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Police Arrest Suspected Shooter At US Independence Day Parade

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Police arrested a suspect on Monday after a mass shooting left six dead at a US Independence Day parade in a wealthy Chicago suburb, casting a dark shadow over the country’s most patriotic holiday.

Robert Crimo, 22, was identified as a “person of interest” and became the target of a massive manhunt across the town of Highland Park in Illinois, where a rooftop gunman with a high-powered rifle turned a family-focused July 4 parade celebration into a scene of death and trauma.

Firing into the holiday crowd, the shooter caused scenes of total chaos as panicked onlookers ran for their lives, leaving behind a parade route strewn with chairs, abandoned balloons, and personal belongings.

Emergency officials said around two dozen people, including children, were treated for gunshot injuries, with some in critical condition.

After a brief car chase, Crimo was taken into custody “without incident,” Highland Park police chief Lou Jogmen told reporters.

Earlier, police had warned that he was armed and “very dangerous.”

Crimo bills himself as a musician, and goes by the online moniker “Awake the Rapper”.

The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence plaguing the United States, where approximately 40,000 deaths a year are caused by firearms, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

And it cast a pall over America’s Independence Day, in which towns and cities across the country hold similar parades and people — many dressed in variations on the US flag — hold barbecues, attend sports events and gather for firework displays.

In another July 4 shooting, two police officers were wounded when they came under fire during a fireworks display in Philadelphia, major US news outlets reported.

CBS News aired a video taken from a high-rise building showing crowds fleeing in panic as fireworks burst in the sky. The circumstances of that shooting were not immediately known and police were not reachable Monday night.

In Highland Park, Emily Prazak, who marched in the parade, described the mayhem.

“We were getting ready to march down the street and then all the sudden waves of these people started running after, like running towards us. And right before that happened, we heard the pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, and I thought it was fireworks,” Prazak told AFP.

She added: “This is the day that we celebrate our country. This is also a day that our freedom got stolen from us, because many of us residents here, in this building even, we’re all locked down.”

Spectators ‘targeted’

Don Johnson, who attended the parade, said he initially thought the gunshots were a car backfiring.

“And finally, I heard the screams from a block down and people running and carrying their kids and everything, and we ran into the gas station, and we were in there for three hours,” he told AFP.

“I’ve seen scenes like this over and over again on the TV and in different communities, and didn’t think it was going to happen here ever,” he said.

Police officials said the shooting began at 10:14 am when the parade was approximately three-quarters of the way through.

“It sounds like spectators were targeted… So, very random, very intentional, and very sad,” said Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli.

Five of the six people killed, all adults, died at the scene. The sixth was taken to the hospital but succumbed to wounds there.

Dr. Brigham Temple of Highland Park Hospital, where most of the victims were taken, said it had received 25 people with gunshot wounds aged eight to 85.

“Four or five” children were among them, he said, and that 16 people were later discharged.

Police said the shooter used a “high-powered rifle,” and “firearm evidence” had been located on the rooftop of a nearby business.

“All indications is he was discreet, he was very difficult to see,” said Covelli.

US media reported that Crimo’s online postings included violent content that alluded to guns and shootings. His YouTube and other social media accounts were not viewable Monday night.

One YouTube video posted eight months ago features images of a young man in a bedroom and a classroom along with cartoons of a gunman and people being shot, the Chicago Tribune reported.

A voice-over says “I need to just do it.”

It adds: “It is my destiny. Everything has led up to this. Nothing can stop me, not even myself,” the newspaper said.

309 mass shootings so far

President Joe Biden voiced his shock and vowed to keep fighting “the epidemic of gun violence” sweeping the country.

“I’m not going to give up,” he said.

Last week, Biden signed the first significant federal bill on gun safety in decades, just days after the Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a fundamental right to carry a handgun in public.

The deeply divisive debate over gun control was reignited by two massacres in May that saw 10 Black supermarket shoppers gunned down in upstate New York and 21 people, mostly young children, slain at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 309 mass shootings carried out in the US so far in 2022, including at least three others on July 4, though without any fatalities.

Credit: AFP

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Inflation: Real Reason Indomie Reduced Prices Of Popular Staple Food Item Revealed

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In the face of mounting inflationary pressures in Nigeria, Indomie Instant Noodles, a major brand under Dufil Prima Foods Limited, has announced a substantial price cut to ensure affordability for consumers.

The move was made to preserve availability to this well-liked essential food item in response to the growing economic difficulties that Nigerians were facing.

And this is supported by a recent survey that was carried out at a number of Lagos-based stores and found that the costs of Indomie goods had significantly dropped. When compared to the previous month, the price of the 70g pack of Indomie Regular Chicken noodles dropped to N250.

Additionally, the price of a 40-pack carton of Indomie dropped from N12,000 to N10,000 within the same timeframe. Prior to this adjustment, Indomie’s prices had surpassed those of competing brands such as Mimee (N200) and Honeywell noodles (N250).

Temitope Ashiwaju, the group corporate communications & event manager at Dufil Prima Foods Limited, attributed the price reduction to favourable changes in operational costs.

He emphasized the company’s commitment to passing on benefits to consumers, stressing their dedication to fairness and affordability.

“We are never going to be taking advantage of the populace. We want to make profit, but in a fair way,” the spokesman added. “That is why we are determined to keep our products affordable to Nigerians.”

Contrary to speculations suggesting low patronage as the driving factor behind the price adjustment, Ashiwaju reaffirmed that the decision was rooted in the company’s ethos of customer-centricity and fairness.

Industry experts have hailed Dufil Prima’s move as influential, predicting a ripple effect that could prompt other brands to follow suit because Indomie’s dominant position in the market has positioned it as a price setter, prompting expectations for broader shifts in pricing strategies across the industry.

The price reduction by Indomie comes amidst a backdrop of economic challenges in Nigeria, characterized by soaring inflation rates.

Over the past nine months, Nigeria has witnessed a steady rise in headline inflation, driven primarily by government reforms such as the removal of petrol subsidy and naira devaluation.

As a result, food inflation has surged, exacerbating the financial strain on households and leading to an increase in poverty levels.

Despite these economic headwinds, a recent report by Euromonitor International indicates robust growth in the sales value of noodles within Nigeria’s formal market.

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Lagos State Government Disburses N4.48bn In Pension Benefits To Retirees

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  • Governor Sanwo-Olu Upholds Commitment to Pensioners’ Welfare with Timely pay

 

The Lagos state government on Thursday, March 28, paid a total of N4.48 billion in pensions to 1,455 retirees for the month of March.

The payment was given at the Lagos State Pension Commission’s (LASPEC) 104th retirement bonds certificate presentation.

When LASPEC paid N3.2 billion in accrued pensions to 1,013 retirees during the 103rd retirement bonds certificate ceremony in February, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had promised to pay at least N4 billion in March.

To settle all pending accrued pensions by the middle of the year, the governor guaranteed that the state government would pay an additional N3 billion in April.

While he acknowledged the backlog in the payment of accrued rights, Sanwo-Olu noted: “Our attention is focused on systematically eliminating the backlog.”

He also expressed optimism about the actualisation of the government’s dream of a “Pay-As-You-Go” model before his term ended.

At the presentation, LASPEC Director-General, Babalola Obilana, said that the monies were released for civil personnel who retired before the start of the Contributory Pension Scheme in 2007.

Obilana expressed gratitude to Sanwo-Olu for his steadfast dedication to the well-being of the state’s residents.

The governor, he pointed out, had consistently placed pensioners’ interests first and supported measures to lessen their financial difficulties.

He assured that by mid-2024, retirees from the state would receive their benefits as they departed from government employment, emphasising that the governor had kept his word to clear all pension arrears.

Obilana said: “On behalf of Gov. Sanwo-Olu and the entire Lagos State Government, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you present at this memorable event.

“Lagos State is thankful for your accomplishments and the enduring contributions you have made throughout your distinguished careers.

“You have exemplified the values that define Lagos State – integrity, commitment, and excellence.

“Your dedication and hard work have contributed to the dream of a `Greater Lagos’.

You are a source of inspiration for us all. Your legacy will undoubtedly continue to resonate within the public service.”

LASPEC DG further urged retirees to be cautious of fraudsters and choose suitable pension investments. He highlighted the transition from professional life to leisure and hoped their future would be full of happiness and fulfillment from a rewarding professional life.

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Federal Government To Grant Mining Licenses To Only Companies That Process Locally

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Nigeria will only grant new mining licences to companies that present a plan on how minerals would be processed locally, under new guidelines being developed, a government spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

This is a departure from Nigeria’s long-standing practice of exporting raw commodities, as governments around Africa work to increase the value derived from their substantial mineral reserves.

To spur investment, Nigeria will offer investors incentives including tax waivers for importing mining equipment, make it easier to secure electricity generation licences, allow full repatriation of profits and boost security, Segun Tomori, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s minister of solid minerals development said.

“In exchange, we have to review their plans for setting up a plant and how they would add value to the Nigerian economy,” Tomori said. He did not say when the guidelines would be finalised or come into effect.

However, last week the minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, said it was now government policy to make value addition a condition for obtaining licences so as to create jobs and help local communities.

Alake, who also chairs an African mining strategy group comprising mining ministers from Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia, is pushing for a continent-wide effort to get maximum local benefit from mineral exploration.

Nigeria, Africa’s top energy producer, has struggled to extract value from its vast mineral resources due to poor incentives and neglect. The underdeveloped mining sector contributes less than 1% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Last year Nigeria exported mostly tin ore and concentrates worth about 137.59 billion naira ($108.34 million), mainly to China and Malaysia, according to the country’s statistics bureau.

The government aims to drive more investment into the sector by issuing more licenses. It has set up a state-owned solid minerals corporation offering investors a 75% stake and established a special security unit tasked with fighting illegal miners.

The government is also trying to regulate artisanal miners, who dominate the sector, by grouping them into cooperatives.

Foreign mining companies operating in Nigeria include Canada-based Thor Explorations which is involved in gold exploration, Chinese-owned Xiang Hui International Mining which partnered with a local company to process gold, and Indian-owned African Natural Resources and Mines, which is building a $600m iron ore processing plant in northern Nigeria.

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