The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Wife urges court to dissolve 10-year-old marriage

    A 35-year-old wife, Mrs Sarah Ogunde, yesterday in Lagos urged a Somolu Customary Court to dissolve her 10-year-old marriage to her husband, Tolani Ogunde, over an alleged threat to her life.

    Sarah, a civil servant, accused her husband of threatening her life, being fetish, not being trust worthy, regularly beating her, and lack of care and love.

    She said though the union was blessed with a child, the husband was yet to pay the bride price.

    The petitioner also alleged that her husband was fond of leaving their matrimonial home at 5a.m. daily, only to return at midnight, and on some occasions, he would stay away for days.

    Sarah said that she had found some substances suspected to be fetish objects with her husband, stressing that she had decided to leave as she no longer loved him.

    However, Tolani, in his defence, told the court that he still love his wife.

    He said that the fetish objects his wife found in his possession were for his personal security.

    The president, Mrs Oluremi Ekundayo, advised the parties to maintain peace while she requested that the blood relations of the couple to appear in court on May 12, the next adjournment date for counselling.

  • Lagos chief greets Ambode, Amosun

    Lagos chief greets Ambode, Amosun

    Lagos chief and secretary, Onitetiku-Owode Ota Welfare Council, Prince Adesegun Ogungbayi yesterday congratulated Governor-elect Akinwunmi Ambode.

    He also hailed Ibikunle Amosun on his re-election as governor of Ogun State, describing their victories as reward for hardwork and loyalty to All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

    Ogungbayi, urged the duo to be magnanimous in victory and ensure development of their states was paramount.

  • Police nab kidnappers in Lagos

    Police nab kidnappers in Lagos

    The Lagos State Police Command yesterday arrested a teacher and two others for allegedly kidnapping a 62-year-old woman, Kudirat Adeboye.

    The teacher, Ifeanyi Chukwuleta, Kolawole Alani and Rasheed Adetunji were arrested while their gang leader, Niyi Omosola, was shot dead as he tried to collect N3 million ransom.

    The command also said it recovered one double barrel pistol, two expended cartridges and six live cartridges from the suspects.

    The Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr Kayode Aderanti, said a complaint was received by the Divisional Police Officer, Akodo Division that the sexagenarian was kidnapped on Eleko/Epe Expressway.

    According to him, on receiving the information, he directed the officer in charge of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), DSP Abba Kyari, to fish out the hoodlums.

    He said when the kidnappers contacted the victim’s family, they initially demanded N50 million but later agreed to collect N3million after six days of negotiation.

    Aderanti said the OC SARS led two decoy operatives to Epe where the kidnappers re-directed the victim’s son to Ijebu Ode road.

    He said: “One of the kidnappers came out from the bush and collected the ransom but was pursued by SARS decoy operatives.

    “When he noticed the presence of operatives, he opened fire on them and the police fired back at him and he sustained gunshot injuries.

    “The wounded kidnapper, Omosola, led operatives to the forest where we rescued the victim. Omosola died later, but we arrested three more members of his gang”, Kyari said.

    Blaming poverty for his foray into kidnapping, Chukwuleta said: “I joined kidnapping because of poverty.

    “I am a teacher and a teacher is supposed to be an exemplary figure but when the chips are down, what can a man do?

    “My salary as a teacher is too paltry. I start begging for transport money in less than one week after receiving it.

    “Whether you believe it or not, I am a good guy who was pushed into crime by poverty.

    “My journey into crime was when I met our leader who has been killed by the police.

    “My duty was to watch victims in the bush. I will be armed with cutlass and threaten victims that I would kill them if they tried to escape.

    “I have watched over three victims, but I wept in the last one, that of the 62-year old woman who put us in this mess.

    “When the woman was crying, I just knew she was old enough to be my mother and I started weeping too.

    “I now unbound the woman and assisted her to escape.

    “May God bear me witness, I did not know that our leader had gone to collect ransom and he was shot dead by the police,” he said.

  • One injured as container falls on three vehicles

    One injured as container falls on three vehicles

    One person was injured yesterday when a 20-foot container fell off its truck, destroying a commercial bus popularly called Danfo marked XZ 334 EPE, a black Nissan Xterra Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with number plate LA 30 A06 and a tricycle popularly called Keke Marwa at Olosha Bus stop on Agege Motor Road, Mushin.

    Passersby and commercial bus drivers rushed to rescue the injured.

    The container was loaded with vehicle parts.

    The accident, which occurred around 10am, caused heavy traffic, which lasted for over five hours.

    The traffic, which affected the Lagos bound lane, stretched to Moshalashi Bus stop.

    Hoodlums initially prevented Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials from evacuating the container, demanding to see the truck owner because the damaged Danfo belongs to one of them.

    They wanted assurance that he would repair the bus before the container could be removed.

    It took police intervention to restore normalcy.

    LASTMA officials strive to keep traffic moving.

    There were repeated announcements on Lagos Traffic Radio, urging motorists to seek alternative routes

    A presenter said the road was blocked around Moshalashi Bus Stop to pave the way for easy evacuation of the container.

    Motorists heading to Mushin from Ojuelegba, Yaba axis were diverted to Ikorodu road to Oshodi and back to Mushin.

    A woman at the rear of the commercial bus was injured; she was given first aid.

    According to a LASTMA official, the elderly woman refused to wait for Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) officials despite being told that she would not pay for the service.

    “The woman asked to be taken home; some people contributed money to get her a cab,” he said.

    An eyewitness blamed the accident on the bad portion of the road at Olosha Bus stop.

    “The only cause of this accident is the bad road you are looking at. If the road is not bad, there won’t be any accident here and this road has been like this for years. All we want is to rehabilitate the road,” he said.

    Another eyewitness told The Nation: “At first, there was a traffic caused by the bad road. It was the time that the container got to that spot and fell off the track. If the road is good the container won’t fall. Two containers fell at this same spot last year and this year, we have recorded the second one. Government should repair this road for us; else more of these accidents should be expected.”

    The Nissan SUV driver, Mr Akeem Fagbemi thanked God for sparing his life.

    “I was on my way to deliver a letter from work and all I saw was the container falling on us but I thank God it is not more than this,” Fagbemi said.

    Benjamin Nwachukwu, the tricycle driver said the truck driver was in a hurry.

    “What I can say is that accident has been happening here because I remember one happened two weeks ago and now today again. Trucks carrying containers pass here every day but their drivers are very careful but this particular one was not. He was in a hurry and you can see the gap I gave him. I thank God that no life was lost except one woman who was injured but she has been taken to the hospital,” Nwachukwu said.

    The commercial bus driver looked depressed; he refused to speak with reporters.

  • How Pastor absconded with member’s N10m

    For a 43-year-old businessman (names withheld), the past four months have been hellish after his pastor, Timothy Gabriel absconded with N10 million loan he obtained from a bank.

    The victim, a resident at Ejigbo, a Lagos suburb, who trades in ‘tokunbo’ vehicles at Apapa area of the state, was lured by his pastor to bring the money for ‘anointing’.

    It was gathered that the victim had obtained the serviceable loan to invest in his car business to enable him purchase more cars at cheaper rate at the Wharf.

    He was said to have hinted his pastor of his plans, who prayed for him for a successful obtainment of the bank loan.

    Having received the money from the bank, the victim it was gathered took the money to the pastor on the latter’s instruction.

    The dubious pastor was said to have told the victim that the money he was given by the bank was ‘blood money’, which would need three days prayer and fasting for cleansing.

    Gabriel, it was learnt, told the victim to bring the money to his Jakande Estate, Isheri residence, where the money would undergo the three days cleansing before he can invest same in his business.

    Although the incident occurred in January, The Nation gathered that the victim who now feels ashamed and stupid at his gullibility, only summoned courage and reported the matter at the Ejigbo Police Station last week.

    The Nation gathered that it took the combined efforts of his wife, three children and sister to persuade him to report the matter at the police station, as well as the Igbo community in Lagos.

    He was said to have contemplated suicide after he repeatedly went to the pastor’s residence, which doubled as his church but the place was deserted.

    Although both the victim and his pastor are from Anambra State, (Nnewi and Ihite respectively), efforts by the victim to track the pastor on his own has been unsuccessful.

    It was also gathered that he has since commenced payment of the loan, while furnishing the police available information to aid in the arrest of the pastor.

  • Okada riders, hoodlums clash with police

    Pandemonium broke out yesterday at the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos as no fewer than 30 motorcycle riders and hoodlums with dangerous weapons went on a rampage.

    Armed with cutlasses and axes, the motorcyclists stormed the Lekki-end of the Ikoyi/Lekki toll gate roundabout on Admiralty Way for a face-off, making it practically impassable for both motorists and pedestrians alike.

    The Nation learnt that the riot was staged by commercial motorcycle riders to protest the ban prohibiting them from riding within the Lekki Phase 1 axis.

    According to an eyewitness, Toke Makinwa, an on-air presenter, the riders were protesting with machetes.

    Tweeting from @tokstarr she wrote, “Gosh, just witnessed the scariest thing ever… Gun shot, Okada riders with machetes, what is happening in Lekki?

    “Cars are reversing; trying to get away, a woman jumps out of her car and starts running.

    “This police man brings out his gun ready to shoot while there is traffic and pandemonium. Who trains these people?”

    Another eyewitness tweeted: “It is happening live; about 40 men with red bandana with guns and matchet on rampage.”

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the demonstration which began around 2p.m. had paralysed commercial activities at the area.

    The demonstration started when the residents of the area said they no longer needed the services of the commercial motorcyclists.

    The angry Okada riders took to the streets, barricading the Lekki/Ikoyi bridge.

    Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Kenneth Nwosu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the force on getting the report deployed its men to quell the demonstration.

    According to him, it’s a demonstration by Okada men who decided to take the law into their hands.

    “There is a demonstration by some members of the Okada riders group after the Lekki Residents Association said they don’t want Okada to operate in their neighbourhood,” he said.

    Nwosu said normalcy had returned to the scene .

  • Brothers seek probe of magistrate’s ‘threat to life’ claim

    There is a twist in the allegation by a Lagos State Chief Magistrate, Mrs Adeola Adedayo, that two brothers standing trial before her wants her dead.

    The accused – Sulaiman Sanusi and Kehinde Sanusi, have petitioned the Chief Judge, Justice Funmilayo Atilade, asking that the matter be probed.

    The brothers are accusing Chief Magistrate Adedayo of using instruments of state to deny them of their rights, adding that the lawyer, Charles Nwadiani whose petition to the police led to their arrest, detention, and arraignment is her acquaintance.

    Sulaiman and Kehinde, who are children of the late business and steel merchant, Chief Abdul Razak Sanusi, are being tried by Chief Magistrate Adedayo for alleged possession of firearms. They are also accused of disrespecting court order, in what started as a family dispute over inheritance.

    Last April 13, Chief Magistrate Adedayo raised the alarm that her life was under threat, claiming that she received letters at home from the suspects.

    She said in open court: “Let the world know about it so that if anything happens to me and any member of my family the whole world will know who to hold. Somebody is alleged to be in possession of firearms and he wrote letters to threaten my life, analysing my marital status, my family background, where I live and who I live with and how I move in and out daily”.

    In their petition, the brothers said these “weighty allegations” must be investigated by the Judicial Service Commission and Office of the Attorney-General of Lagos State.

    The petition, signed by Kehinde reads: “We are sad and distressed over these baseless accusations as they are calculated to paint us as criminals to the public. Unless this charge is transferred to and heard by another magistrate, we stand convicted by Mrs Adedayo even before the trial starts before her”.

    The petitioners said they sent an October 29, 2014 petition to Justice Atilade, wherein they accused the chief magistrate of acting the script of one of their siblings, Ms Tola Sanusi, a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, currently on posting to Lagos State Safety Commission.

    The petitioners accused Mrs Adedayo and Ms Sanusi of using their positions to oppress them, claiming that their last year’s petition was ignored. “If our petition had been treated, the accusations of the chief magistrate would not have happened,” they said.

    In the 2014 petition, the brothers accused Ms Sanusi, of using her position to “unlawfully oppress, intimidate and compel us to relinquish the management of our father’s company to her”. They alleged that Sulaiman was arrested and detained by officers of the Zone 2 of the Police over allegations that he defrauded their father’s company, which he manages, of N6billion. “On October 17, 2014, he was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Adedayo at Igbosere, Lagos, on a charge of showing disrespect to a court order and possession of firearms,” the petition said.

    The police were said to have searched his office and taken away a dane gun, which the brothers described as “a family relic” displayed in their late father’s office.

    Sulaiman accused Chief Magistrate Adedayo of “deliberately” denying him bail by leaving the court through her private door.

    The petitioners accused Chief Magistrate Adedayo of bias, claiming that before their arraignment last October 17, Ms Sanusi, Afusat Bunmi Ibraheem and their mother, Alhaja Rashida Sanusi, were spotted leaving her chambers at Igbosere.

    They said the police ballistic report described the dane gun as “unserviceable” claiming that the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) advice said it was a “shot gun in order to persecute us at all costs”.

    The case comes up on Monday.

  • Court jails American for ‘pinging’

    Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday jailed an American for operating her mobile phone in court.

    Megan Chapman, Co – executive Director, Community Legal Support Initiative, was kept court’s waiting cell for about 20 minutes, after an angry Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia walked her out.

    The American, who was seated on bench, directly facing the judge, did not know that Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia was watching her while fiddling with her phone.

    Others on court got to know what was happening when the judge scolded her.

    After ask her to leave the court, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia directed her support staff to escort the American to the waiting cell, where she stayed for about 20 minutes.

    She ordered her release following lawyers plea.

    Reacting, Chapman said she has learnt her lessons, adding that her action was not intentional.

    She said: “I was replying an urgent message. It was not like I intentionally disrespected the court but I have learnt my lessons. I have apologised to the court for my action. The prison officers were kind and treated me well in the short period I was there.”

  • Communities protest ‘crazy’ electricity bills

    Fourteen communities in Ikorodu, Lagos, have protested against what they call “billing irregularities” by the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC).

    The communities, which stormed the company’s office in Alogba Estate, Ikorodu, displayed placards bearing complaints, ranging from crazy bills, irregularity of power supply despite constant billing to absence of meter readers.

    Their representatives from Maya Jaiyesinmi, Olori Ijo, Abaku, NPA Estate, Itele, Liadi, Idafa and Enyiogbe, among other communities, told the Business Manager Mohammed Abdullahi, that they wanted pre-paid meters urgently.

    Their spokesman Olusoji Daomi, a lawyer, asked the manager to explain the reasons for exorbitant bills when there were no meters in the area.

    He said: “For about two years now, we have been paying excessive bills here in the name of estimation. I use a fan, a television and a bulb in my room-and-parlour apartment and pay the same amount as the person who uses televisions, air conditioners and other appliances in his house.

    “If there are inadequacies in the system, should it be on the people? I believe the IKEDC should be able to reach a compromise and a fair way of reaching a sharing formula that will not affect the people.”

    Responding, Abdullahi said on power outage, their firm’s feeders have not indicated non-usage, adding: “If there have been such issues and they are just lodging their complaints on the day of protest, they are not being fair to themselves.

  • Four injured in accident

    Four injured in accident

    Four persons were injured yesterday on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway in an accident involving a black Honda Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with number-plate FD 322 ABC and a black Pathfinder SUV marked FST 568 CL.

    Passersby rushed to the aid of the injured.

    They stopped cars on the highway to move the injured to the hospital.

    Two persons inside the pathfinder, a man at a newsstand and a cobbler were said to have been injured.

    The Honda is likely to belong to a Naval officer. Naval men were seen close to it.

    An eyewitness attributed the accident to the failure of the Pathfinder’s brake.

    “I was here looking at the Pathfinder and discovered that its brake has failed and the next thing was that it hit the Honda from behind. It kept pushing the Pathfinder from behind but the airbag did not allow the driver of the Honda to see his front and as he turns the steering wheel, he tumbled into the car park here.

    “The Pathfinder hit the pole here and it was that pole that hit the shoe maker on his head. The man standing here reading newspapers was injured while the other two casualties were in the Pathfinder jeep.”

    Another eyewitness said: “I never believed they will survive it because the way the SUVs tumbled was bad and we thank God no life was lost. It will be a lesson to people who stand by the road side doing nothing like the case of the man who was reading newspapers here.”

    A Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official, on the scene said rescuers should have waited for the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) officials to take the injured to the hospital.

    “They have done well but they should have waited for the LASAMBUS to move the injured to the hospital. Now they have been taken away and we don’t know where they are and they might be abandoned there but if it were to be the LASAMBUS, they will be well taken care of.”

    A Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) official, Lukman Salami, said no life was lost.

    Salami said: “It was a brake failure from the Pathfinder and no life was lost. Other causalities were fair compared to the man reading newspapers because he was hit badly by the Pathfinder and the shoe maker too who was hit by the pole that stopped the Pathfinder. We thank God no soul was lost but they all need to be checked.”

    Relatives of the man reading newspapers got to the scene few hours after the accident. They said he had just called them to meet him at the accident spot.

    “I can’t give my name but one of the victims is ours. I called him to meet us here and we waited for him. We kept calling his phone but was only ringing and we heard an accident happened there; we rushed down to this place and we were able to recognise him through his diary, his blue shirt and his phone was on the floor. We don’t even know where to find him because we were told they have been taken to the hospital by a rescue team,” he said.

    Another LASTMA official said the accident could have been avoided if the Pathfinder driver had allowed others to go.

    He said: “We could not carry the injured with ordinary hands because of the high rate of bleeding; we had to appeal to vehicles on the highway to help with the rescue before LASTMA rescue vehicles came around and the onlookers were not helpful; they were harassing our officials,” he said.