Lekki Gardens MD Arrested over Collapse Building

The Managing Director of Lekki Gardens, Mr. Richard Nyong, have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for the collapse of a five-storeyed building under construction on Kushenla Road, Ikate Elegushi, Lagos State. The collapse was said to have killed no fewer than 35 persons.

It was learnt that 34-year-old Nyong was apprehended on Thursday.

One of the contractors handling the project, Odofin Taiwo, was arrested on Wednesday.

The building had crumbled around 3am on Tuesday with several workers trapped in the rubble.

It was reported that the state government had sealed the building, which was originally designed to be a three-storeyed structure.

“In a brazen act of defiance and impunity, the owners of the building, Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited, the promoters of Lekki Gardens, criminally unsealed the property and continued building beyond the approved floors until the unfortunate incident of Tuesday which has led to loss of lives,” a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde had read.

The Lagos State Police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest.

She said, “The MD, Lekki Gardens, Mr. Richard Nyong, has been arrested. He is in custody and will soon be charged to court.”

Court Bar SSS, Other Security Agents from Arresting Sanusi Lamido pending plea

A court has issued an order on security agencies, barring them from arresting suspended Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi, after he was briefly detained and his passport seized at the airport, a document viewed by Reuters showed.

Justice Buba Ibrahim issued the order on Friday, after Sanusi complained that his detention had breached his right to freedom of movement, since he had not yet been charged with committing the financial malpractices for which he was suspended.

President Goodluck Jonathan suspended Sanusi on Thursday, removing an outspoken critic of his government’s record on corruption, citing “acts of financial recklessness”.

Since the suspension, presidential spokesman Reuben Abati has accused the central bank of procurement irregularities during Sanusi’s tenure, most of them dating back to 2011.

Sanusi, who was due to end his term in June, had been presenting evidence to parliament that he said showed the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to pay $20 billion it owed to federal government coffers, fueling suspicion his arrest was meant to silence him.

The presidency denies it was politically motivated.

NNPC has repeatedly denied Sanusi’s allegations, which brought the bank governor into conflict with Jonathan’s administration a year before the presidential elections.

The court ruling will remain in place until a case Sanusi brought alleging violation of his human rights in his brief airport detention, has been decided, the judge said.

That case will continue on February 28.

Sanusi’s suspension caused panic in the markets, with the naira falling to record lows, as foreign investors sold off bonds, money and stocks.