Category: Crime

No fewer than five persons were killed and many others injured on Saturday when hoodlums attacked the Igbokuta/Gberigbe community, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that the hoodlums, who were suspected to be land grabbers, invaded the community around 1pm and attacked the land owners in the area with weapons.

According to the residents, the hoodlums, who were led by one Sir K and one Gbenga, stormed the community and attacked their perceived enemies.

The deceased were identified as Lateef Ade, Mutiu Balogun, Hameed Idris and two others.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident happened after two suspected fake policemen placed in the community by Sir K were arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team.

He said, “Two fake policemen, who were impersonating the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force, were among 15 people illegally stationed in the community since May 19, 2021, by Sir K.

“However, the fake policemen were arrested and this was what led to the Saturday attack. The Sir K gang members were angry that the policemen were arrested; the attack, which led to the death of five people, was part of a reprisal by the gang.”

A community leader, Chief Akorede Oluderu, lamented incessant attacks by the gang on residents and called on the police to intervene.

He said, “We no longer sleep with our two eyes closed due to the attacks on this community by the notorious land grabbers. We are calling on the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police Force to look into our ordeal and save us from these thugs. Many lives have been lost, yet the police have done nothing to bring the situation under control.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu, did not pick his phone which rang out several times.

He did not also reply to a text message sent to his phone as of the time of filing this report.

In a related development, two persons were injured on Saturday when some hoodlums suspected to be land grabbers invaded Obada-Oko community in Ogun State.

It was gathered that the hoodlums, who were armed with machetes, broken bottles and other weapons, stormed the community around 12pm.

A resident, Sikiru Kayode, was attacked with machetes and left for dead.

A witness, Taoheed Agbaje, said over 100 hoodlums attacked the community.

He said, “I have never witnessed anything like that in this area. There were about 50 motorcycles with each carrying at least three people; many of them were armed with cutlasses, broken bottles, sticks and iron rods. A pregnant woman fainted when she sighted them; she was revived by residents who quickly gathered around her.

“The hoodlums attacked Sikiru Kayode with machetes, iron and sticks, while other people ran for their lives. The hoodlums later escaped on their motorcycles when they noticed that Kayode was motionless, thinking that he was dead. But he survived.”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the incident, said investigation was ongoing.

He said, “There are some people who claim to be land agents and said they had a court judgment concerning a portion of land in the community, but the other party who are in the community said the judgment that the land agents have does not cover their own portion of land and that was led to the problem.

“The land agents were the ones that went to the Obada-Oko Police Station to report that they were attacked and two of their boys were injured and taken to the state hospital in Ijaye, but the CP has directed the SCIID to go into the matter and investigate the case. We will hear the two sides of the story and whoever is at fault will be charged to court.”

PUNCH.

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian lady, identified as Bola Aworetan, who came into the country for her mother’s burial, has been brutally murdered in Ibadan, Oyo State.

A source said the deceased had come to Nigeria from the United Kingdom (UK), where she lived and worked, to bury her mother before she was murdered.

The burial for the mother attracted people from all walks of life and she hosted guests at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to the tributes written by friends and colleagues in Nigeria, she was shot dead by bandits in her car at the Guru Maharaji village, on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway, as the car conveying her and her kids approached Ibadan.

The incident, which occurred last Thursday, August 19, 2021, has thrown many who knew the deceased into mourning.

A friend wrote on her Alma Mater’s WhatsApp platform, “They say we never die but we just change form and continue our existence in another realm. If this is true, I’m sadly mourning you with my tears.’’

The late UK-based woman was an alumni member of the University of Ado-Ekiti (UNAD).

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, Ngozi Onadeko, said there was nothing like that in the state.

“To my own knowledge, there is nothing like that. I just spoke with the DPO if there is anything like that. I would have been the first person to know or maybe the victim’s family didn’t report to the police,” the CP said.

Meanwhile, the Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has nabbed 37 suspected internet fraudsters.

The suspects were arrested in Ibadan and Oyo town, Oyo State, following intelligence on their alleged involvement in internet frauds.

The suspects include Kehinde Emmanuel Ayoola; Adewale Adeparosi Samson; Adeniran Tijesunmi Ayobami; Abiodun Olamide; Olaoye Afolabi Bolarinwa; Ajibade Sodiq Ayodeji; Babalola Opeyemi David; Fatunbi Gboluwaga Oludotun; Abdusalam Mojeeb Ololade; Taiwo Emmanuel Olaoluwa and Oyewole Oyewunmi Fred.

Others were Akinboade Fatai Jimmy, Oyewole Samod. Others are: Ishola Akinyemi Labayo, Ayinde Oluwasegun Ridwan, Oladokun Abdulkadri Akolade, Adebayo Dare Basit, Adebayo Tola Kudus, , Oladeji Joseph Popoola Samuel Ayomide, Oladoja Oluwaseun Peter, Olakunbi Feranmi Ayodeji, Khalid Mohammed, Salimon Sodiq and Oparemi Ayomide James.

The suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

Obinna Uchendu, Abakaliki

A Local Government chairman in Ebonyi State Dr Eni Uduma Chima has washed his hands off the death of one of his subjects, 36 year old Kelechi Amos Irem.

The deceased hailed from Ezi Ndi Ogudu, Ogwuma, Edda in Afikpo South LGA.

Speaking to newsmen in Abakaliki the chairman noted that the deceased, while drinking in a beer parlour had a problem with another, which led to a fight.

He said; The deceased had problem with Paul Okeunu and in the course of the fight, he was said to have been beaten up and people from his place, his relative, because they were right in his own village came out to fight in his support.

“An Okada rider, carrying the Paul Okeunu was also attacked and matcheted. The deceased while the fight continued ran to his father’s compound, brought out a matchet and used it to inflict cuts on many people.

“When relatives of the people he inflicted matchet cuts on, came, he saw them in their numbers and tried to escape from them; and while he was running, because he was not familiar with the terrain, he ran to the back of an upstair at the centre of Ogwuma and while running, he didn’t know when he got to an embarkment close to the road, he slipped, fell down and hit his skull on the concrete road”.

“He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. That caused outrage, but the community people held a meeting at their village square and concluded that nobody specifically could be held accountable for his death, that it is was an accident”.

“There is no reason to link anybody, let alone myself to the death of the young man. He is a boy I have never met, our paths have never crossed, we are not struggling for anything”.

Meanwhile, the family of Pa Amos Ibiam of Ezi Ndu Ogudu, Ogwuma Eddah in Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State has petitioned the State Commissioner of Police.

The petition dated August 5th, 2021 and signed by Monday Amos Ibiam and Mrs. Felicia Ama Nkama alleged that Mr. Kelechi was gruesomely murdered at about 6pm on Saturday, 31st July, 2021.

They alleged that the deceased was murdered in their family compound adding that the killing was carried out by some youths suspected to have come from Ekoli Edda also in Afikpo South LGA.

The petitioners expressed concern that late Kelechi who resides in Lagos was a tailor by profession and only visited the village for the burial of his friend before he was brutally murdered.

“It is sad that Kelechi who just visited home for burial can be murdered in this manner by a group of notorious boys terriosing people of the community”.

“We hereby appeal to you to use your good offices to intervene in the matter to ensure that the killers of Late Kelechi Amos Irem are brought to book”.
Ends.

A major drug dealer wanted for attempting to export 69.65kilogrammes of cocaine, heroin and cannabis to the United Kingdom through the NAHCO export shed of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, has been arrested in a church at Ojodu, Ikeja area of Lagos State.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had traced the wanted drug dealer, Stephen Afam Ikeanyionwu, on Sunday, August 15, 2021, to a popular pentecostal church at Mike Ajari Street, Ojodu Berger, Lagos where they arrested him soon after he stepped out of the church service.

His arrest followed the interception of a consignment of illicit drugs weighing 69.65kg going to the UK through the Lagos airport on Thursday, August 12, 2021.

The illegal baggage had been sent to the airport for export through a freight forwarding company, which in turn gave a driver to deliver at the NAHCO export shed. Following the arrest of the driver, follow-up operations and investigations later revealed the true identity of the owner of the consignment, Stephen Afam Ike Anyonwu, who was arrested three days later in a sting operation.

Also at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives arrested an Italy-bound passenger, Abibu Miminu, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airways flight to Italy via Addis-Ababa for ingesting illicit drugs. While under observation at the agency’s facility between Saturday 14th and Sunday, August 15, 2021, the trafficker excreted 68 wraps of heroin, all weighing 800 grammes.

Meanwhile, a South Africa returnee, Obi Chigozie Samuel, was, last Sunday, arrested at the Lagos Airport during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis-Ababa for importing 58 grammes of skunk into Nigeria.

The Guardian

SOME parents of the abducted students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna, have said the kidnappers called them to pick up their children at different locations with the promise that they (students) have all been released.

However, only 15 of the students, who were kidnapped in July, regained their freedom on Sunday after 46 days in the captors’ den.

The students, who were picked up at different locations by their parents after calls were placed to them (parents) by the abductors, were discovered to be weak and could barely walk.

“They called us individually and told us to come and pick our children. When we got to the location they left our children, we found them very weak, barely able to work,” Samuel, one of the parents, disclosed.

Another parent, Ruth Makama, disclosed that she was called upon to come for her daughter, but on getting there, she discovered her daughter was not one of those released.

Twenty-eight students were earlier released after the payment of N50 million, while the latest release was after the payment of an additional N24 million.

The students, 121 in numbers, according to the President, Kaduna Baptist Conference, who is also the Proprietor of the school, Rev. Ishaya Jangado, were kidnapped in the early hours of July 5, 2021, around 2am on the school premises along the Kaduna-Kachia highway, Damishi, Chikun LGA of the state.

With the release of 15 out of the 80 students, 65 of the students are still in the kidnappers’ den

Baptist school students: Mother suffers swollen heart as bandits insist on fresh N80m ransom
The students were handed over to the traumatised parents at around 1:30pm.

The students, who were conveyed in an 18-seater bus into the secretariat, were not looking unkempt, a contrast to condition of the first batch of 28 students earlier freed by the bandits.

The development, the President of the Baptist Convention, Rev. Israel Akanji, explained was because the released students were allowed to refresh before being reunited with the parents unlike the previous ones who looked unkempt and pale.

Addressing newsmen shortly after handing over the students to their parents, Akanji said they expected the bandits to release the remaining children, who he said, were 78 with them (bandits).

PUNCH.

A resident of Aboru in the Ipaja area of Lagos, Desmond Okoroafor, has been arrested for the alleged kidnap of his neighbour’s eight-year-old son, Daniel Chukwudi.

Okoroafor, 21, was apprehended alongside one Egwuonwu Iyke, whom he reportedly connived with to abduct the boy and hold him captive.

From their hideout in the Ajangbadi area of the state, the duo were said to have contacted the victim’s family and demanded N2.5m ransom for his release.

The police said operatives of the State Intelligence Bureau went after the suspects after the victim’s parents reported the abduction, which occurred on July 11, 2021.

The spokesperson for the police in the state, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, in a statement on Saturday, said Okoroafor exploited his unhindered access to the family to lure the victim from home to Ajangbadi, where he was in captivity for six days before he was rescued.

He said, “The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two male suspects, Desmond Ikechukwu Okafor (21) and Egwuonwu Gift Iyke (34), who conspired and kidnapped an eight-year-old child, Daniel Chukwudi, on 11th July, 2021. The kidnap was planned and executed by the victim’s neighbour, Desmond Okechukwu Okorafor.

“Twenty-four hours after the evil act, the suspects reached out to the victim’s parents and demanded N2.5m ransom as a condition for his release from captivity or else he would be killed.

“Following a report by the distraught parents, operatives of the State Intelligence Bureau began a painstaking, diligent investigation, which led to the arrest of the two suspects in their criminal hideout, while the victim was also rescued from his detention where he was kept incommunicado.”

Ajisebutu said the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, had directed that the suspects be charged.

PUNCH.