Category: Crime

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured the conviction and sentencing of the Director of Logistics of the National Association of Nigerian Students Federal University, Oye-Ekiti Chapter, Adeyemi Israel Abiodun, to one-year imprisonment for internet-related fraud.

The NANS leader is among 40 persons convicted on separate one-count before four judges of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan.

The Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, who said this in a statement made available to our correspondent on Wednesday explained that the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC prosecuted the cases.

Their offences, the anti-corruption agency, said bordered on impersonation, obtaining money under false pretence, obtaining property by false pretence and forgery contrary to Sections 419, 467, 484, 516 and 508 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.

The other convicts are Yekeen Azeez Ishola, Okeniyi Sanuel Akiniyi, Theophilus Ademola Bukola, Salami Mohammed Adetayo, Pelumi Ajayi Temiloluwa, Lawal Abdullateef Olalekan, Okusanwo Mayowa Daniel, Oluwole Oluwasegun Ayomide, Adedotun Omodele Yusuf, Monday Nnaemeka Samuel, Idowu Adeshina, Olowe Nifemi Ayomide, Adubu Olamiotan Sunday, Kehinde Olatunji Kehinde, Oguntuase Tope Francis, Elijah Isaac Wisdom, Ogbanaya Chukwu Chukwu, Adekola Adekunle, Odebode Temiloluwa Kehinde, Joseph Odunayo Clement, Andrew Adekunle Masika, Usman Mubarak Damilare, Isiaka Olumide Hammed, Uawu Osita Henry, Kareem Afeez Alabi and Ogunyemi Ayobami Samuel.

Others include Mimiola Victor Olamide, Adeeko Kolade Emmanuel, Egberongbe Adedayo Quam, Oyelaran Olayiwola Jeremaih, Hammed Rilwan Ishola, Adefowora Omotayo David, Adedeji Ibrahim Olamilekan, Emmanuel Timileyin Akinbowale, Michael Damola Olanrewaju, Ayanyemi Olaide Samuel, Boye Timilehin Emmanuel, Timileyin Ajibola Idowu and Azeez Tolulope Ayoade.

Abiodun was arraigned before Justice Iyabo Yerima while thirty-nine others were prosecuted before Justices Bayo Taiwo, Akintola Ladiran and Olusola Adetujoye between August 15, 2022, and August 23, 2022.

The one-count charge against Abiodun reads: “That you, Adeyemi Israel Abiodun and Odaise Precious Abiola (aka Prezzy) (at large) on or about 30th March, 2022 at Ibadan, within the Ibadan Judicial Division did conspire to forge various United States of America Banks Cheques and purport same to be genuine and thereby committed the offence of conspiracy to commit forgery contrary to Section 516 and 467 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.”

In view of their guilty pleas, the prosecution counsel, Modupe Akinkoye, Oyelakin Oyediran, Oluwatoyin Owodunni, Chidi Okoli, Abdulrasheed Suleiman, Mabas Mabur and Samsuddeen Bashir reviewed the facts of the cases, tendered confessional statements and documents recovered from the convicts as exhibits and urged the courts to convict and sentence the defendants as charged.

Consequently, Abiodun, Daniel and Ayomide were convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment each without the “option of fine”, while Akiniyi bagged three months jailed term and six months of community service.

Other defendants were convicted and sentenced to six months of community service each.

Furthermore, the court ordered Abiodun to pay the sum of $1,000USD (one thousand United States dollars) in restitution and forfeit a white Mercedes Benz CLA-250 with a customized NANS plate number worth a million, a gold neck chain and one ice neck chain worth N3.6million, bitcoin worth $58, 854.88USD, one Apple MacBook Pro 2020 Model and an iPhone 12 Pro Max to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Other convicts were ordered to restitute their victims and forfeit all items recovered from them.

It will be recalled, that Abiodun, a 200-level student of Economics and Development Studies of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State was arrested on March, 30, 2022, alongside 79 (seventy-nine) others in a sting operation by the operatives of the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC at Sango area of Ibadan, Oyo State for alleged internet fraud.

Investigations revealed that, between July 2021 and March 2022, Abiodun benefited N195, 274, 331.00 (One Hundred and Ninety-Five Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty One Naira) as cumulative heist from cyber-fraud involving forgery of over 25 US banks cheques.

PUNCH

An oil and gas marketer, Emmanuel Morah, has been arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos State, over alleged fraud and issuance of dud cheques.

The defendant was said to be among the convicts recently granted amnesty by the federal government on health grounds, but was yet to be released from the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services.

Morah whose companies include Rocky Nigeria Limited, Rocky Oil Limited, and Rocky Energy Limited, was reportedly docked for obtaining the sum of N24m from the Chairman, Beauty and Fragrance International Limited, Alhaji Kayode Kasumu.

He was said to have defrauded the complainant under a false representation that he would use the money to complete a property at No. 10 Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, within two months, and rent part of it to him.

The defendant was also alleged to have issued a Diamond Bank cheque, dated October 2, 2016, with monetary value of N10m, with account name, Rocky Energy Limited, in favour of Beauty and Fragrance International Limited, which was rejected and dishonoured on grounds of insufficient funds in the account.

According to the prosecutor, Mr Justine Enang, the offences committed were contrary to and punishable under sections 1 (1) (a), (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006; and sections 1 (1) (b), (2), and section 2 of the Dishonoured Cheques (Offences) Act, CAP D11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him. Following his plea, Enang asked for a trial date and urged the court to remand him in custody.

Morah’s counsel, E. M Ojere, while responding to the prosecutor’s request, told the court that he had filed the defendant’s bail application and the same had been served on the prosecution.

After listening to the submissions of both parties, Justice Akintayo Aluko, admitted bail to the defendant in the sum of N10m with one surety in like sum.

The judge said the surety must be a resident and a property owner within the court’s jurisdiction, who must swear an affidavit of means.

He stated that both the defendant and the surety must deposit their two recent passport photographs with the court, adding that the prosecutor must be part of the verification, and that the surety must be recognised by a cleric.

The judge, however, ordered that the defendant should be remanded in the NCS custody till the perfection of the bail terms.

Three suspected members of the Klansman Confraternity have been arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly shooting a member of the Eiye Confraternity, Akinola Ayegbusi, to death at a restaurant in the Alapere area of the state.

It was gathered that normal activities were ongoing when the suspects, who were said to be on a revenge mission, trailed Ayegbusi to the front of the restaurant.

After spotting him, the suspects, who were armed with guns and cutlasses, allegedly shot Ayegbusi. In a bid to escape, the victim ran into the restaurant.

Thereafter, the suspects, numbering six, were seen in a video clip captured by the Closed-Circuit Television installed on the premises of the restaurant, shooting and using cutlasses to hack Ayegbusi till he died.

The attack threw the security guard, workers and customers, who came to patronise the restaurant into panic as they were seen in the video clip, running helter-skelter to escape from the crime scene.

The suspects left the premises of the restaurant after perpetrating the crime.

A source, who spoke to our correspondent on Tuesday, said residents in the area alerted the police after the suspects fled from the crime scene.

“The policemen from the Alapere Division quickly mobilised to the restaurant. They evacuated the corpse and commenced investigation,” the source said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement on Tuesday, identified three of the suspects as Jamiu Rasheed, Emmanuel Samson, and Sheriff Module.

Three feared killed in cult supremacy war, suspect arrested
He said efforts were on to arrest other fleeing members connected to the crime, adding that the suspects would be arraigned at the conclusion of the investigation.

Hundeyin said, “Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a suspected cultist, Jamiu Rasheed, 22, who was captured on CCTV on July 7, 2022, hacking and shooting to death, one Akinola Ayegbusi, a rival cult member at a restaurant in the Alapere area of Lagos State.

“Investigations revealed that Jamiu has been a member of Klansman Confraternity since 2017 and has participated in the killing of two other rival cultists. Investigation into the crime also led to the arrest of the armourer of the group, one Sheriff Module, 26, who was found with two locally-made pistols; and one other cultist, Emmanuel Samson.

“Sheriff who was also part of the killing confessed that it was carried out to avenge the death of their leader who was killed by the Eiye Confraternity on November 23, 2021. Efforts are ongoing to arrest other fleeing cultists. Suspects will be arraigned at the conclusion of investigations.”

Hundeyin said the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, called on parents and guardians, as well as traditional, religious, and political leaders to prevail on their children and wards, and the teeming youth population to stay away from cultism and other social vices.

Cult-related attacks and killings had been ongoing for a while in the Alapere area of the state.

Rampaging cultists allegedly killed a father of three, identified only as Oluwole; a man, identified simply as Labalaba, and a yet-to-be-identified tricycle operator, in the Agboyi area of Alapare.

Landlords, residents and business owners in the area had been calling on the Lagos State Police Command to mobilise policemen to restore normalcy in the community.

PUNCH

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Ogun 1 Area Command has seized two trucks belonging to the Dangote Cement factory for allegedly smuggling 303 bags of foreign parboiled rice.

The Controller of the command, Bamidele Makinde, confirmed this at a press conference he addressed at his office in Idiroko border, Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State.

According to Makinde, one of the trucks was intercepted in the early hours of Tuesday with 228 bags of smuggled rice, while the other had 75 bags of rice hidden inside bags of cement.

“A truck with Lagos State registration no. EKY 971 YE, belonging to Dangote Group of Companies, loaded with 75 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50kg each concealed with 900 bags of Dangote cement was intercepted along Ibeshe road, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, in the early hours of Sunday, 21st August 2022.

“Another Dangote truck with Kano State registration no. BCH 531 XA loaded with 228 bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice of 50 kg each concealed with some bags of Dangote cement along Lafenwa, Abeokuta axis, Ogun State in the early hours of today, 23rd August 2022,“ Makinde said, confirming that the trucks and their drivers are in custody.

The Controller disclosed that the command generated a total sum of N13,848,370 from import duty and auction sales of petroleum products (PMS) intercepted during anti-smuggling operations in the month of July 2022.

He explained that the Command during its intensive anti-smuggling operations recorded a seizure of 3,154 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50kg each, saying the same was equivalent to five trailer loads.

Several other seizures recorded in their various quantities within the month of July include 150 pieces of used compressors, 14 vehicles, 153 bales of used cloths, 79 sacks of used shoes, 111 cartons of frozen foods, 18, 100 litres of PMS among others.

The cumulative duty paid value (DPV) for all the seizures, DAILY POST learnt, amounted to N311,924,551.92.

Meanwhile, Makinde warned criminal elements in the state to steer clear of smuggling activities, threatening that the command is resolute to suppress smuggling among other illicit activities inimical to the economic growth of the country.

A 25-year-old man known as Elisha Tari, has disclosed why he stoned his two children to death in his home.

Recall that the Adamawa State Police Command arrested Elisha for stoning two of his children, aged 3 and 5 years old, to death.

While being paraded on Monday, the suspect confessed that he has a psychological problem and was once tied in chains some time ago.

“I smoke Indian hemp, drink alcohol, and inhale snuff. I don’t take tramadol or any other hard drugs,” he said.

Tari explained that an attempt to bring his wife and the mother of the deceased children, who left her matrimonial home for two months, proved abortive.

On that fateful day, he said the deceased children approached him while he was cooking and he asked them “When is our mother returning back home?”

He said that he also asked them to say “God” but instead, they said “fire, and kept saying fire, fire, instead of God.”

According to him, this infuriated him and led him to pick stones to hit the children.

“I became irritated and provoked by their action as a result which I picked up stones and hit them on their heads to death,” Tari added.

The son of a professor known as Jerry and two other suspects, David and Paul, have been nabbed for allegedly stealing a Toyota Hilux engine worth N2 million inside the University of Calabar Staff Quarters.

They were arrested by the university’s security personnel led by the Chief Security Officer, Cpt Augustine Bisong (retd), last weekend.

According to Bisong, the engine was bought to replace a bad one in the vehicle of a principal officer of the university before it was stolen from the mechanic workshop in the staff quarters.

He added that when they got a call that the engine was missing they swung into action to recover it after it had been sold.

He said the suspects had identified the buyer and other accomplices.

“The buyer of the ‘tokunbo’ Toyota Hilux engine at Bogobri and the vehicle/driver used in moving the engine out from the university have been identified.

“So far, we have arrested three persons, we are also on the trail of other suspects involved in the engine theft and other related damage to the critical infrastructure of the university.

“The ones arrested have been terrorising members of the university community, stealing car batteries, armoured cables and vandalising street lights to get their batteries.

“We have been on surveillance for two weeks after the Hilux engine was stolen, and we have been on their trail before they were arrested. They have also named their receiver, a businessman in the popular Bogobiri community of Hausa/ Fulani in Calabar.

“We will hand them over to the security agency for onward prosecution of the matter, but we want to seize this opportunity to warn all those who are in the university community who feel they can commit a crime and go scot-free, our vigilant eyes are watching. We shall smoke them all out.

“We are serious about maintaining zero crime in the university community, and we shall leave no stone unturned in achieving this. We want to assure inhabitants to go about their lawful business without fear, we have the school community covered,” he said.

Speaking about their arrest, the suspects said they thought the engine was scrap metal that was no longer useful.

One of them, called David, who said he is from Benue and resides at the University Staff Quarters with his mother who is a potter in one of the hostels, said, “We took the engine to Bogobiri. We sold it for N30,000 because we thought it was scrap metal. I am sorry because I will never get involved in such again.”

UNKNOWN gunmen have reportedly killed an army officer whose name was given as Major Churchill  Orji at the dangerous Azia area in Ihiala local government area of Anambra State.

Orji hailed from Nneogidi village, Agulu in Anaocha local government area of the state. It was not clear what took him to Azia which is considered one of the most dangerous part of the state as the area has become a den of the dreaded gunmen.

Orji’s secondary school mate, Leonard Edu, while lamenting the death of the Army officer said he was his senior at Agulu Boys Secondary School.

“He was our labour prefect then. It is true that he was killed by unknown gunmen at Azia, although we are yet to have the details of what led to his death”, Edu said.

Since his death, Orji’s friends have also been reacting in the social media. In a tribute, one of them said: “Rest in peace my brother from Nneogidi village, Agulu, Major Churchil Orji killed yesterday( Sunday)  at Azia/Ukpor while defending the South-East from the marauders.”

Another also wrote: “Father(God), we are at your mercy in Anambra State. May the soul of  Major C Orji rest in peace.”

Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Tochukwu Ikenga could not confirm the incident, as he said that  he was yet to receive the report.

“In particular, Nigerian Air Force aircraft have remained a critical factor in the counterterrorism and counterinsurgency strategies and efforts currently ongoing in the various theatres of operation nationwide. Indeed as recent as yesterday, 20 August 2022, NAF aircraft under the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI carried out some strikes on terrorists enclave in Sambisa Forest and the Tumbuns in Borno State with varying degrees of success recorded.

“Acting on credible and actionable intelligence, NAF aircraft were directed to an active location in Sambisa Forest believed to be the enclave of notorious terrorist, Fiya Ba Yuram. Fiya Ba Yuram is the current ISWAP leader of Sambisa Forest who took over the leadership following the demise of Abubakar Shekau.

“Please note that the title’Fiya’ connotes the most senior position in the terrorist’s military leadership structure. Note also that Yuram was an ally of Shekau until his demise after which he switched allegiance to ISWAP”.

The source added: “On arrival, the location was observed to be active with terrorists seen gathering. Air strikes were then authorized and carried out on the location. An assessment of the location after the strikes revealed it to be successful, though it remained unconfirmed if Fiya Ba Yuram was among the terrorists neutralized in the strikes.

“Similar air strikes were also undertaken in the Tunbuns near Lake Chad after suspected terrorists’ activities were observed in the area believed to be a training camp. The targets were subsequently acquired and engulfed in flames all after. The aftermath of the airstrike revealed that pandemonium broke out as the remnant of surviving terrorists took cover under nearby trees which were later struck by the aircraft.

“Even though it remained uncertain and unclear if Fiya Ba Yuram was among the terrorists neutralized in the weekend strikes, the efforts of military must be commended.

“The ability of the AFN and other security agencies to pick out key terrorist targets for elimination, alongside their foot soldiers is also indicative of the credibility of the intelligence provided. The need, therefore, for all Nigerians to rally round and support the AFN and other security agencies remains a key motivator towards reducing, to the barest minimum, the threats posed by the activities of terrorists and insurgents”.

The Nation

“One locally-made pistol with three live cartridges was recovered from him, while he confessed to being a member of Junior Vikings Confraternity, where he is known as ‘Aso Sure Boy’ and a retired Point 1 (leader) of the cult group.”Ndukwe added that “the suspects will be arraigned in cult once ongoing investigations at the Anti-Cultism Squad of the Command are concluded.

“Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Abubakar Lawal, fdc, has called on residents of Enugu State to continue to provide the Command credible information and intelligence it requires to rid the State of unrepentant criminal elements.