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VOL. 7, NO. 1969 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2011
TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH
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Chaos on Abuja-Lokoja road •Eight-hour traffic jam as police stop ex-militants From Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja
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LONG row of vehicles, anxious passengers and angry youths: it was bedlam yesterday on the Lokoja –Abuja road. Some youths, who described themselves as former Niger Delta militants, in luxury buses heading for Abuja were stopped by the police who barred them from going on with their trip “for security reasons”. The scene was the Jameta Toll Grate, a few minutes away from Lokoja, the Kogi State capital. The youths insisted on going ahead, their vehicles blocking the ever-busy Continued on page 2
Okonjo-Iweala explains N3.6tr fuel subsidy From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja
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HERE may have been some fraud in the payment of N3.655 trillion as subsidy to fuel importers, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said yesterday. Dr Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the co-ordinating Minister for the Economy yesterday said the Federal Government was aware “there may Continued on page 2
•Some soldiers controlling traffic at the trouble spot ... yesterday
PHOTO: MOHAMMED BASHIR
OPC stages anti-Boko Haram protest in Lagos Panic grips motorists, pedestrians as guns boom
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•Fasehun
EMBERS of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) yesterday caused a stir in Lagos as they marched on the city. They were protesting against the general insecurity in the country, especially the terrorist activities of the Boko Haram (Western education is sin), OPC leader Dr Frederick Fasehun said. The socio-cultural organisation’s members who turned out in a large
By Jude Isiguzo and Titilayo Bamjoko
numbers –estimated to be almost a thousand – marched from the old toll gate through Ojota, Maryland, Ikorodu Road and Ojuelegba to the National Stadium where the procession terminated with a rally. As they marched on the major highway, they brandished guns and other weapons. They shot sporadi-
cally into the air, causing panic and fear among pedestrians and motorists. The long procession was trailed by a long convoy of vehicles inside which some of the OPC members sat, according to eye witnesses. The traffic build-up on the eighthome Ikorodu Road extended to other parts of the city, disrupting movement. At Maryland, the OPC members
had an encounter with some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) and some policemen who refused their attempt to drive against the traffic. Again, there was shooting by the OPC members. Some motorists abandoned their vehicles and fled because they mistook the OPC men for armed robContinued on page 2
•BRAND P15 •AGRIC P17 •SPORT P24 •SOCIETY P29 •POLITICS P45