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Breaking News: Lagos government seals proposed cemetery in Surulere after residents’ protest

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Lagos State Government has sealed a construction site earmarked for a proposed cemetery within a residential area in Bode Thomas, Surulere, following protests from residents of the Natufe/Animashaun community who raised environmental and health concerns.

Residents, who staged a peaceful demonstration on Saturday morning despite heavy rainfall, warned that the establishment of a cemetery in their neighbourhood would contaminate their borehole water and endanger public health.

The protesters, carrying placards with inscriptions such as “No Cemetery in Our Community,” gathered at the site, a large expanse of land bordered by homes, a church, and a school, accusing the developer, identified as Olumide Amure, of disregarding their earlier objections and resuming construction without due consideration for residents’ safety.

Reacting to the development, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, assured residents that the government had taken decisive action to halt the project.

“The burial ground site has been sealed, and no such project will be developed there. The people need not worry,” Omotoso said in a statement on Saturday.

Community leaders said this was not the first time the developer had attempted to site a burial ground in the area. Mrs Omolabake Braimoh, Chairperson of the Natufe/Animashaun Community Development Association, CDA, recalled that residents had previously resisted a similar move two years ago.

“The developer tried it before, and we opposed it. Now he has resumed work, building day and night. We heard he wants to create two cemeteries; one for adults here and another for children nearby. We are not using pipe-borne water; our boreholes are our only source, and this project will contaminate it,” she said.

She added that the CDA had written petitions to the Coker-Aguda Local Council Development Area, LCDA, and would send additional letters to relevant state agencies to ensure the project remains halted.

Also speaking, a former CDA chairman, Mr Olanrewaju Olaniyan, said the community had previously petitioned government authorities, leading to the stoppage of the same developer’s earlier attempt.

“During my tenure, this same developer was stopped after we took the matter from the local government to the state level. We have all the documents. I don’t believe Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu would approve such a project,” Olaniyan stated.

He warned that constructing a cemetery within a densely populated residential area would pose serious health risks.

“Once burials begin here, the groundwater will be polluted, and that will affect everyone. This is not development, it’s an invitation to disaster. The community will resist it again,” he added.

When contacted, Mr Amure, the developer, said he would respond later, but as of the time of filing this report, he had yet to provide a statement or reply to follow-up messages.

Meanwhile, government officials confirmed that the site will remain sealed pending further investigation, reiterating that no cemetery would be allowed within the residential zone.

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POLITICS: Wike-led PDP Faction Takes Over Party Secretariat In Oyo

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Members of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, loyal to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, have taken over the secretariat of the party in Oyo State.

The secretariat, located in the Molete area of Ibadan, was in the custody of the faction loyal to Governor Seyi Makinde of the state until Thursday when the members loyal to Wike took over the premises.

DAILY POST gathered that the PDP members stormed the secretariat on Thursday and occupied the premises with hundreds of members of the party in attendance.

PDP chairman in the state, Professor Abdulrahman Akinoso, confirmed the development to DAILY POST.

Akinoso in a telephone conversation with DAILY POST on Thursday, insisted that the real owners have taken over the premises.

He said, “It is true. It is not faction. It is PDP. We have taken over the premises. It was in the morning. We were there in the morning. We just left the premises. We are now in control. We have taken over the premises.” .…For more, Complete your reading.

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POLITICS: Foreign Recognition Won’t Secure Re-election – ADC Tells Tinubu

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has told President Bola Tinubu that foreign recognition will not secure him another term in office, insisting that Nigerians will judge his administration by its performance, not by diplomatic gestures from other world leaders.

In a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party reacted to the Presidency’s celebration of a purported letter from United States President Donald Trump to Tinubu.

The ADC said presenting the letter as an endorsement of Tinubu’s administration was misleading, stressing that diplomatic correspondence between world leaders is a normal part of international relations.

“The Presidency’s attempt to present President Donald Trump’s letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as though it were a referendum on the state of the nation is not correct,” the party said.

According to the ADC, countries cooperate, leaders exchange views and letters regularly, adding that such communication does not amount to an endorsement of a government’s performance.

The party accused the Tinubu administration of being desperate for international validation instead of focusing on solving Nigeria’s challenges.

“It is apparent that this administration is desperate to seize upon any gesture of international recognition as proof of success at home,” the statement said.

The ADC maintained that “a letter from a foreign president, however well-intentioned, cannot substitute for the verdict of the Nigerian people.”

It added that the true measure of any government is not what foreign leaders say about it, but what citizens experience daily.

The opposition party argued that Trump’s letter had not changed the reality facing millions of Nigerians, especially those affected by insecurity.

“For the millions of Nigerians still living with the consequences of this government’s failures, President Trump’s communication changes nothing. It did not say that insecurity has been overcome or that Nigerians can once again travel freely, farm safely and sleep without fear,” the party stated.

The ADC also pointed to the continued captivity of hundreds of women and children in parts of Borno State and Kaiama in Kwara State, while many communities in Benue and other parts of the country still live in constant fear because of insecurity.

The party further noted that, despite the Presidency’s celebration of the letter, the United States Department of State has not changed its travel advisory for Nigeria.

According to the ADC, several Nigerian states remain under Level 3 and Level 4 travel advisories, with American citizens still being urged to reconsider or avoid travel because of crime, terrorism, kidnapping and civil unrest.

“We therefore wonder how correspondence from a government that designates several Nigerian states as ‘Do Not Travel’ areas can be regarded as an endorsement,” the party said.

It argued that the travel advisory shows the international assessment of Nigeria’s security situation remains different from the image the Presidency is trying to project.

The ADC said Nigerians are more concerned about their safety than diplomatic exchanges between presidents.

“The daily reality of Nigerians is shaped not by diplomatic correspondence, but by the guarantee that they can go about their lives without falling victim to violent crime or terrorism,” it said.

The party stressed that Trump’s letter was simply communication between two presidents and “does not amount to an endorsement of this government’s overall performance.”

It urged the Tinubu administration to focus less on celebrating diplomatic courtesies and more on delivering measurable improvements in the lives of Nigerians.

“Ultimately, Nigerians will not judge this government by the letters it receives from foreign capitals. They will judge it by whether .…For more, Complete your reading.

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