EXACTLY one year after the demolition of over 1,000 houses belonging to residents of Atinporomeh Central, Aiyedotun and Ajagbe Community Development Areas, CDAs, in Badagry area of Lagos, allegedly by the Nigerian Police Force, NPF and their assigned contractors, the people have continued to lament the untold hardship they have been subjected to by the activities of the law enforcement agents.

ONE of the most salient things to notice in most streets in Lagos is the banner advertising the street carnivals coming up during this Yuletide season. Most of the carnival are held between the last week of December and first week of January.

All has not been well with Mr and Mrs Ariajiegbe Anthony, indigenes of Ewatto, in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, following the mysterious disappearance of their seven-year-old daughter, Christable. The girl, according to the parents, went missing on November 25 when she walked to a maternity home in the community while playing, but which authorities are denying the claim while the police in the area have refused to listen to their plea to carry out investigation.

TWO friends, Seun Agagu and Gbenga Adedipe, are cooling their feet at the Ondo State Police Command headquarters for allegedly stealing a goat to celebrate the birthday party of one of them.

PORT HARCOURT: Idama, in AkukuToru local government area of Rivers state is a major oil producing community in the Niger Delta. It is a host community to Chevron and an impact community to Shell. Sadly inspite of the huge oil resource generated from the community the area can hardly boast of appreciable government presence.

As usual, fun seekers converged at a drinking joint which also served as viewing centre in Umusigide Obollo Etiti community in Udenu Local government area of Enugu state, last Sunday, cheering and throwing banters, without the slightest inkling that danger lurked ahead.

Commercial motorcyclists popularly known as ‘Okada riders’ are back on Lagos roads and I know why. They are back without number plates, without headlamps, without helmets, without scruples, without regard for rules. Their glances are furtive, their ways menacing, they dart carelessly freely and stop abruptly. There is something clandestine about their re-emergence and they betray a suspicion that they will be around on the prohibited routes only for a short while.

The unfortunate gas explosion which hit Babson Gas Nigeria Limited, a gas outlet located beside Saint Thomas’ Anglican Church, Arakale area of Akure metropolis, last Saturday, may have come and gone, but owners of the over 42 shops razed in the raging inferno are still counting their losses, waiting endlessly for help to come their way.

With less than one week to Christmas, the major bus terminals in the country have become beehiveS of activities as people relocate to the hinterlands to celebrate the season with their loved ones. The irony is that some of those who embark on such travels, end up in the morgues as a result of motor accidents.

The Yuletide season is here again, with preparation towards its celebration on top gear. Most people around the globe are basking in the euphoria of the celebration of one of the most celebrated season, Christmas!

The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA has recovered relief materials allegedly diverted by a transporter in Gombe state. The Agency said it has distributed the materials directly to victims of windstorm in Bangoba community of Kakara in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State for whom they were meant.

A YEAR after the Lagos State Government released a white paper to checkmate the storage and sale of firecrackers; there was still no dull moment at the Lagos Island markets where these products were sold especially as the Yuletide draws near.

Wale Ogunjimi and his fiancee, Roseline Barnabas recently got what they never bargained for. Two weeks to their wedding, they were robbed at gun point at the popular Idumota market where they had gone to do the shopping for their wedding, The windscreen and windows of their Honda Civic car were smashed by the die-hard robbers who dispossessed them of their phones, I-Pad and ATM cards.

THE auditorium of Quorra, at the Naval Training Command, Apapa , Lagos was a beehive of activities last Wednesday, as women later discovered to be widows of fallen naval personnel thronged to the venue.

TOWARDS the end of every year, the nation is besieged with a different kind of weather. The weather, which comes during the Yuletide season usually comes with it excitement in the air.