Readers’ comments on Of journalists’ deaths, security lapses and cut-throat taxes, by Hassan Gimba

Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaihir raji’un! May Allah have mercy upon their souls and grant them Aljanna Firdausi. My condolences to you and through you, to the entire Neptune Prime family as well as Borno journalists. – Governor Mai Mala Buni.

Inna lil Lah, wa inna ilahirraji’un! May Allah forgive their shortcomings and grant them aljannah firdausi, amen. My sincere condolences, and may Allah give you the courage and fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. – SK Usman

Please accept our sincere condolences. – Eng Suleiman Bah Gimba, Magajin Garin Fika

May Allah forgive them. Ameen. – Ibrahim Sheme

May Almighty Allah forgive her shortcomings and dwell her soul in Aljannat firdausi. – Shu’aibu Usman Leman

Innalillahi Wa Innailaihir Raji’un. May Allah be merciful to her. May he forgive all her shortcomings and reward her with al-Jannah Firdausi. May Allah give all of us the fortitude to bear this huge loss to the pen profession once again, just a few days after we lost our VOA North East reporter and the NUJ State Chairman, Haruna Dauda Biu. Our hearts and prayers are with their families at this moment of grief. Amin Yahaiyyu Yaqaiyuum Yazuljalal Walikram. – Medina Dauda

Allah Ya jikan ta da rahama. Sannu Hassan. My condolences to you and the family. – Hadizatu Mustapha

InnalilLahi wa inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allah (SWT) forgive them their sins and accept them into Jannatul Firdaus. Please accept my condolences. – Barrister Farida Kera

InnalilLahi wa inna IlaiHir rajiun! May God forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. Amin. – Ibrahim Isa

Please accept my deepest condolences, may Allah rest her soul and make aljanna her abode. – Zare Baba

May Allah repose her soul in Jannah. My sincere condolences to the Management and staff of Neptune Prime. – Yahaya Abdulrahman

May Allah forgive her and bless what she left behind. – Faithful Saadatu Musa

May her soul rest in peace. – Peace Sally Abu

Ahh!! May her gentle soul rest in peace. – Choji Ruth

So sad. God rest your souls. – Oluwasanjo Razak Ahmed

Rest in peace. My condolences to their families. – Juanita Candotan

May Allah forgive their sins and make death a blessing for them. – Khadija Alee

May Allah forgive them. – Hadiza Adamu

May Allah forgive them. – Hauwa Maina Gimba

Chai! Amina Alhassan. So you’re gone! – Celestine Okafor

May her soul rest in peace. – Tabita Burha

May the precious souls of Amina Alhassan Ahman and Haruna Dauda Biu rest eternally in perfect peace in the bosom of God Almighty.

Verily, the scriptures proclaim, “When the righteous rule, the people rejoice.”

We can only pray for the intervention of our merciful God Almighty, our creator, to pave the way for his anointed to come to the rescue, to liberate the people from injustice, oppression and exploitation. Amen. – Tongha Fiubode

Ayyah, what a loss! May Allah admit them into Jannatul Firdaus. – Princess Teemah Paga

May her soul rest in peace with the Lord. – Anna Nasara

May her soul rest in peace. – Nelson Iyobosa Aimienoho

May her soul rest in peace. – Amina Abdullahi

May Allah grant her Aljannatul Fiddausi. – Mairo Hassan

OMG! May her soul rest in God’s bosom. – Maureen Linus

May her soul rest in peace. – Hauwa Maina Gimba

May Allah forgive them their sins and admit them into Al-Jannah Firdaus. – Maimuna Muhammad Babangida

Allahumma gafirlaha wa rahamha. – Mohammed Jankoli

May Allah forgive them. – Hadiza Narogo Ishaq

May Allah forgive them, ameen. – Altine Junior

May Allah forgive all her shortcomings, and may Jannatul Firdaus be her final destination. My condolences, sir. – Usman Idriss

Allahu Akbar. Allahumma agfirlaha warhamha ba’adaha. – Hafsat Idriss

Allahummagh firlaha warhamha. – Ahmad Gimba

Rest in peace. – Daniel Ochekawo Ondugbe Achadu

May Almighty Allah forgive her shortcomings, Ya Hayyu, Qa qayyum. – Usman Ibrahim

May the Almighty Allah grant her eternal rest and admit her into Aljannatil Firdausi. – Saleh Inusa

May Allah (SWT) forgive her her sins and admit her into al-Jannah Firdaus. – Mohammed Umaru Sulyman

May Allah (SWT) forgive her and admit her into al-Jannah Firdaus. – Hafsatu Muhammad

Innā lilLaah wa innā ilaiHi rājiūn. May Allah forgive her shortfalls and grant her Jannah. – Abdul-Aziz J. Maisamari

May Almighty Allah forgive her and grant her Jannatul Firdaus. – Sadiq Farashis

Inna lilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allah SWT forgive her shortcomings and grant her Al Jannatil Firdaus. Ameen. – Hassan Madu Fika

Allah mata rahama, may her soul rest in Jannatul Firdaus. – Hawwah Jiddare

Inna LilLahi wa inna IlaiHir raji’un! May her soul rest in Jannatul Firdausi. Aisha Bashir

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Almighty Allah continue to rest her gentle soul in Jannatul Firdaus. – Muhammed Aliyu

May the Almighty Allah grant her eternal rest and admit her into Aljannatil Firdausi. – Ali Baba Adamu

May her soul rest in peace, ameen. – Rajab Mohammed Ismael

Condolences. – John Akpan

May her soul attain eternal bliss. – Abdullahi Buba

Allahu Akbar, may Almighty Allah forgive their shortcomings and grant them Janna. – Umar Adamu

Innah lilLahi wa inna IlaiHir raji’un. May Allah have mercy on her soul and grant her Jannatul Firdaus. Allah ya baku dangana da ranka ya dade. – Halima AbdurRauf

May Allah grant her soul peaceful repose and Jannatul Firdaus be her final abode. Rest on Aunty Amina Alhassan Ebbo. – Hafsat Aleeyu Muye

May Almighty Allah grant her Jannatul Firdausi. – Sa’adatu Lawal Dauda

Subhanallah! May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. – Abubakar Muhammad Usman

Calm woman. May her soul rest in peace. – Cynthia Talatu Batuta

May her soul rest in peace. – Okafor Vivian

May Almighty Allah forgive and grant her eternal rest. – Malam Usman Bin-Affan

May Allah forgive her of her shortcomings. – Ibrahim Musa

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. – Yusuf Lawan

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and make her last abode in Jannah, amin. – Ayuba Apagu

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir rajiun! May her soul rest in peace and Jannatil Firdaus her final abode. – Abubakar Mohammed Bawa

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allāh forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannat Al-Firdaus. – Ibrahim M Aliyu

May Allah forgive her and grant her Jannah. – Yakubu Abubakar

OMG…may her gentle soul find solace in the Lord. – Inigreat Akong

May her gentle soul continue to rest in Jannatul Firdausi. – Maryam Salihu S

My condolences. – Kemi Yesufu

May Allah grant her Aljannatu Fridaus..Aameen Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum. – Aziza Sani

May Allah SWT repose her soul and grant her eternal rest. – Aliyu Abubakar Iliyasu

My condolences, sir. May her soul rest in eternal peace. – Adams Absalom Kushi

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. – Dauda Ali

Allahu Akbar kabiran. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. May Allah Ta’ala forgive her soul and grant her Jannah without reckoning. Sannun mu da hakuri. – Aminatu Musa Kida

InnalilLahi wa’inna ilaiHir raji’un! May Allàh rahma her departed soul with Jannatul Firdaus. – Mohamed Bello

Hajiya was an epitome of all that was positive. I’m personally missing her. My cry cannot bring her back. – Taofeek Lawal Olayemi

May Allah be pleased with her nd grant her peaceful eternity. – Abdul’Azeez Ahmad

May Almighty Allah forgive and have mercy on her. – Shuaibu Umar

May her soul rest in peace. – Aluta King

May her soul rest in Jannah Firdaus. – Baba Ado

May Allah grant her gentle soul eternal peace and mercies, forgive her shortcomings and transgressions and us all. Aameen Ya Allah. – Muhammad H. Bawa

May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. – Ahmadu Bello

May her soul continue to rest in perfect peace. – Muhammad Jajere Babayo

May God Almighty comfort her family and grant Amina aljannah. What a huge loss of a gentle and calm woman, always in the company of her two children and brother, Ahman. May God comfort us in the media also. – Timothy Golu

Allahu Akbar, May Allah grant her jannah. – Maji MB  · 

May the Almighty God grant her Aljannatu Firdausi. – Yusuf Buba

Allahummaghfir laha warhamha. Accept my condolences. – Abare Mohammed

May Allah forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannah. – Mustapha Umar

May her gentle soul rest in perfect peace. – Nazy H. Abdullahi

May her soul rest in perfect condition in Jannatul Firdausi. – Suleimana Adamu Musa

May her soul rest in Jannatul Fiddaus. – Dayyib Abdullahi Abdullahi

Take heart Malam Gimba. May her soul rest in peace. – Onyenwe Oti

May Allah SWA forgive her shortcomings and grant her Jannatul Firdaus, ameen. – Garba Kaigama Bilal

Multiple taxation is one of the major problems that kill businesses in Nigeria. Those who are forced to pay (the organised private sector) are squeezed more annually. While +75% of the “unorganised” traders are never taxed at all, if not for bank charges and the pittance paid to local governments. – Mohammed Bello Dahiru

Of journalists’ deaths, security lapses and cut-throat taxes, by Hassan Gimba

Last week was a dark one for journalism in Nigeria. The light of two of its bright stars, Hajiya Amina Alhassan Ahman and Haruna Dauda Biu dimmed and blew out.

Amina was cast in the print section of the profession, while Haruna was a star in broadcast journalism.I first noticed Amina in 2014 at a Leadership Newspaper editorial meeting for editors and senior editorial management staff.

The meeting, held every Monday, had each editor defending their paper comparatively against its counterparts from other media houses.

Friday Leadership, for instance, would be compared against every paper around the country published on the same day.

Amina was a striking lady with a queenly pose who had a masterful command of English, spoken with the inflexion of the British tone.

If you were in another room and overheard her speak, you might assume a Briton was speaking next door.As a diplomat’s daughter, she had the opportunity to study at Kuwait English School (KES) when her late father, Ambassador Yahya Alhassan, was an ambassador in the country.

And in her gait and carriage, you would know she was a polished individual.Haruna, the Voice of America (Hausa Service) reporter for Borno and Yobe states, was a gentleman of the first order. And humble, too. I would call him “maci gauta”, or “garden egg eater”, because the Babur, the tribe he belonged to in Biu Local Government in Borno State, are known to consider the small bitter types of garden eggs a delicacy, sometimes eaten with pepper.

He always answered respectfully.In life, only Allah knows how every one of us will end our lives. A seemingly inconsequential sickness, thought to be high blood pressure, escalated into something else that caused him partial paralysis.

The last time we spoke, he told me he had just returned from a Cairo hospital facilitated by the Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum.Amina’s case differed; she did not tell close friends about her ailment.

I am still at a loss as to why she hid it. Being the considerate and kind-hearted person she was, was it that she did not want to bother people or be seen as a liability? She must have been seriously bedridden six months ago, as the mammary cancer spread to her brain about that time.

According to one of her sons, she was diagnosed with it about three years ago, but she would not go for chemotherapy until it spread.After her death, I went through our chats to see if she had left me any hints, and I saw our SMS chat of 12 September 2022. I sent her a message that a man with a so-and-so number had called me from Alliance Hospital regarding her request for an interview on something related to cancer. And she replied to me, “Oh, yes.

That must be the MD. I’ll call him, thank you.”That was the closest I came to associating her with cancer. At the time, she was my staff. She was an editor and rose to become Neptune Prime’s chief operating officer because of her diligence, dedication, and loyalty.

She was the type who was ready to take the flak for others if anything went wrong.As the publisher, you could understand if I assumed she wanted to interview the MD for our paper because she drove our newspaper’s content direction and editorial policy.

After her death, I realised that she wanted to consult a specialist.As I said, we first met at Leadership Newspaper. She was a features editor, and I was the stable’s Friday title editor. In 2014, I became the spokesman for Dr Abdu Bulama, minister of science and technology, and she was made acting editor in my place. She also rose to become editor of the weekend edition and a member of the newspaper’s editorial board.Our paths crossed again when I floated Neptune Prime, an online newspaper, in 2016; she was no longer with Leadership.

The rest, as is often said, is history.While I was not very close to Haruna, who was Maiduguri-based, from my few interactions with him and the testimonies of friends, journalism has lost a gem, and humanity has lost a part of it.As for Amina, I knew her as a very compassionate, thoughtful, considerate, morally upright lady who was chaste and mindful of how God and society would look at her.

Her British-intoned “assalamu alaikum” rings in the ears always. She is not just a loss to journalism but to humanity at large.May Amina Alhassan Ahman be in Jannatul Firdaus with her late father and beloved husband, and may Haruna Dauda Biu find favour with Allah (SWT).Insecurity, Our Immigration, Our Airports last week, many Nigerians heard the news that the wife and mother of Ado Aleiro, a bandit kingpin making life a living hell for Nigerians in the Zamfara axis, were apprehended. Please wait for it; the arrest was made in Madina.

No, not Gusau! Not at any of our airports. Not by the Immigration officers who processed their passports and were at the airports to monitor travellers. Our NDLEA officials were napping. DSS? No, Patrick Utomi has taken their attention.

Where were the police, NSCDC, FAAN and NAHCO officials?But that is not even the worst part of it. Wait and watch. No heads would roll. And so, there is no “medicine” against future occurrences.Don’t Tax Us Out of BusinessLast week, at the 2025 Taraba International Investment Summit, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, disclosed that foreign investors would come without invitation if local investors were treated well, that is, “if they were making a good profit to offset the cost of production.”He said that for every ₦1 he or any investor made, 52 kobo went to the Federal Government as tax. He should know because, last year, the Dangote Group and its subsidiaries paid over ₦402.3 billion in taxes, making them the highest taxpayers in Nigeria.

Surely, there would be serious problems in our economic development if entrepreneurs who invest their resources to create employment opportunities for our teeming populations are taxed out of business.

What of the wise saying not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?Hassan Gimba, anipr, is the CEO/Publisher of Neptune Prime.

I write this from a point of pain and gratitude. Pain because of the death of a hard working and honest man, Rotimi Olaleye, who is both a great father, as attested to by his children who he has been taking care of single handedly since his wife died about five years ago, and an honest and diligent auto mechanic, as confirmed by his clients, including yours truly. We met less than a week before his death, but he left an unforgettable impression on me, even in death.

Gratitude? I was less than 10 seconds away from where Mr. Olaleye was when the fire that took his life occurred with my wife and first child.

Let me start from the beginning. I met Mr. Olaleye on March 8, 2025 following a need to change my mechanic. I was introduced to him by the best car air conditioning technician I had ever met, Mr. Akinola Ayeni. We drove the car together on that day. He spotted some issues, including the fact that the former handler was as careless as not putting the knots that should be holding the connecting ABS wire to the wheel of the driver’s side, by just driving the car. That was quickly fixed. And he told me, very honestly, that other things had to wait until Monday. That he needed to finish some other jobs. I left happily.

On Monday, I took the car to him. He appeared meticulous. Despite the fact that I told him that on completing the work on the Highlander, which my wife uses, I was going to send in my own car for servicing, he was not in a hurry to declare the vehicle fit.

On Tuesday morning, the first accident occurred on Otedola Bridge. My wife had to return home. By the way, we live in one of the most organised estates around OPIC in Ogun State. Before she returned, Mr. Olaleye had told me to stay in coming to meet him as he had already spent three hours from Mowe in Ogun State and was yet to get to Berger in Lagos State, a journey of less than 30 minutes. From that time on, he kept briefing me on developments until 6pm when he told me he was now satisfied with the car.

I immediately asked him if I could head in his direction. The answer was no. He wanted to get the car washed. I told him I would take it to the car wash the following day. He said even if I do, it should still be washed. I gave up arguing.

Then at 7pm, Mr. Olaleye told me the washing had been completed by his apprentices. I called my wife, Mrs. Taiwo Oladipo, that it was time to go home. By the way, we have our offices in the same building. By the time she came downstairs to meet me, I discovered that my first daughter, Ewaoluwa, a 500 Level student of Chemical Engineering, who had requested to follow us home, was yet to leave her friend’s house. So we waited for her. For a few minutes.

When we eventually set out, we discovered we needed to buy drinking water for the house. Mrs. Oladipo and Miss Oladipo said we should buy it close to the office in Ogba area of Lagos State because each bottle was N400 cheaper than what we would get close to the house. That would save us some cool N2,000. I said no, Mr. Olaleye was waiting for us. As I zoomed past the supermarket on the way, my wife said let’s buy the water. I stopped. Reversed. We spent about 10 minutes doing that.

Then we meandered our way through the New Afrika Shrine area onto the Opay building, less than two minutes to where Mr. Olaleye was waiting for us. He said he was already by the gate of the mechanic village, which was to the right of Otedola Bridge, underneath. So I told him emphatically in Yoruba: “E maa ri wa ni iseju kan (You will see us in one minute).”

As we descended the bridge and approached the divider that separated those heading towards the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and those going to CMD Road, just about 10 seconds to where Mr. Olaleye had already parked both his car and my wife’s, Mrs. Oladipo was the first to notice a truck that had obviously lost control.

Instinct immediately set in and I changed course towards CMD Road. And in split seconds, the truck crashed, the seal of the tanker burst open and the sky became blue, an indication that the truck was bearing gas. Between the seconds when we saw the truck and when the seal opened, I had dialled the last number on the dashboard of the car, which was that of Mr. Akin. It was ringing when the explosion occurred. And then followed the massive fire.

I was annoyingly slow for some people behind me. One woman came out of her car and started banging ours: “Move, move.” She did it a second time and I wound down the back glass, addressing her and my wife who had also become agitated: “We have a man down there. Let’s see if there is still something we can do before we go too far.” And then his line stopped ringing.

My head immediately told me to call Mr. Ayeni. As soon as he picked it up, he asked me: “Have you collected your car? Rotimi has parked by the gate and is waiting for you.” He did not even hear me saying there was trouble at the workshop until I shouted at the top of my voice. Mr. Ayeni, who was at Agidingbi, immediately turned back. He, alongside others, discovered the remains of Mr. Olaleye, lying face down. His apprentices who were with him said as the truck crashed, he told them to flee that he needed to “save his customer’s car”. Meanwhile, his own car was just behind mine. He succeeded in turning the car around to face the workshop. But that was as far as he made it. I cried that night. Something I have not done in several years. I wept bitterly.

In the short period I knew Mr. Olaleye, I learnt a lot of lessons. He left an impact I would never forget. But it was a pity he didn’t pick my last call, which was to tell him to abandon the car and flee to safety. His meticulousness on the job was second to none from what I saw in the three days of being with him. He also knew his job. Adieu Mr. Olaleye.

I was informed as I was ending this piece that a staff of Zenith Bank Plc and his wife died in the accident. The husband was said to have just resumed from his annual vacation that day. He had just picked his wife and they were heading home when they were caught in the explosion. May their souls and those of others I do not know involved in the accident rest in peace.

To the Lagos State Government, bravo. The response by the emergency responders was swift. However, it was not enough. Only one fire truck arrived after 15 or 20 minutes of the fire. After it exhausted its water, it took another 15 or 20 minutes for another to arrive. By the time Mr. Ayeni and others reached where Mr. Olaleye was, he was still breathing. But help did not reach him on time. But beyond that, the team did well. Despite the damages and the danger of dealing with a gas explosion, the scene was cleared well under 18 hours.

To the company that owns the truck that lost its brake and ended up ending no fewer than five lives and consuming properties that included cars and buildings, Second Coming Gas Company, I am torn between knocking them and giving them kudos. This was because of their response to the victims who were admitted in the hospital. The following day, the management staff had reached out to those in the hospital and met with the executives of the technicians association affected. They were making plans, like some of us are doing, to reach out to the children of Mr. Olaleye. I was told their mum died about five years ago. And the company is in discussion with the technicians on how to alleviate their losses.

But they could have done better. That truck was faulty as those who passed by it on CMD Road before it crashed noticed. The driver was, obviously, trying to manage it into the station on CMD Road. I imagine if it was into the station, which had drinking bars and other joints around it, the truck crashed.

I also pity Lagosians who have to pay N15,000 for third party insurance but get no benefit when the accident involves fire as a representative of Nicon Insurance Limited said. It amounts to gifting the company money for rendering limited services.

To the Federal Road Safety Corps and Lagos State Traffic Emergency Management Agency, you still have a long way to go. It appears the traffic laws in Lagos are meant more for private vehicle owners. Whereas we know that most infractions are committed by commercial vehicle owners, including the trucks that bear inflammable and heavy materials. When these agencies exercise their mandates fully, it is then those with warped minds will come to the realisation it is drivers who have no regard for lives and properties that are the cause of accidents on the Otedola and Kara bridges.