LAGOS—Seven persons were feared dead with several others injured after a truck loaded with 33,000 litres of petroleum product exploded at Ibafo, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express way, Tuesday night. There were different accounts on how the explosion occurred. A version said a tanker, belonging to Total Oil Nigeria Limited, collided with a heavy log, skidded off its lane and fell on the expressway, spilling its content.

ABA—Tragedy struck, yesterday, at a checkpoint mounted by police at Ogbor Hill Waterside Bridge, Aba, Abia State, when a truck’s brakes failed and it rammed into a commercial bus and tricycle, killing a driver and three passengers. Vanguard gathered that three passengers in the bus and driver of the tricycle died on the spot, while five other passengers, who sustained serious injuries, were taken to a nearby hospital.

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has challenged the Federal Government and its security agencies, especially the Army, Navy, DSS, and Police to show evidence of violence or crime committed by IPOB members that justified the gruesome and unwarranted killings of its members and non-members who had shown them solidarity by coming out to watch, each time they were marching on the streets.

There are strong indications that the Federal Government will soon fine-tune the national auto policy introduced three years ago by former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, going by the outcome of the auto stakeholders forum held in Lagos, Monday.

AS Nigeria today joins the recent of the World to mark the Public Service Day, PSD, Organised Labour has called to both the federal and state government to halt further privatization of public enterprises, saying privatization of public enterprises has worsened the nation’s socio-economic woes.

CONTRARY to allegations that he did not only receive the N35.5 billion debt, being share of Virgin Nigeria’s Aviation Intervention Fund, but unilaterally mismanaged the money, former Chairman of defunct Air Nigeria, Jimoh Ibrahim, walked out of a Senate panel a happy man, yesterday, when it was discovered that he was wrongly accused.

SENATE President, Bukola Saraki, said yesterday that he knew nothing about the alleged forgery of the 2015 Standing Rules, saying he was simply a senator-elect, prior to the inauguration of the 8th Senate.

There were indications in Abuja, yesterday, that the Federal Government may have given the go-ahead to the new Acting Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to clean up the top hierarchy of the Police Force.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday, opened its discount window in apparent bid to save the banking system from scarcity of funds which sent interbank interest rate to 74 percent at the close of business.

IF you examine the battle of wits between President Muhammadu Buhari and his most outspoken critic, Governor Peter Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, you will see yet another déjà vu of Nigerian politics; a theatre of the absurd where the same drama sketch is repeated at different epochs but not necessarily by the same thespian talents.

This is the day about which the supremest sacrifice was paid by ‘one’, so that the tree that is dear to us all –of our democracy- may thrive. He that shall witness this day from hence should, yearly, remind his neighbors and his friends; and say to them ‘this is the 12th day of June’, the day that the gods themselves, of ‘democracy’ hath made.

THE High Court II, Maitama, Abuja, has admitted the confessional statement made by suspected killers of 39-year-old businessman, Tony Eze, in the Federal Capital Territory, two years ago.

THE controversial bill for the establishment of a National Grazing Reserves Agency for Fulani herdsmen, yesterday, reappeared before the Senate and scaled the first reading.

GOVERNOR Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has awarded tertiary education scholarship to 17 students, who performed very well in the May/June 2015 West African School Certificate Examination, WASCE.

The APC has initiated its move to puncture the unity in the PDP through alleged plans to woo the second runner-up in last Monday’s primary, Dr. Solomon Edbiri. The APC candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Vanguard learnt yesterday, visited Mr. Edebiri in his Benin home on Tuesday, a day after the PDP primary.