Armed men on Tuesday attacked Hilltop International Premium Hotel at Tunga-Maje in the Gwagwalada area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
They were said to have engaged policemen at the hotel in a gun battle and killed one of the cops.
Three persons, who lodged in the hotel, were injured, while one of them was hit by a stray bullet.
Our correspondent had in June reported that gunmen abducted a former member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Friday Makama, and eight others from the same hotel.
A source told our correspondent that the armed men shot at the hotel doors to gain access.
The source said, “They came around 11pm; they were many. We had closed for the day and locked everywhere. They shot at the doors and shot the person they abducted before taking him away
“Three people were injured. One of them, a bullet hit him while in his room. Policemen have been coming to our hotel since the last attack; the hoodlums met them and engaged them in a gun battle.
“They didn’t do anything to us, but we were flogged. People that were injured were those who came to lodge.”
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident, adding that a policeman was killed during the attack.
“Suspected kidnappers were carrying out their operations and our policemen foiled their attack and engaged them in a gun battle. Unfortunately, one of our men paid the supreme price. One other person was injured,” she added.
When contacted for comments, the manager of the hotel, Maquile Adejoh, pleaded with our correspondent to call him back the following day.
A 64-year-old fake lawyer, Folorunsho Olayanju, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo.
Justice Peter Lifu convicted Olayanju who was charged with six counts of fraud, impersonation and stealing.
The convict, according to the prosecutor, Muyiwa Ogunleye, defrauded one Hammed Bamidele, to the tune of N2,250,000.
The prosecutor said that the convict defrauded the victim with the pretence of using the money as a professional fee for the prosecution of his case at the Supreme Court.
Ogunleye said the offences were contrary to sections 383 and 484 of the criminal code and sections 1(1) (a) (b) & (2) and 1(1)(c), of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu noted that the prosecutor has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, hence convicted Olayanju.
The convict, who had no legal representation pleaded with the court and promised not to go back to crime if given a second chance.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu found Olayanju guilty of the crime and sentenced him to one-year imprisonment on each of the counts two to five without the option of fine.
He held that the jail term should run concurrently and he should also restitute the sum of N2,250,000 to the complainant.
Suspected Fulani herdsmen were said to have kidnapped a pregnant woman and two others in Ogun, demanding a ransom of N30 million.
The abductees were taken away on Sunday evening along Igbo-Ora-Sokoto road, Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The victims had paid a visit to their friend who resides at Rounder area of Abeokuta, the state capital.
A source informed that the kidnappers laid an ambush for three persons at an area known as Karigo, saying the pregnant woman is in her eighth month.
According to him, the herdsmen had contacted the families of the victims on Tuesday, asking them to pay N10 million each for their release.
It was said that two other persons on the trip escaped when the kidnappers accosted them.
“We got information that at the abattoir in Rounda that kidnappers abducted three persons.
“The kidnappers did not call immediately but they called on Tuesday, asking for N10 million on each victim as ransom. There is a pregnant woman among them, who would soon give birth,” the source said.
“It was gathered that the victims parked their car because the road is bad, but while trekking, they were ambushed by their kidnapers.
“The abductees were two women and one man, identified as Baba Sandra.
“One of them is a thrift collector in the market here (Itoku market ); one is a civil servant but we don’t know where the other one works,” it was learnt.
“The husband of the pregnant woman was one of the two that escaped being kidnapped,” the source informed
Contacted, the Ogun police spokesman, Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, has confirmed the incident.
However, Oyeyemi said the victims had organised a prayer session in the forest where they were captured.
“Since that very day, our people have been on their trail. In fact, while I was discussing with the OC (Officer in-charge), they were still in the bush in that area trying to get all those people.
“But, our people should also be careful, they should stop organising prayers inside the forest,” he said.
Gunmen have attacked a police checkpoint in Enugu State, killing two policemen.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at a police checkpoint in Nachi, Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The two policemen were said to have died on the spot.
Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, who confirmed the attack, said the Command had commenced an action to track down the killers of the cops.
“Full scale investigation that will lead to fishing out of the assailants has commenced. Further development will be communicated, please,” he said.
This came a few weeks after a similar incident claimed the lives of four policemen in Amaechi Awkunanaw area of the state.
A 25-year-old Bala Hassan in Adamawa State has been sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly referring to policemen as thieves.
The Yola Criminal Area Court 2 on Tuesday handed the sentence to him after convicting him for the offence.
Bala Hassan was earlier brought before the court presided by Hon. Nuhu Garta by the State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Alhaji, for allegedly saying that all police officers attached to the Jimeta Police Division were thieves.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) tendered in court by Inspector Danjuma Hamidu, Bala had said he would rather die than join the Nigeria Police Force because policemen are criminals.
Court papers indicate that Bala was arrested in Yola on Monday during a crime prevention patrol led by Inspector Ishaya Buba of Jimeta Police Division and charged with being in possession of dry leaves suspected to be indian hemp.
The Police said he was unable to give satisfactory account of himself and that when brought to the Divisional headquarters for further investigation, he rained curses on the police, saying all of them are nothing but thieves.
In court on Tuesday, Bala admitted dubbing policemen thieves, following which the prosecutor, Inspector Danjuma Hamidu, applied for summary trial of the defendant.
Ruling, Hon Nuhu Musa Garta sentenced Bala to two years in prison but gave him an option of a N50, 000 fine.
Justice S. S. Ogunsanya of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, on Tuesday, remanded Madu Ozoemena in prison.
Ozoemena is being prosecuted for an alleged $1,201,174 fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed a two-count amended charge bordering on obtaining property by false pretence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) and (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Fraud Offences Act 2006.
In one of the counts, EFCC said Madu Anthony Ozoemena, between 2010 and 2011 in Lagos, with intent to defraud, obtained 39,366 Chinese mobile phones worth $1,201,174 from System Telecom, a company based in Hong Kong.
The suspect falsely representing to Lien Laibon, the owner of the firm that, that he had a loan of $200,000 from his bank manager, using his landed property as the collateral.
Ozoemena pleaded “not guilty” to the amended charges when he was re-arraigned in 2017.
Oluwakemi Makinde, prosecution counsel, noted that the case had suffered several adjournments due to either the absence of the defendant or his counsel.
The defence counsel was absent in court today and the defendant could not provide information about his whereabouts.
Justice Ogunsanya noted that it had been one excuse or the other since the defendant changed his lawyers.
The Judge warned Ozoemena that his bail would finally be revoked if his lawyer is not present in court at the next sitting.
An Ibadan-based journalist, Mr. Tony Awobode, was allegedly harassed and beaten by a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Ibadan. By
It was gathered that Awobode, who doubles as General Manager of JAMZ 100.1FM, Ibadan, was on Sunday beaten to stupor at Aleshinloye Junction by DPO of Iyaganku, CSP Akintunde Oyeniran, and his men.
It was gathered on Tuesday that the incident occurred when Awobode was riding on a power bike.
He was stopped by the DPO who alleged that his car mirror was hit by the power bike as the JAMZ FM GM was trying to cross towards the Aleshinloye axis.
Efforts by the victim to prove otherwise even after stopping to see and confirm that there was no mark or sign of friction on the side mirror fell on deaf ears as the attempt only attracted slaps and bashing by the police boss.
Our correspondent gathered that the DPO later called his officers who came to continue the beating before arresting the victim.
It was gathered that the victim was taken to Iyaganku police station, where his mobile phone was seized.
The tires of the power bike were also deflated.
Awobode, who later spoke with his colleagues on Tuesday, lamented that his fundamental human rights were violated.
He added that this is despite the truth that the vehicle the DPO was driving was not even scratched let alone damaged.
However, the Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Mr Adewale Osifeso, when contacted noted that the case was later reported to him.
Osifeso, who said that the Commissioner of Police is aware of the incident, however, said that he will react to the incident as soon as possible.
“It was reported lately to me. They just called me. You would be updated soon,” he said.
The Kano Film Censorship Board, has henceforth prohibited showing or selling movies displaying kidnappings, drug addiction and snatching of GSM phones in the State.
The Board Executive Secretary, Ismaila Naaba Afakallah, explained in a chat that the prohibition becomes necessary, as the issues at stake have now turned notorious among Citizens.
“Henceforth, we will not allow films displaying Kidnappings, drug addiction and GSM phones snatching which has now taken toll on Kano residents”.
Afakallah explained that the measure was aimed at curtailing the menace and reducing the possibility of young people adopting the criminal acts. He started that if they see an Actor, they want to indulge in the acts.
“Not every young man has the tenacity of understanding fictitious films actions. Somebody might mistaken it as a reality and may go ahead to practice it, therefore, we must act now before it is too late,” he added.
The Bauchi State Police Command on Monday assured residents of Birshin Fulani, a community on the outskirts Bauchi on the Bauchi-Dass road, of adequate security of their lives and property with a view to ensuring peace in the community.
The community in recent times has been under attack by kidnappers who have been abducting residents of the community. Kidnappers recently killed two persons, including a senior staff member of The Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, Engineer Mohammed Garbage Abubakar.
The latest attack was that of a mother of three, one Mrs Ruqayya Odedoyin, who was kidnapped from her resident in the early hours of Friday last week, while her children were locked up in the house by the kidnappers.
The recent insecurity in the community led some residents, particularly the youth to block the Bauchi-Dass road for some hours on Friday to protest the rampant kidnapping in the community.
Speaking with on the deteriorating security situation in the community, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, Mohammed Ahmed Wakil, said the police were doing everything possible to ensure that the people there sleep with their eyes closed.
According to Wakil, a Superintendent of Police (SP), there is tight security now at Birshin Fulani, informing that every nook and cranny in the community has police presence.
He revealed that police operatives in the area were provided with vehicles to carry out their duty of securing lives and property.
“That is why they (police operatives) are given vehicles to be able to enter nooks and crannies. And if you look at it, the modus operandi of the kidnappers is the use of motorcycles. There are areas motorcycles can access that vehicles cannot,” Wakil said.
While warning that no one should politicise the situation in the community, the police spokesman informed that the police had been responding to the people’s distress calls, adding that the current situation does not call for blame game.
” It is not true for somebody to say there is no security there or security have not responded to their distress calls. They responded to their distress calls, ” he submitted.
The PPRO, however, called on member of the public to always assist the police with useful and intelligible information with which the police would act upon.
“Members of the public should appreciate the efforts of the police. They should give credible and intelligence information to the police, so that this menace will be curtailed,” he said.
Speaking on the kidnapping of Mrs Adedoyin, SP Wakil declared that up till now, issues surrounding her adoption were still very sketchy, adding that the police were working to unravel her kidnap.
Some concerned residents of Birshin Fulani in a press release signed by one Abdulhamid Jibrin Birshi, on behalf of the concerned citizens of the community, blamed political office holders in the state, including the state governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, for their inability to act.
“We note with dismay the inability of people in positions of power to do the needful. For instance, from the lowest to the highest political office holders in the land who usually storm our community in search of votes during the campaigns, only the Deputy Speaker paid a condolence visit.
“None of our elected office holders finds it worthy to either sympathize with us or help take a concrete measures that will guarantee our safety and security from the killer gunmen who find pleasure in destroying our hard-earned peace.
“From the member of the State House of Assembly, Danlami Kawule to the House of reps, Yakubu Shehu Abdullahi, to the Senate member Lawal Yaya Gumau and down to the Governor of Bauchi State, we did not see any concrete support from you people to help us move out of the current security limbo we are in as a community,” Birshi alleged.
He declared that the inability of these political officers holders to pay either personal or official visits in sympathy and solidarity with the people of the community showed that they are only relevant when their votes are needed.
The paramount ruler of Atyap Chiefdom in Zagon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, His Royal Highness, Chief Dominic Yahaya, on Monday, said about 50 persons were killed and 254 homes including 7 churches were burnt in one month.
In a statement he personally signed on Monday, Chief Yahaya said Atyap chiefdom is under sieged as armed bandits/herdsmen militias operate unhindered.
He said the chiefdom has been under constant attacks, just as kidnaping and demand for ransom from families of the victims occurred frequently.
He recalled that September 17, 2021, unknown gunmen stormed the Chiefdom and killed Reverend Silas Ali within the vicinity of Zango Urban settlement in Atyap Chiefdom of Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Also, on September 18, 2021, suspected herdsmen invaded the community of Apyiah Ajiim, some metres from the spot of Saturday, September 17, 2021 attack, and killed 12 people.
“Again, Gunmen attacked on the Atyap community and killed six women (two heavily pregnant), three men and three children in Gora Gida, Wawa Rafi, Warkan, Manyie-Aywie, Ahtak- Kanai, Magata, Magauri, Matyei, Abuyab, Magamia, Makarau, Mayayit, Manchong, Ma’door and a host of other communities,” he said.
According to the statement, the royal father described the reoccurring attacks as the most distressful and disturbing.
“The gunmen who are known, and lived within the communities, they called their victims and inform them or notify them of their mission to kill them, before carrying out their evil act.
“It has reached a stage that, no farmer can go to farm, as they feared coming back home alive.
“It’s a disturbing issue as farmers could no longer go their farms. There is a great famine in the chiefdom in this season because most farmers are afraid to go their farms because of bandits attack,” the statement said.
He condemned the killings and called for a complete cessation of these dastardly acts in Atyap Chiefdom.
“I believe in the peace process, and hope that, all will leave by the peace process initiated by the elders in the chiefdom.”
He said as a royal father, he had been restraining the youths from taking laws into their hands, through revenge, or reprisal attack, but the situation in the chiefdom is getting out of hand.
He called on the security agents and government at all levels to intervene and help prevent further attack by the suspected herdsmen and bandits.
