Emerging reports suggests that the vice
principal, a teacher and 2 students of
Government Model College at the Igbonla
area of Epe have been released from the
den of those who kidnapped them. Lagos model college Igbonla An 11-man gang had last week stormed
Government Model College at the Igbonla area
of Epe and abducted two students, their vice principal and a teacher. The release came following the expiration of
the 24 hours ultimatum given by the kidnappers of two students, the vice principal and a teacher from the secondary school
located in Epe, Lagos.
According to This Day, the victims were
released at about 10.30pm in yet to be
ascertained circumstances. Although it was yet to be confirmed, it was
gathered that the family of one abducted student who was sick, had paid N1 million ransom as requested by the kidnappers. It was also gathered that the other families did
not pay a dime. The police has confirmed the release, but are
yet to make a formal statement. Meanwhile, to beef up security at the
community level, Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode of Lagos state on Tuesday said no
fewer than 5,000 men and women would be
recruited to Neighbourhood Watch – the state
grass roots security outfit. Ambode, who spoke at the ‘2016 3rd Quarter
Town Hall Meeting’ of his administration at the
Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, added that
the new recruits would earn at least N25,000
monthly, apart from other allowances. He said the Neighbourhood Safety Agency Bill
which he signed into law on August 15, 2016,
was part of efforts to institutionalise and
deepen community policing in the state. “There is a law that has just been passed which
is the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps
Law, 2016. We will make sure that this agency
is activated and our neighbourhoods are
secured. We will provide NW with all the
necessary equipment and resources to ensure that we establish what we call community
policing and that is the way to go. “We will rebrand and re-equip the NW to the
level that each NW officer in all the local
government areas will have their vehicles and
necessary equipment to complement security.
We are working on employing additional 5,000
NW officers and they will be paid by us, while the basic salary for the entrance level will be
N25, 000 per month,” the governor said. According to The Punch, Ambode said the
government would begin the disbursement of
N25bn Employment Trust Fund (ETF) to
beneficiaries by next week. Ambode added that the N500m Lagos State
Persons Living with Disability Fund was also
ready for beneficiaries. The governor explained that the ETF and the
disability funds were to assist youths, artisans
and the needy to become self-reliant. He said: “We will roll out all our empowerment
programmes to assist our youths, artisans and
the needy. The funds have been provided and
the beneficiaries will start getting support from
this quarter.” Ambode disclosed that the state’s budget
performance from January to September was
69 per cent as against 65 per cent for the same
period in 2015. He said a total of N166.8bn had been spent on
capital projects in 2016, which he said was
more than the N53.6bn spent for the same
period in 2015. He expressed optimism that despite the
recession, the state’s economy would remain
on sound footing if capital expenditure
spending was increased. “In this quarter, we will concentrate more
resources on capital projects. We will put
money in the hands of our local contractors
and through them, stimulate the economy.
Immediate payments will be made to
contractors handling health and education sectors projects within the next two weeks,”
Ambode added.
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