public engagement, no passengers would be allowed to board the train without a face mask and hand sanitiser.

“This is an addition to the measures the NRC management has taken to ensure proper social distancing while boarding and onboard the MTTS,” Oche added.

According to him, in addition to strict social distancing measures on board the Mass Transit Trains, seats marked ‘X’ are NOT to sit on. Oche ruled out standing or hanging on the train.

“This will not be tolerated. It is to be noted that defaulters of these laid down rules would be prosecuted,” the NRC boss said.

The MTTS flat fares between Iddo in Lagos and Ijoko/Kajola in Ogun had been N230 per trip before services were terminated in March.

The trains originating from Iddo also, before the new rule, usually stopped in various railway stations including Ebute Metta, Yaba, Mushin, Oshodi, Sogunle, Agege, Iju, Agbado, Itoki, Opo Suuru, Ijoko before terminating at Kajola