Headlines
Monday Morning Rain Wreaks Havoc in Lagos, Environs, Destroys Buildings, Others
A downpour that lasted about two hours, on Monday, wreaked havoc on different parts of Lagos and Ogun states, destroying property and telecommunications infrastructure, and uprooting trees.
Many residents of the two states could not go about their daily businesses as a result of flood that accompanied the heavy rainfall.
The downpour, which began around 9.30am, forced many residents to stay indoors, while others, who took the risk to leave their houses, got stuck in traffic and at various bus stops.
PUNCH Metro learnt that two buildings partially collapsed in the Abule Egba and Ladipo areas of Lagos, while trees fell on roads and vehicles in different parts of Lagos and Ogun states.
Our correspondents learnt that the roofs of several buildings, including those of two classrooms at a primary school in the Ayede area of Ogun State, were blown off by the rainstorm.
A source, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, stated that the incident destabilised the pupils.
She said, “The rain affected two classrooms in one of the buildings in the school and the pupils were unable to carry on with their studies, because the classrooms were flooded.
“The roof of the building was just fixed by the school management after several complaints to the state government. We reported the case last year when the roof was leaking, but the government did nothing until the management raised money to fix it and now the rain has spoilt it again. We hope that the incoming governor will help us to fix it and do more in the education sector.”
Another victim of the downpour, who identified himself simply as Johnson, stated, “The strong wind that accompanied the rain destroyed a billboard around the Sango tollgate area and blew off the roofs of six houses.
“The rain also destroyed some kiosks around the Singer bus stop, Ijako, Ogun State.
“There was traffic at the Iyana Ilogbo area of the state because of the water that filled the potholes, which Julius Berger refused to fix, and this caused drivers to drive slowly, which resulted in heavy traffic.
“Some electric poles fell in the Ifo area of the state, which will make some areas not to have power supply.”
A businessman in the Ikeja area of Lagos, Longimus Onye, who lamented the delay in displaying his wares because of the rain, expressed optimism of making a profit for the day.
“Because of the rain, I could not display my wares on time but I hope people will still come out and buy, but I want to urge the government to fill the potholes on the road from Agege to Ikeja in order to reduce the traffic problem,” he said.
The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Adesina Tiamiyu, confirmed the partial collapse of some buildings as well as trees being uprooted due to the rainfall.
He, however, noted that no life was lost.
Tiamiyu stated, “What we had around Lagos today (Monday) were the wreckages of the heavy rain and windstorm. We had trees falling all over the place in Ikoyi, Alausa, Ikeja GRA and some part of Agege Motor Road, and we sent out our team together with the Lagos State Parks and Gardens officials to cut them into pieces and pack them off the road.
“We also had records of accidents caused by low visibility, but no life was lost in all the occurrences.”
According to the Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency, Sanusi Abdulateef, the rainy season comes with a lot of emergencies similar to what happened on Monday, adding that officials of the agency were on top of the situation to restore normalcy in the affected areas.
He said, “We have been up and doing since morning, because we had envisaged this kind of problem, and what we did was to divide the state into six regions. Each region is being managed by an emergency team.
“If you look around now, 80 per cent of the trees have been removed from the roads to put an end to the gridlock. Where we have not been able to evacuate the trees, we have put them away from the roads.
“The rainy season is accompanied by windstorm and once there is windstorm, it comes with a lot of emergencies like fallen trees and slashing of tree branches. We are on top of the situation and we are still on the road monitoring the activities of our operators. We have done it in Ogba, Victoria Island, Ikoyi and other places; by noon tomorrow (Tuesday), everything must have been evacuated from the roads.”
The state government, in a statement jointly signed by the Permanent Secretaries, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Fola Adeyemi, and Ministry of the Environment, Abiodun Bamgboye, urged Lagos residents to remain calm, adding that Monday’s experience was as a result of climate change.
The statement read in part, “Sometimes when it rains, we are likely to have flash-floods on our roads as it sometimes happens in other parts of the world, but the relief here is that the flash-floods will disappear in a couple of hours.
“We want to assure Lagosians that relevant government agencies like the Drainage Services Department, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency have been put on red alert to adequately respond to any unforeseen occurrence during rain of high intensity as well as cart away fallen trees, electricity poles and confront other emergencies during the rain.
“Similarly, the Lagos State Public Works Corporation is already on the ground to clean the drainage channels, drainage setbacks and other road debris.”
The Punch
Iran’s military, on Saturday, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed again, hours after reopening it and with more than a dozen commercial ships passing through the vital waterway.
The toing and froing over the strait cast doubt on US President Donald Trump’s optimism the day before, that a peace deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran was “very close”.
Tehran had on Friday declared the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, open on Friday after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon to halt Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
That prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, but with Trump insisting that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was concluded, Tehran threatened to shutter the strait once more.
Then, late on Saturday morning, citing a statement from military central command, Iranian state TV reported that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous status” and “is under strict management and control of the armed forces”, blaming the continued US blockade.
The announcement came as maritime tracking sites showed several ships making a dash through the narrow waterway, hugging close to Iranian territorial waters as instructed by Tehran and, for some, broadcasting their identity as Indian or Chinese in an apparent attempt to show their neutrality.
The same sites showed that late on Friday, a number of ships began heading for the strait before suddenly turning back amid the uncertainty.
By 0900 GMT on Saturday, several ships had fully transited the strait in both directions, but at least two tankers headed eastwards from the Gulf towards India after loading in UAE ports appeared to have turned around and aborted their journeys.
There are just four days remaining before the end of the two-week ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran, launched by Washington and its ally on February 28.
Nevertheless, President Trump appeared convinced that a deal could be finished shortly.
He declared Friday “GREAT AND BRILLIANT,” and made a series of social media posts praising talks mediator Pakistan.
Islamabad’s powerful military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, on Saturday finished a three-day visit to Iran aimed at securing the peace deal, during which he met Iran’s top leadership.
While Munir was in Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to push the peace process.
Islamabad has emerged as the lead mediator during the conflict, hosting a marathon round of direct peace talks last weekend attended by US Vice President JD Vance.
A second round of talks is expected in the Pakistani capital this coming week, with envoys hoping to end the war that was started by the US and Israel on February 28.
The allies launched a massive wave of surprise attacks on Iran, despite Washington and Tehran being engaged in diplomatic talks, that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and numerous senior leaders.
The war rapidly spread across the region, with Iran targeting US interests in the Gulf and Hezbollah dragging Lebanon into the conflict by launching rockets at Israel.
In a sign that the two-week ceasefire remained stable, Iran’s civil aviation agency declared its airspace was open again, with international flights able to transit Iran via the east of the country.
Nevertheless, two major sticking points in the peace talks — Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and the future of the Strait of Hormuz — appeared up in the air.
Speaking by phone with AFP on Friday, Trump said “we’re very close to having a deal,” adding that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran.
Later the same day, at an event in Arizona, the president declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its 440 or so kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent — close to that needed for a bomb.
“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” he said.
But hours before, Iran’s foreign ministry had said its stockpile, thought to be buried deep under rubble by US bombing in last June’s 12-day war, was not going anywhere.
“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.
“Transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
Ordinary Iranians, meanwhile, remained cut off from the international internet, with monitor netblocks announcing on Saturday that the blackout implemented at the start of the war had reached its 50th day.
AFP
Veteran journalist and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has declared that a joint presidential ticket between Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi represents the strongest strategy for the opposition to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television, Momodu said the emerging ADC coalition is gaining momentum as a credible alternative to President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which he accused of promoting “one-man rule” and weakening democratic institutions.
Momodu argued that an Atiku–Obi ticket offers both experience and electoral appeal, noting that both politicians already command significant national followings from previous elections. He recalled their collaboration in 2019, adding that Obi’s performance in the 2023 presidential election provides a ready base of supporters that can be consolidated.
According to him, the coalition is further strengthened by the involvement of political heavyweights such as Rabiu Kwankwaso and Rotimi Amaechi, making it a formidable opposition alliance.
“The candidates who placed second, third, and even fourth are aligning. That naturally builds a strong challenge,” Momodu said, suggesting that this development could unsettle the APC ahead of 2027.
He also accused the Tinubu administration of centralising power and undermining democratic processes, claiming that key institutions—including the legislature and electoral system—are increasingly influenced by the executive arm of government. He warned that such a trend poses risks to Nigeria’s democracy.
Momodu further alleged that opposition parties face systemic obstacles, including difficulties in accessing venues, legal pressures, and institutional interference. He argued that these challenges have made opposition unity not just strategic, but necessary.
Dismissing concerns about possible cracks within the ADC coalition, Momodu described such fears as speculative, insisting that current political realities have effectively forced major opposition figures to work together.
The Supreme Court has scheduled hearing for April 22 in the appeal filed by the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Senator David Mark, in relation to the leadership dispute in the party.
Mark’s appeal is against the March 12 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal against the September 4, 2025 ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja refusing to grant some injunctive reliefs contained in an ex-parte application filed by a chieftain of the party, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba chose the date on Tuesday after granting accelerated hearing in the appeal marked: SC/CV/180/2026.
The court ordered Mark’s lawyer, Jibril Okutepa (SAN) to file the appellant’s brief and serve on Wednesday.
It ordered the respondents to each file and serve on the appellant, a respondent’s brief within three days of being served with the appellant’s brief.
The appellant, according to the court, is to file a reply brief, if needs be, within one day of being served with the respondents’ briefs.
