Category: Crime

A financial consultant, Oni Olajide, has lamented the disappearance of his son, Oluwanifemi, on the premises of Caleb University, in the Imota area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that Oluwanifemi, an undergraduate studying Computer Science in the institution, suddenly sent disturbing messages to his elder sister, Stella, on WhatsApp that some suspected cultists wanted him dead.

The 21-year-old was said to have cautioned Stella against disclosing the information to their parents.

It was learnt that Oluwanifemi, who finished his examination on Friday, August 13, 2021, requested some money from his father to visit his mother in Ibadan.

The aggrieved father told our correspondent that that was the last time he heard from his son, adding that Oluwanifemi never acknowledged receiving the money.

Oni said, “He requested money for transportation on Monday, August 16, 2021, and I sent N5,000 to him. But I did not see any debit alert since it’s my ATM card he is using. I became worried and called a staff member of the school to check on him and the worker told me the boy had left for Ibadan to see his mum.

“But I did my findings and discovered that he never arrived in Ibadan or signed out of the school. We are of the opinion that he was abducted by the cultists he told his sister about. He said the cultists wanted him dead and we saw the messages he sent to her on WhatsApp before his disappearance.

“The school has just been trying to put itself in a clean shape despite being 100 per cent culpable about my son’s disappearance. The reason my child did not go to a state university was because of cultism. I took him to Caleb University after accessing that CCTV was installed everywhere. But I am surprised that after my son went missing, they refused to give us access to the CCTV footage.”

The 51-year-old explained that he advised the school authorities to paste Oluwanifemi’s pictures around the school premises, but they refused.

He added, “The school said they found my son’s box with another student, one Nathaniel. The police invited Nathaniel on four occasions, but he refused the invitations. I told them to use their influence to get him to honour the invitation, but they did nothing.

“If the Chief Security Officer of the school calls Nathaniel, he will pick the phone, but if the CSO hands the phone over to the Imota Divisional Police Officer to speak to Nathaniel, he will cut the call.

“My son has been missing for a month; how will he sneak out without carrying his ATM card, phone, money and box found with Nathaniel? What will he use in feeding when he gets out? Nathaniel is claiming that the school is framing him; when the school was asked to bring security guards on duty when my son went missing to write a statement at the station, it brought guards that were not on duty on the day of the incident.”

The case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, for further investigation.

The Dean of Student Affairs, Caleb University, Dr Tayo Olorunlana, directed our correspondent to

When contacted the varsity Public Relations Officer, Dr Elvis Otobo declined comment.

The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, said Caleb University had been frustrating investigation into the case.

He said, “To the best of my knowledge, only the parents have reported to the police, but the school authorities have not written any official complaint to the police, stating the circumstances and the preliminary investigation it conducted so the police can take it up from there.

“If that happens, we will have access to the university to ask questions. The school is the one frustrating our investigation because he got missing on the school premises. We have started an investigation, but we have yet to conclude as we have not been granted access to the scene of crime.”

PUNCH

Two sexagenarians have been remanded by an Osogbo Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing a four-month-old baby.

The accused persons are; a 66-year-old woman, Adebisi Balogun, and Awoniyi Adegboye, 60.

The duo allegedly committed the offence sometime in April 2021 in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

The prosecutor, Kayode Adeoye, told the court that Balogun conspired with Adegboye to commit the offence.

He added that Balogun, on August 26, 2021, in the Ayetoro area was caught with a four-month-old child.

The offence committed contravened sections 516, 317(1)(7) and 249 (D) of Criminal Code CAP 34 Vol. Il Laws of Osun State of Nigeria 2002.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, but Balogun pleaded guilty to charges of child stealing and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace.

The defense counsels, Okobe Najite and M. Akinwande prayed the court to admit their clients to bail in most liberal terms, saying they would not jump bail if granted.

However, the prosecutor opposed the application on the ground that the accused persons are liable to jump bail, saying the child recovered from them is at the orphanage.

In her ruling, Ruling on the application, presiding Magistrate, Mrs O. Adaramola denied the application and ordered the remand of the accused persons in Ilesa correctional facility.

She adjourned the case till September 21 and 22, 2021 for an accelerated hearing.

Bandits in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State set the homes of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Nasiru Muazu Magarya, and other residents ablaze.

Alhaji Abdullahi Shinkafi, Chairman, Committee on Security and Prosecution of Bandits in Zamfara State, confirmed the incident.

According to him, the bandits stormed the community and set ablaze some houses including that of the speaker.

He lamented that this is coming as a result of the ongoing onslaught by the military in Zurmi.

According to the Chairman of the committee, who was in the affected community to assess the security situation, the government will provide support for victims and deploy more security operatives to protect the people.

He, however, did not disclose whether lives were lost during the invasion by the bandits but explained that two suppliers of foodstuffs, petrol and other commodities to the bandits were arrested.

According to him, “The suspects used boats to convey the products from Sokoto through Issa Local Council to the bandits in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.”

The Chairman added that the two foodstuffs and petrol suppliers have been handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

A tragic incident occurred in Ilorin, Kwara state capital on Monday, when a tricyclist known as ‘Feargod’ was reportedly killed by a yet to be identified lawyer.

The incident occurred around 2000 hours at the Garin Alimi roundabout in the state capital.

It was reliably gathered that the tricycle operator, mistakenly hit the lawyer’s car from the back, which resulted in a hot argument.

“Out of provocation, the yet to be identified lawyer allegedly hit the tricyclist with something suspected to be a ‘charm’.

“The man fell down and died instantly,” the source added.

The police have taken over the matter and the remains of the late tricyclist has been deposited at the Garin Alimi hospital in Ilorin close to the roundabout, the scene of the tragic incident.

Efforts to reach the spokesman of the state police command, Mr Okasanmi Ajayi, for his reaction failed, as a text message sent to him was not replied at the time of this report.

The federal government has narrated the breach of the Kabba Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kogi by gunmen.

Sola Fasure, the spokesman to Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, said Controller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Haliru Nababa provided a brief.

Fasure, in a statement, said security officers on duty, comprising 15 soldiers, 10 police officers and 10 armed guards of the NCoS, fought gallantly to repel the attack.

“Regrettably, two officers of the Correctional Service are yet to be accounted for while one soldier and a policeman lost their lives”, he noted.

The Kabba custodial facility had 294 inmates, many of whom escaped after the gunmen used explosives to destroy three sides of the perimeter fence.

However, some voluntarily returned to the facility this morning; 28 inmates didn’t escape after the jailbreak.

Nababa is currently monitoring the situation and a tour of the facility is ongoing.

The government has established a Crisis Response Centre and activated and a Special Taskforce mobilized to recapture escaped inmates.

“An Inter-Agency Security Task Force is already on the trail of the gunmen who attacked the facility. The public is advised to stay calm as the situation is under control.

“We are also putting INTERPOL on notice with their details, in case any of them attempts fleeing outside our shores”, the statement added.

Aregbesola assured that security forces will find the attackers and bring them to justice..

The minister appealed to communities around the prison to be vigilant and report strange and suspicious persons to the nearest law enforcement agency.

The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested two members of an international drugs syndicate, recovering a total of 16.65 kg narcotic drugs worth over Rs 30 crores in the process.

One of the accused, Nigerian national Chigozie Foster Okafor alias David, has been living in India illegally. He had arrived in the country in July 2019 on a six-month business visa, according to the police.

However, after the expiry of his visa, David did not return and continued residing in the country illegally. His passport revealed that he had visited Nepal and the United Arab Emirates in the past.

The investigation also revealed that David used to get a supply of heroin from a fellow Delhi-based Nigerian who procured his supply from a Delhi-based Afghan national. Later, he developed his own network.

David also disclosed that many persons from Punjab procured heroin from him in Delhi. They would also send consignments of heroin to other countries, including the UK, Sri Lanka, UAE, Nepal, Bangladesh, South Africa and so on through courier services by using fake identities.

Apart from David, Delhi Police has also arrested another member of the syndicate, Babu Lal, who used to get the supply of heroin from David and further supplied it to small drug traffickers in Punjab and Haryana.

An investigation is currently underway to nab the other accused, said the police.

A 36-year-old Nigerian, Afeez Adebara, has been jailed for romance scams and money laundering in the United States.

The Nigerian, who leads a group of money launderers in an online romance scam, was sentenced on Friday to four years in jail by a court in the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Court papers showed that Adebara and other scammers had defrauded multiple victims.

They were said to have engaged in scams worth over $2.5m.

Elderly individuals, especially females, across the United States, were said to be major victims.

Apart from being jailed four years, the court also ordered Adebara, who resides in Norman and Oklahoma, to pay $500,740 in restitution to his victims.

In court documents obtained by The PUNCH, Acting U.S. Attorney, Clint Johnson, said, “Afeez Adebara led a group of money launderers who bilked unsuspecting victims out of their hard-earned retirement and savings accounts as part of a Nigerian romance scam.

“This con artist and his cohorts have been brought to justice, thanks to the work of the FBI and federal prosecutors Babasijibomi Moore and Chris Nassar.”

Adebara, whose aliases included “Sam Ade” and “Alan Altman,” was indicted on October 10, 2019, alongside six other named suspects and three unnamed people.

The indictment alleged that Adebara and the nine others conspired to commit money laundering in 2017 as part of a scheme that involved the use of online dating sites and social media platforms to fleece unsuspecting elderly women.

Adebara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on November 3, 2020.

Six other Nigerians were also connected with the case, court papers revealed, adding that they had been sentenced.

John Ogundele, 32, of New York, New York, was sentenced to 33 months imprisonment.

Paul Usoro, 25, a Nigerian citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States residing in Norman, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, six of which were to be served in home confinement.

Joshua Ditep, 26, a Nigerian citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States residing in Norman, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, five of which were to be served in home confinement.

Tobiloba Kehinde, 29, a Nigerian citizen residing in Norman, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, four of which were to be served in home confinement.

Chibuzo Obiefuna, 28, of Long Beach, California, and Jamiu Adedeji, 25, a Nigerian citizen residing in Norman, were each sentenced to time served.

Three suspected POS robbers have been lynched by an angry mob before Afor-Ukwu market, Isiekenesi, Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State.

The incident happened on Thursday when the suspects reportedly robbed a POS operator and ran away with the POS machine.

The robbery victims immediately raised the alarm which attracted the attention of residents and some mobs who lynched the three suspects.

The suspects attempted to escape after some youths gave them a chase from the scene of the incident at Isiekenesi and caught them at Mgbee.

The angry mob after beating them black and blue, thereafter, took them back to Affor-Ukwu market.

They used three old tyres, sprinkled petrol on them, put them on the suspects in the middle of the road, and set them ablaze.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Imo police command, ASP Mike Abatam said, “I can’t confirm that particular report now but will appreciate it if you can wait; just exercise some patience because I’m working on another release as I speak with you now.”