The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), The Nation Chapel, will today hold free eye examinations for all staff members. The eye examination is in honour of the former union chairman and Crime Correspondent, the late Jude Isiguzo.
It is tagged “NUJ/Jude Isiguzo Health Day.”
Consultant ophthalmologist and Director, Guinness Eye Centre, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Prof Adebukola Adefule-Ositelu will lead other ophthalmologists from LUTH for the event.
A 27-year-old man, Fatai Afobaje, was yesterday arraigned before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos for allegedly killing his friend and dismembering his body.
Afobaje, who resides at 332, Oko Agbonla Irese Village in Magbon, a suburb of Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.
The Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Elizabeth Ekuma, said the offence was committed on February 13 in Afobaje’s residence.
She said Afobaje killed one Rafiu Sulaiman, 44, his close friend, who visited him.
Ekuma said the accused cut-off his friend’s head and hands of with a knife.
“The victim had gone to visit his friend and on getting there, the security man at the gate allegedly charmed Sulaiman which rendered him unconscious.
“Sulaiman was carried into the room where Afobaje chopped off his head and hands before he buried his trunk,’’ Ekuma said.
He said when some policemen searched the house, the found the chopped-off parts where they were buried.
She said the widow identified her husband when she saw his wedding ring on one of his chopped-off fingers inside a calabash in Afobaje’s home.
Magistrate A.O. Komolafe ordered the accused remanded in Ikoyi Prisons pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The case has been adjourned to June 22.
Armed robbers struck at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) last Thursday, dispossessing doctors and others of valuables.
Some doctors were in the ARD Lounge, preparing for their examinations while others were relaxing when the robbers struck at about 7.30am
A victim said: “The first that entered wore a clinical coat. As he entered, he just shouted: ‘This is armed robbery; all of you, cooperate and face down. If you make any move, I will waste your life.’ Three others soon joined him. The first person was holding a pistol and he pointed it at each of us. We lost working tools such as iPads, handsets – some of those phones are expensive – and some lost personal effects. At the end, they left through the backdoor. That was highly curious to some of us. The experience that we medics can be robbed at gunpoint at a place considered our safe zone is really scary.
“The issues that really baffled us include how it happened, despite the security measures put in place by the management. There are suspects – people hanging around that we did not feel comfortable with. The association has lodged a complaint with the Alakara Police Station in Mushin and also with the one attached to the hospital. There was a lady medic in our midst; we thank God that she was neither harassed nor assaulted.”
Another said: “Some of us were there at the Lounge because we were on call duty; some go there because of the guarantee that there would be electricity. Most of us are sitting for our different examinations; so we read there. Of interest is that the assailants were all in clinical coats. And we deduced that there was at least, one person outside who was giving others signals. There are suspects and the management is already handling the case.
“So also, the security breach baffled us. A security officer was on duty at that time; even if he couldn’t shoot, he should have raised the alarm to attract reinforcement while taking to his heels. We observed that the assailants were in a haste to do their thing and move on. They carted the stolen things inside a bag of a colleague. They even took away log books and case notes meant for the examinations.
“The most disturbing thing is the gate at the back of the lounge. Most people, including doctors, did not know it existed. It was perpetually under lock. But that was their escape route and it was opened. That indicates that it was a well-planned crime involving an insider. The incident is a trauma for some of us. Some of us still wake up with a jerk around that time every day since that fateful day.”
no fewer than seven persons were injured on Sunday night when fire razed over 109 shops and houses in IJora, Lagos.
The fire, which started at 5.30pm, followed a gas cooker explosion in one of the shops. Properties worth millions were destroyed.
Eyewitnesses said ‘area boys’ attempted to quell the fire before the police arrived at 6pm. Lagos State Fire Service officials (LSFS) arrived at 8pm when the “enormous damaged had been done”, sources said.
A shop owner, Alhaji Babafemi Ojora, lamented his loss: “I have lost everything, only God can replace everything I have lost but I thank God Almighty for my life”.
He hailed the area boys for their efforts in containing the fire before the fire fighters’ arrival.
Isa Abdullah, another described the incident as sad.
He said: “I sat down immediately I heard not minding where I was at that point. I came to Lagos from Jigawa State to earn a living and now I am left with nothing, what would my wife and my children live and feed on?”
Other shop owners expressed their grief amid tears. Many stood by the remains of their burnt shops.
A mechanical Engineer, who declined to give his name, said he just acquired machines worth N7million days before the inferno.
He blamed the fire service for not responding fast enough.
“They didn’t show up until everything has been razed,” he said.
A resident, who gave his name simply as Mohammed, said the inferno was the first he would witnessed since the market was built.
“We have never experienced such a devastating loss, we pray such incident never repeats itself and the market regains its stance,” he said.
Another witness said the fire started from one of the shops at the 7up area of Ijora, where black oil’s stored.
Confirming the incident, South-West Zonal spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye said the affected buildings belong to Bayelsa State Government.
Farinloye said: “About 109 shops and residential buildings were consumed in the fire outbreak at the scene, located in open space belonging to the Bayelsa State Government besides the 7up Bottling Company, Ijora.
“One person who sustained serious burns was rescued and taken to the hospital.
“The fire started from a shop filled with drums of black oil. People are also using the space as residence,” he said.
NAN recalls that early in the year, two people were burnt to death in an early morning fire that ravaged no fewer than 10 buildings, including a brothel in Ijora.
The January 15 inferno also destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
Several people, mostly sex workers and their customers were injured in their attempt to escape.
The victims were identified simply as John and Yaro and they were reportedly sleeping in one of the burnt buildings when the fire started.
Fire fighters’ to put out the fire were threathen by irate hoodlums.
The fire was said to have started following a power surge from one of the affected buildings and spread rapidly because of the nature of the wooden houses.
Lagos Chief Judge, Justice Funmilayo Atilade has withdrawn from Chief Magistrate Adeola Adedayo the case of two brothers following petition.
Sulaiman and Kehinde Sanusi petitioned Justice Atilade, accusing Chief Magistrate Adedayo of bias following her allegation that they wanted her dead.
The brothers are being tried by the Chief Magistrate for illegal possession of firearms and disobeying court orders.
Yesterday, when the clerk called the case, the prosecutor, S. Dawodu told the court that there is a new legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
Apparently unaware that the case file has been recalled, Chief Magistrate Adedayo requested for it from the registrar: but the registrar answered: “They have called for the file from Ikeja.”
Addressing the court, the chief magistrate said: “The case file is not here. I have nothing to write on. The file has been taken to Ikeja”.
The defendants and their lawyer were absent.
In the new legal advice, it was gathered that the DPP recommended Sulaiman for trial for illegal possession of firearms.
It, however, exonerated Kehinde of any wrong-doing.
The police are alleging in charge A/143/2014 that Sulaiman unlawfully possessed firearms, contrary to Section 104(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2011 and Section 4 of the Firearms Act.
The brothers and their other siblings have been squabbling over their father’s estate.
In 2002, Sulaiman and two of his siblings, filed suit ID/904M/2002, challenging the powers of three others whom their father appointed as executors of his estate.
They accused the executors of mismanaging their father’s estate.
Ruling on the case in 2006, Justice Elfreda Williams-Dawodu ordered Sulaiman to produce all documents in his custody to the estate.
He also directed the respondents to resume joint management of the estate in line with their father’s will executed by late F.R.A. Williams (SAN).
The respondents were also ordered to return to court to submit a report of stewardship on the estate.
A 91-year-old woman has threatened to occupy the Lagos State Governor’s office if the Metropolitan College and Isolo Secondary School are not returned to her within seven days.
The nonagenarian, Mrs Roseline Ololo, made the threat yesterday in a statement by her lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo.
She vowed to permanently occupy the governor’s office until her requests were met.
The woman with her late husband, Chief Michael Ololo founded the college in 1955 through their firm, Akaix West Africa Limited.
But the school was taken over in 1976, following the military regime’s Education (Private Secondary Institutions Special Provisions) Law then under which 48 private secondary schools were acquired.
Subsequently, the Isolo Secondary School was established on the same premises as the Metropolitan College.
But in 2001, the Bola Tinubu administration repealed the law and returned the schools, including Metropolitan College, to their owners after an agreement with the founders at Arbitration Court.
However, trouble started following the Ministry of Education’s insistence to retain Isolo Secondary School.
Akaix West Africa said the retention of part of the school was against government’s restructuring of the education system of divesting and allowing private sector investment.
Following the disagreement, Mrs Ololo was said to have written to Fashola, urging him to present the matter at the state executive council meeting for deliberation.
In pursuit of her case, the nonagenarian said she has decided to occupy the governor’s office in protest against the undue delay in returning her school.
“My client desperately wants her school to be given to her in her lifetime because the school is the family legacy. Mama and her late husband worked hard to build the school and they cannot sit back and watch when the other schools have since been returned to their owners.
“We don’t have any problem in terms of running the school effectively and efficiently. We are capable and we have agreed that we should be sanctioned if we don’t run the school properly. So, there is really no reason for the delay in returning everything to us,” the lawyer stressed.
Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court in Ikeja, yesterday sentenced two men, Sunday Akala and Monsuru Oduntan, to 31 years imprisonment each for robbery and kidnapping.
They were found guilty of conspiracy, robbery and kidnapping of a mariner, Omosebi Oluwafemi.
Tunde Fayomi (32), the second defendant, died during the trial.
Akala, 35, and a Master Degree holder, was said to have conspired with Odutan, 38, and others to kidnap his friend, Oluwafemi, because he needed money to pay his house rent.
The convicts were arraigned by Lagos State Government on a three-count charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery and kidnapping.
The prosecutor, Hafeez Owokoniran, told the court that the offence contravened Section 402 (2) (a) of the Criminal Code of Lagos State 2003.
Delivering judgement, Justice Okunnu held that the statements were not obtained under duress, adding that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Okunnu however absolved the convicts of armed robbery.
The judge held that the prosecution was unable to prove whether the convicts’ weapon was a gun.
She said: “The evidence before the court shows that there was robbery and not armed robbery.
“I have considered carefully the facts of this case. As I have always said, it is for the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt. Judging by the evidence, I find that there was a robbery when the money was collected from PW1 (Oluwafemi).
“I find PW2 and PW3 as credible evidence. The prosecution has largely succeeded in proving its case. I hereby find them guilty of conspiracy, robbery and kidnapping of Oluwafemi,” the judge said.
The judge thereafter asked the convicts if they had anything to say before delivering her judgement. While Odutan said he had nothing to say Akala pleaded with the court to have mercy on him.
After listening to the plea of the convicted persons, Justice Okunnu sentenced each of them to 21 years for conspiracy to commit robbery and 10 years for kidnapping.
“The sentences are to run concurrently,” the judge added.
The Rotary District 9110 will tomorrow begin the 33rd edition of its Conference. The Conference is a climax of the activities of the year and will hold in Abeokuta from 13-16 and is tagged Olumo 2015.
Annually, the conference serves as an opportunity for members of the District, which comprises Lagos and Ogun, to meet and showcase their activities in the past year and to also prepare participants for the upcoming International Conference.
Governor of the District, Dr Dele Balogun, said the theme for the three-day event is Keep the Service Flame Burning.
There, he will give account of his stewardship in the last 10 months, present his scorecard and programmes geared towards improving service to the community. Also, it will serve as an opportunity for members and non-members to learn more of the Rotary and share ideas on contemporary issues.
Expected to speak at the event are Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun and former Secretary of Health Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi as a guest speaker. The event will be wrapped up with a dinner on Friday
Dr Balogun also announced that screening and free surgery for those with eye cataracts is on for 100 people at the Rotary Club of Palmgrove which will end on Saturday.
Also, 200 amputees will benefit from getting artificial feet, courtesy of the Rotary Clubs of VGC, Palmgrove and Ogudu among other on-going projects of the District.
A Non-Profit-making Organisation Fatima Charity Foundation (FCF), yesterday empowered 10 widows, including a woman whose husband was killed by the Boko Haram insurgents.
The event, which was held at the Cathedral Primary School, Lagos Island, featured lecture, goodwill messages and distribution of materials to the widows.
The foundation’s President, Chief Bintu-Fatima Tinubu, urged the society not to see widows as liabilities.
Chief Tinubu, wife of former police chief, the late Kafaru Tinubu, said: “I know people look down on widows, but today I want to say that we are not liability widows; we are able widows. We are workers, labourers, mothers and professionals in our own rights. We do not want to be pitied; rather we want to be given a place and a fair chance like everyone in the society. We are able widows because single-handedly without our spouses, we have brought up worthy and great citizens.”
Chief Tinubu thanked God for making many widows stand the test of time.
“We are not going to give up because we have a lot to give out to make Nigeria better. So, I stand with you and share in your joy, sorrow, success and I say it is time for empowerment. Together, we will go out there and prove our worth and strength,” she said.
The guest speaker, Alhaja Simbiat Agbalajobi, wife of former Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship aspirant, the late Prof Femi Agbalajobi, wondered why the society stigmatises the widows and condemned the attitude.
According to her, widowhood is not a disease, adding: “Anybody’s husband can die whether old or young. That doesn’t mean the end of the world.”
Life, she said, sometimes could be disastrous if a widow didn’t gather herself on time and move on with her life.
According to her, the experience of mourning period is not palatable.
Alhaja Agbalajobi enjoined government at all levels to evolve empowerment programmes for widows, saying they shouldn’t be left uncatered for.
“Widows are part of the society; they have ways of assisting the society to develop if given proper orientation and a sense of belonging,” she said.
One of the beneficiaries, Ama Muhammed, whose was among the victims of Boko Haram insurgents, said life had been tough since her husband’s death.
According to the mother of five, her husband died during the bomb blast in Maiduguri, Borno State capital that killed scores of people a few months ago.
She thanked the foundation for coming to her aid.
Ama said she had been selling snacks to cater for the children’s needs.
OPERATIVES of the Lagos State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have ended the reign of a suspected car-snatching and armed robbery kingpin in Lagos and Abuja.
Oliver Chukwuemeka a.k.a Mopol, 35, was arrested while on his way to receiving a snatched vehicle from a member of his gang in Lagos.
A source said Oliver had been parading himself as an orderly and driver to some retired senior police officers to evade arrest.
Nemesis caught up with him when he was found with an identity card belonging to a Corporal, following which he confessed that he used the card to beat security checks.
His arrest, it was learnt, followed that of two of his agents, Ogunshina Akinropo, 32, an ex-convict, and Hamzat Akeem, 23. Akeem claimed he was a native doctor before he became a fraudster, receiver and buyer of snatched cars and armed robber “due to financial problems.”
Oliver said: “I am from Amaesi, Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State. I am a driver and Orderly to Deputy Inspector General of Police, Assistant Inspector General of Police and a Commissioner of Police all retired (names withheld). I was arrested at Sagamu (Ogun State) on April 16, 2015 when I went there to collect a snatched vehicle from Hamzat. I also wash and iron clothes for the retired police officers and they used to pay me N25,000.”
On how many cars he had snatched, he said: “There is one robber called Danjuma. He gave me one Honda Accord 2003 Model at N280,000 and one jeep for N480,000; I paid N400,000 only.”
Asked why he was nicknamed Mopol and Deingenpol or Compol, he said: “My neighbours and friends always see me driving retired police officers and I used to wear Mopol uniform or cap at times. I live at 11, Arab Road, Kubwa in Abuja. I used the Corporal’s identity card to beat security agents on the highways and they even give me compliment as a very senior officer. Some policemen never looked at the identity card very well; rather they salute me.”
Akeem a.k.a Babalawo, who hails from Iwo in Osun State, said: “I am a native doctor. I inherited the work from my father who died in 2011. I cure general sicknesses. I use oracle, ogun, herbal concoctions and Igbo (Indian hemp) to cure chronic diseases and mental problems. I once had gonorrhea and I cured myself. My house was built to lintel level by my late brother. I was the one that completed it and bought two vehicles – a car and a jeep – from the money I made from fraud and robbery.
“I have a shrine inside my compound at Ajagba in Iwo. I also have an interpreter. I was an armed robber based in Ikorodu but when SARS became a threat to us, I relocated to Iwo and became a native doctor. I read it in a newspaper when the commissioner (Kayode Aderanti) advised all robbers to relocate. I obeyed but Mopol assured me that police wouldn’t be a threat to them as he had police identity card and uniform as a senior police officer. I had earlier been arrested and sent to Kirikiri prison for armed robbery twice. It was the third journey to Kirikiri that made me to relocate to my village and I came back because of Mopol to solve my financial problem.
“It was Oliver who called and asked me to go and get a vehicle for him. He bought Toyota Highlander Jeep and Toyota Corolla 2014 Model. It was another Toyota Highlander he wanted for his wife which he wanted to receive that caused his arrest. I am a native doctor and a fraudster (419er). If one wants to do ritual money, I charge him N50,000 to commit him. I also do consultancy for those who seek something from oracles. It is an organised crime. One of our members will represent oracle and talk to the victim when the victim makes the demand. I charged between N500,000 to N700,000. To scare the victim, we tell him what he cannot do, like bringing ten people to be sacrificed to the oracle and this is done after collecting enough money from him.”
Ogunshina, who is from Ilobu in Osun State, added: “I am a tractor driver. I had nothing doing and I joined robbers to survive. It was one Kingsley who gave me Mopol‘s phone number as the sponsor of our gang. I gave Mopol two vehicles in 2012. I went to Kirikiri prison once.”
The command’s spokesman, Ken Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) confirmed the arrests, adding that sponsors of armed robbers are more heartless and dangerous than the robbers; hence, “he is a major suspect.”