Author: The Nation

The Nasarawa State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, yesterday handed over 500 tons of vandalised railway materials to the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

State commandant, NSCDC, Abbas Bappa Mohammed, who handed over the recovered materials in Lafia, said they included rails, sleepers, ballast, among others.

The Commandant who was represented by the spokesman for the command, DSC Jerry Victor, said the materials were intercepted at different locations in the state by operatives attached to the Anti-Vandal and Intelligence Units.

He said: “Criminal elements who derive joy in sabotaging the efforts of the government will not be spared. As the leading agency in protection of National Critical Assets and Infrastructure, the NSCDC will not relent in its efforts to fish out saboteurs in the country.”

Receiving the items, Regional District Manager, NRC, Austen Ashibekong, commended the

Commandant for showing  unique prowess and impressive dexterity in service delivery.

He said: “The NSCDC has been partnering the NCR in fighting against vandalism/theft of railway materials and infrastructure in the country. We appreciate your efforts in clamping down on these criminal elements,” he said.

He noted that the items will go a long way in addressing some of the challenges the Railway Corporation was presently having.

• Police rescue seven more victims in Edo

Over 134 victims kidnapped from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Nasarawa State have been rescued by vigilante group in Kogi.

Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Yahaya Bello, Onogwu Muhammed, disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

Mohammed said the victims were rescued during an operations launched by the Kogi vigilance group in forests located in the state and some parts of Nasarawa.

“The vigilance group had stormed the hideouts of kidnappers in the Odullo forest of Kogi and Sardauna in Nasarawa State and rescued 134 victims who were abducted from Abaji, Kuje, and Kwali in FCT, as well as Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

“The vigilance group, comprising 92 members who participated in the operations returned and were gladly received by Chairman of the area, Dauda Aliyu,” he said.

The CPS said Aliyu commended the vigilantes for their bravery and achievement, adding that he also applauded Bello’s administration’s support to security operatives in the state.

According to Mohammed, the victims had been reunited with their families.

Also, the police in Edo State have rescued seven more victims of kidnapping at Ihevbie bush, Owan East Local Government Area of Edo  State.

The victims were rescued yesterday by policemen, in collaboration with vigilante members, after four days of bush combing.

Last Wednesday, two of the kidnapped victims were rescued by policemen, while seven other victims later regained their freedom.

Nine passengers of a Toyota Sienna bus were last Tuesday kidnapped at gunpoint by gunmen along the Afuze-Iheivbe-Auchi Road in Edo North Senatorial District.

They were hurriedly moved into the den of the criminals in the forest where they were found by the rescue team.

Spokesman for Edo Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, a Superintendent of Police (SP), who confirmed the development, said the victims comprised four males and three females.

Nwabuzor said: “Seven victims, including four males and three females, were rescued during bush combing by the security team. All the kidnapped victims have now been rescued.”

The PPRO also urged Edo residents to always provide the command with useful information about criminals in their midst, assuring that their identities would be adequately protected.

The police in Enugu have recovered firearm and ammunition from fleeing robbery suspects, the state command said yesterday.

It also said they arrested three suspected transformer vandals within the metropolis.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, for Enugu State, DSP Daniel Ndukwe disclosed the arrests in a statement yesterday.

He said the firearm, a locally made cut-to-size gun loaded with one live cartridge, was recovered around 1:30am on Saturday, at New Artisan, Enugu.

He said the gun was abandoned by armed robbers, who were allegedly sighted in the area.

Ndukwe said the robbers fled when they saw the police and officials of the Neighbourhood Watch Group, who were responding to information about the presence of the criminals in the area.

He said the suspected vandals were arrested on April 30, at about 4am, while they were vandalising Enugu Electricity Distribution Company’s (EEDC) transformer at Church Road, Housing Estate, Abakpa-Nike.

“The suspects, who specialised in vandalising transformers and other public assets, confessed to the crime, while the tricycle they used for operation, rubber hand gloves, spanners, adjustable wrenches and other workshop tools, were recovered from them,” he said.

Ndukwe said the cases were still being discreetly investigated at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), adding that the suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.

A young man who just graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Gbenga Moses, has been found dead inside his room in an off campus hostel.

Gbenga popularly known as Pablo died of suspected food poisoning.

The deceased was said to be waiting for the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) call-up letter.

Sources said he and his girlfriend were hospitalised after taking a meal eaten from an undisclosed restaurant in Akungba.

The sources said the deceased and his girlfriend were treated and discharged at Aduloju Hospital, Iwaro.

Another source said the deceased and his girlfriend were treated for typhoid.

It was learnt that Gbenga was found dead inside his room after neighbours broke into his room when he was not seen the next day.

“The moment we noticed he was not responding to calls and knocks on his door, we barged into his room through his window around 11am, when we noticed he did not open his door.

“He is a lovely and entertaining person. Yesterday, we were made to understand that his girlfriend’s health was critical, and was just discharged.”

A source who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that Gbenga was not the first person to complain about food poisoning, adding that few weeks ago, it took God’s intervention to save a student who ate poison in an undisclosed restaurant.

Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Olusegun Akanbi, who confirmed Gbenga’s death, said he died Sunday Morning.

He said: “The Head of the Department of Philosophy just called me and it was discovered that he passed on this morning, and his parents had already come.”

Spokesman for the institution, Victor Akinpelumi, said an investigative team had been set up by the institution to unravel the true situation about the incident.

Tragedy struck in Akure on Monday as an over-speeding motorist ran over a Junior Secondary School student, killing her on the spot.

An eyewitness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the student was by the roadside on her way back from school when the vehicle crushed her.

“Friends of the driver, a suspected internet fraudster, who were in another vehicle, rushed him to an unknown destination as his vehicle burst into flames.

“Government needs to pay attention to the recklessness of these internet fraudsters,’’ the eyewitness said.

Police spokesperson in Ondo State, SP Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident and said the body of the student had been deposited in the morgue at Akure Specialist Hospital.

The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Alkali Usman, about the alleged false parade of a tailor, Thaddeus Ojokoh, in Imo State as a suspect in the killing of some policemen.

The centre made the allegation in a letter dated May 8, signed by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO) said Ojokoh, 53, was in custody following his arrest in a market by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Tiger Base police unit in Owerri, when the policeman was murdered.

It said Ojokoh was arrested on April 15, and has been in detention since then on an allegation of being a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The Imo State Police Command later issued a statement saying he was among the suspects who killed some policemen on April 21.

RULAAC said it learnt from the family of Ojokoh that the police had been keeping him incommunicado, adding that they “seriously fear for his life because most people arrested by the police in Imo State and labelled IPOB members have usually been executed extrajudicially or disappeared.”

The group urged the IGP to probe the “mystery surrounding the claim by the Imo State Police Command that a man who had been in police custody was among those who carried out the dastardly killing of police officers in Imo State on a date that the man was still in the custody of the police.” 

Three people were weekend killed and a district head, Muhammadu Shaba, injured in a clash between two communities in Mokwa local government area of Niger state.

The warring communities were identified as Eti Sheshi and Eppa.

The crisis, which escalated over the weekend, was said to have been ongoing for four years as a result of land dispute.

The district head was said to have been stabbed several times, while his cars and palace were vandalised by youths from Eti Sheshi.

The angry youths, it was gathered, also attacked and injured several persons, destroyed properties, houses, and public infrastructures including the Mokwa General Hospital, Eppa.

Lamenting the continuous attacks, Eppa community residents called on the government, security agencies to intervene and arrest the culprits.