The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Cynthia: Defendant’s ‘illness’ stalls proceedings

    Trial of suspected murderers of Cynthia Osokogu was yesterday at a Lagos High Court adjourned to April 15 following the alleged indisposition of the second defendant, Olisaeloka Ezike.

    Justice Olabisi Akinlade, however, warned that she would not tolerate further excuses for adjournment when the case resumes.

    The defendants, Okwumo Nwabufo,  Ezike, Osita Orji and Ifechukwu Ezike, are standing trial for allegedly drugging, killing and disposing Cynthia of her phone and other belongings at Cosmilla Hotel at Lake View Estate in Festac Town, Lagos, on July 22, 2012.

    The matter could not proceed yesterday when Ezike’s lawyer Michael Ajayi reported that his client is ill.

    Ezike in a blue t-shirt, limped to the dock, holding his stomach.

    Ajayi told the court that his client was still having severe pain, adding that he could not stand trial in such condition.

    But, the defence team did not know that the judge had spoken with the prison warder on Ezike’s condition after his lawyer at the last adjournment said he was ill.

    Justice Akinlade, who was visibly angry, said after speaking with the warder, she was told that Olisaeloka’s illness was “nothing serious”.

    The judge asked the warder, I.M. Jimoh, who brought the defendants to court yesterday if he was aware of the defendant’s illness. The warder said: “No my lord, he did not tell me anything about his health”.

    Following her findings, Justice Akinlade advised the lawyer to prepare his witness because she would not allow them to keep stalling the trial.

    “Let him talk even if it means sitting down and giving evidence because he cannot continue to be delaying the matter, this is not the only matter I have.

    “I am going to give you this last time, I am not going to grant any further adjournment based on health, all these pains, pains, the court will no longer indulge you,” she said.

    At the last adjourned date, the first defendant, Nwabufo, told the court that it was the police that planted the nude photos of Cynthia’s body in his laptop.

    Under cross-examination by Ajayi, Nwabufo said the police threatened and tortured him to make his confessional statements.

    “The police tortured and threatened me into admitting that I and Olisa Chidera (the second defendant) committed the crime.

    “There is no truth in my statements to the police and what actually transpired. I made those admissions in my confessional statement because I feared for my life,” he claimed.

  • One killed, shops, vehicles burnt in cult war

    One killed, shops, vehicles burnt in cult war

    One person was killed; vehicles, shops and tricycle were burnt in renewed fighting by rival cult groups in Mushin/Idi-Araba axis of Lagos.

    The factions were said to have combed streets to smoke out their targets.

    Traders hurriedly closed their shops; residents retired early for fear of their lives.

    According to reports, the hoodlums came around 2:30pm on Sunday shooting sporadically into the air to scare passersby.

    They burnt down properties, especially shops and vehicles.

    Two shops, two vehicles and one tricycle (Marwa) were burnt on Karimu Street in Mushin; shops and houses were razed in Idi Araba.

    It was gathered that a  18-year-old boy staying on Awoniyi Street in Mushin who was returning from a football viewing centre, died after running into the cross fire.

    A woman, whose shop was razed, said she was eating when the first gunshot went off, adding that people came rushing into her shop out of fear.

    A resident said the problem of the groups was always women and money. Some of the clashes, he said, might have been fuelled by political rivalry.

    His words: “I know because I found out that each time they fight, either women or money is involved. It is always one of these two. You cannot also say they are commercial motorcycle operators or members of transport unions. The two factions cannot be said to be members of a particular profession. They belong to all professions. What is common is they are rivals and they apply dangerous weapons to fight one another”.

    Detachments of policemen reportedly kept vigil in those areas between Sunday and yesterday.

    Another resident appealed to the state and Federal Government to deploy soldiers in the area, “so that those who come every day to destroy properties and disturb our peace can be checked”.

    He said: “I have been staying in this area for over 10 years and I have witnessed over 30 of this disturbance. It is a matter of every other day occurrence. Why should things be this bad in a state where there is a government? The police seem unable to control the two factions because they know those involved but they cannot arrest them. So many people are being killed accidentally in crisis they don’t know anything about. It is time the state and Federal Government met to solve the Mushin/Idi-Araba uprisings”.

    Police spokesman Kenneth Nwosu, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP) said the situation had been brought under control, adding people were now going about with their lawful business.

    The police, he said, were getting to the root of the problem, adding:  “Our men will continue to be on ground to make the place unsafe for hoodlums and secure for residents and businesses”.

  • Forex expert needs N10m for cancer surgery

    Forex expert needs N10m for cancer surgery

    A forex trainer and newspaper columnist, Mr Adekunle Adeyeri, needs N10 million for cancer of the bone marrow surgery.

    The 46-year-old personal finance expert explained that he was struck by the ailment last year while preparing for church.

    He said: “On August 17, 20I4, I was in the bathroom preparing for church, when everything suddenly went blank. I felt some sensations like electric shocks ravaging my body and I could not move my left leg. I could not even stand on my feet again and I was about to fall when my wife quickly came to my aid. I was rushed to a private hospital where I was revived and subsequently transferred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, for further treatment.”

    Adeyeri’s medical report reveals that he is suffering from a deadly disease called multiple myeloma-cancer of the bone marrow. He is been unable to walk or sit.

    His condition, according to doctors, requires a spinal surgery and a bone marrow transplant that will cost N10 million.

    “Through the help of my family members and classmates at the Federal Government College in Ido-Ani, Ondo State, I had to travel to India for the spine surgery which cost N3 million. I was told if I didn’t do it before the transplant I would become paralysed. But my doctors insist that I must go back for the bone marrow transplant because the cancer cells are now spreading through my body and eating deep into the spine again.”

    Adeyeri, who hails from Ondo State, is pleading with well-meaning Nigerians for support to carry out the life-saving surgery.

    “I have spent all my life savings on treatment and I have no money to take care of my health. Even my family members have really assisted me with money and have exhausted their pocket. I am, therefore, pleading with Nigerians to assist me to raise N10m. I am also calling on Governor Segun Mimiko as well as well-meaning Nigerians and organisations to rescue me from the jaws of death,” he said

    Adeyeri can be reached on-08039391041; donors can send money to his account- Adekunle Adeyeri, Guaranty Trust Bank, 0007654719.

  • Rusted NNPC pipes contaminate community’s water

    Rusted Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipes have contaminated water in Baruwa-Ipaja, Secretary of the Community Development Committee of Ayobo Ipaja Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Chief Bayo Shittu has said.

    Speaking at the Ayobo Ipaja LCDA Stakeholders’ Forum at the council secretariat last weekend, Shittu said the contaminated water is not good for the people’s health.

    “NNPC has destroyed our water since 1998 and this polluted water has affected the well being of our children,” he said.

    The community, he said, has reported to NNPC but up till now nothing has been done.

    “We drew the attention of NNPC and when they came, the statement they made was to construct three tanks but up till now, no single drop of water comes out of the tanks they dug,” he said.

    Shittu appealed to the government to provide potable water for the community.

    The council Executive Secretary, Dele Ayinde represented by Femi Owolabi, assured the residents that something would be done.

    “We will look in the complaints and challenges; be rest assured that we will include all your demands into this year’s budget to meet your aspirations,” he said.

    The stakeholders’ meeting, he said, is a feedback mechanism between the people and the government.  He said his administration would focus on projects that will transform the council.

  • 10 bankers declared wanted for alleged N125m fraud

    The Police yesterday declared wanted 10 bankers over an alleged N125.1 million fraud scam.

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the names and photographs of the suspects have been pasted on the notice board of the zone 2 Police Command in Onikan, Lagos.

    The command’s spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Gbenga Adeoye, told NAN in Lagos, that it was normal for the police to declare wanted anybody suspected of crime.

    “It is normal for the police to declare wanted anybody who refused to make himself available after committing crimes such as fraud, jump bail or murder.

    “When we declare anybody wanted, the photograph, names and contact address of the suspected fellow will be pasted in the police formation for easy identification of his or her arrest,” Adeoye said.

    The suspects who are at large, were being investigated over alleged forgery and obtaining money by false pretence, he said.

    A warrant of arrest has been duly obtained from a Magistrate’s Court in Lagos State against the suspected fraudsters.

    NAN gathered that the suspects conspired with others to obtain financial facilities of N15, 055, 541; N10, 894, 478 and N24, 597, 628.

    Other amounts are N9,983,195; N11,114,992; N12,231,958; N8,663,833; N10,827,561; N5,657,937 and N15,054,383, respectively, from a Bank.

    The suspects are between the ages of 34 and 48.

  • How my son was killed, by mother

    How my son was killed, by mother

    A mother is still in agony over the death of her son last December 24.

    Mrs Gift Ilaya (37) said her son, Sunday was allegedly stabbed to death by his friend, Nnabaike Enwerem, in the presence of the suspect’s father.

    The suspect’s father, she claimed, also witnessed the incident.

    Mrs Ilaya is seeking financial assistance from Nigerians for her son’s burial.

    The 21-year-old Sunday, who was a welding apprentice, was allegedly stabbed in the neck.

    Mrs Ilaya, who deals in cat fish, said since the incident, she had been left to her fate, alleging that Nnabaike’s parents have fled.

    She said: “Since his corpse was deposited at a morgue in Badagry, I have been paying N5000 monthly. I am a struggling woman; I am broke now. I don’t have anyone who can help me. I still have five other children who I cater for. I want people to help me with money so I can bury my son. It is so sad that my son, who was brutally murdered, is still lying in the mortuary almost two months after.”

    Speaking with The Nation at her Ajangbadi, Lagos residence yesterday, she recounted the circumstances surrounding the death of her son: “A man who operates a bakery in our area asked some children in the area to gather firewood for him. Upon completion of the task, he gave them money in appreciation of their efforts. However, Nnabaike decided to share the money unevenly. My son was angered and questioned the rationale behind the sharing formula. In the process, they started fighting and I was told he hit my son in the eyes with a torch.

    “Nnabaike and his father later came to our house. While his father was accusing my son of fighting his son, Nnabaike suddenly came from behind and stabbed my son in the neck with a kitchen knife.  He was then rushed to Delta Medical Hospital, Ajangbadi, where he died.

    “Sunday had always lived with my mother in Edo State. He had spent only three years in Lagos before the incident occurred. I don’t know what happened between them. We are friends of the Enwerems. They ate and slept together. We have been living in this community for over six years and we have not had issues with anyone.”

    The chairman, Isoko Leading Group, Ajangbadi, Friday Awodita said efforts to locate the Enwerem family have been futile.

    “They shouldn’t have neglected us. I heard they have been bribing the policemen to free their son. I hope the police will not compromise on allowing justice to reign,” he said.

  • Four suspected robbers arrested

    Four suspected robbers arrested

    Luck has run out against four of the eight-man gang that allegedly snatched a black Acura MDS Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in Ajegunle, Lagos, last December.

    The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Zonal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (ZSARS) in Olorunsogo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital when they attempted to sell the vehicle.

    They are Idowu Ibrahim, 26, Rasak Abib, 25, Saheed Ramoni, 25, and Azeez Ayinde, 25. The officer in charge of ZSARS, Peter Gana, a superintendent of police (SP), while parading the suspects, said the vehicle belonging to Orhomuro Michael was snatched while the owner was driving into his house. Their armourer, Toheeb, and driver, Michael, are at large.

    Ibrahim who hails from Ajashe in Kwara state, was a commercial driver on the Oshodi-Mile 2 route, before he took to the underworld through what is known as one-chance’.

    He said: “We used to select passengers to enable us overpower our victims especially women. We did not use gun that time rather we used motor jack which we manipulated as gun to intimidate our victims. We did not beat or torture our victims and we did not push any victim out of our operational bus on motion. We used to operate only on Tuesdays and Fridays and each trip fetched us between N20, 000 and N50,000.

    “I resigned when I was arrested and charged to court because one of our victims (a woman) recognised our operational conductor Michael when we carried her and robbed her. Police came with Michael and arrested me. When I came back from prison, I decided to be snatching phones, jewelry, laptops and we have been succeeding.

    “On December 24, as we were going about along Kadosu Street in Ajegunle, we saw a man inside his jeep sleeping and well parked at his gate. We thought that his people refused to open the gate for him because he returned home late. When we got closer to him, we discovered that he was drunk and deep asleep and we carried him down and laid him by the gate and zoomed off with his jeep around 4am. We took the jeep to Ibadan and sold it for N280, 000 when the market price is N2.5 million. It was during Christmas period. The road was free and people were in celebration mood. The papers were complete. Unfortunately, on December 26, operatives of ZSARS led by SP Peter Gana trailed us to Ibadan and caught us where we were waiting for the buyer. We did not know that they had been trailing us. The buyer and one of our gang members escaped.”

    Abib, who is from Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, was also a commercial bus driver.

    “My role when we were doing one chance work was to sit at the back seat of our operational bus and pretend as a passenger to attract other passengers. I helped to carry the drunken man out of his jeep to the ground.”

    The third suspect Ramoni, from Igesan Village in Ogun State, is the gang’s bus conductor.

    Ayinde, an automobile technician said, he did not join them for the “one-chance” operations.

    He said: “I only participated in car snatching. It was Abib that laid him beside the gate where he continued to sleep. My role is to search victims and collect their money, laptops, phones.”

  • Man suspected of kidnapping seven kids escapes lynching

    Man suspected of kidnapping seven kids escapes lynching

    But for providence, a technician would have been Iynched in Lagos last weekend by a mob that thought he abducted the eight children in his bus.

    Gabriel Chima’s  son was among the children, his explanation that he did not kidnap the boys was ignored by the mob.

    His nose was bruised and his bus vandalised.

    The incident occurred in Ijegun, Lagos, about 6pm last Friday when he went out the children to deliver some goods.

    Recounting his ordeal at the Isheri-Oshun Police Station, Chima, whose shop is on Prince Road, Tunde Akinsola Street, Ijegun, said he agreed to assist another shop owner Charles Asoku, to deliver cartons of whitening liquid at Ijegun market.

    His words: “It was my own bus and whenever business is dull, I go out in the evenings, plying Jakande Gate and Ijegun. I would go a few rounds before retiring home. These days, PHCN has been dealing with us in the area generally and I have to make ends meet. When my neighbour told me to assist him, I accepted as I have been doing for him and some others before. I did not suspect I was wrong or that the children’s coming with us that day was a disaster in waiting.”

    He said while packing the cartons inside the bus, his son and seven of his friends joined in the packing and “after we finished, my son jumped into the bus, insisting on following me”.

    Chima said: “When I saw that his friends who had worked with him equally came into the bus, I did not feel like disallowing them. We went out together. We had delivered about 50 cartons of the liquid substance at a place and was going to the second for the remaining seven when the police stopped me for a check”.

    He said it was while talking with the police that some hoodlums emerged from nowhere, calling him “a kidnapper who the police should not be allowed to take away and later released as they usually do”.

    The mob, he said, ignored his explanation that he is not a kidnapper, adding: “They punched me severally, in the process of which I lost my phone and some amount of money.

    “I told them (the police) the seven boys were friends of my own son who was in the bus. But before the police could allow me to go, these boys came from nowhere, slapping and beating me. They almost took control if not for the bravery of the police.

    “When the two officers could not control the situation, they called for additional men from the Isheri-Oshun Police Station who soon came, firing bullets into the air and releasing tear gas canisters. If the police had not done this, today I should be a dead man. The hoodlums really wanted to lynch a kidnapper,” he added.

    Sources, however, said Chima initially refused to stop for a search when the police flagged him down.

    The source said: “The man caused all that happened. The report I had was that he refused to stop when the police stopped him. This caused some suspicion and raised concerns. It was actually this development that attracted the hoodlums who almost lynched him”.

    Clarifying that no one had been arrested in connection with the attack, the source warned the people against flouting police orders, especially at check points.

    “Why will anyone not stop when ordered to do so? There are so many dangers in it. If this man had been lynched, he would have shared in the blame, although it is wrong for people to take laws into their hands as well,” the officer said.

  • Hit-and-run driver crushes man’s legs

    Writhing in pains, an elderly man bemoaned his fate after being run over by a hit-and-run driver.

    The accident occurred along the Palmgrove/Shyllon axis of Ikorodo Road, Lagos last Sunday night.

    The man, simply identified as Baba Ibeji, who resides in Ilupeju, was hit as he dashed across the road.

    After being moved from the accident scene by sympathisers, he groaned in pains, urging sympathisers to alert his wife and children.

    “Oh God, how have I offended you to deserve this punishment? Can somebody help me call my wife and children? This is too much for me,” he pleaded as he handed over his phone to a sympathiser.

    An eyewitness told The Nation: “The old man was crossing the highway from Somolu to this place (Shyllon Junction) on his way back home. He had almost left the highway when the vehicle veered off his lane and hit him callously. I think the driver did it deliberately and sped off.

    “Other passersby joined me to help him off the spot as he could no longer walk. His legs were badly smashed. It is really painful and unfortunate that the old man is paying for not using the pedestrian bridge.”

    Following the arrival of his son, men of the Ilupeju Police Station who were on patrol, conveyed him to the National Orthopaedic Hospital Igbobi (NOHI) in Yaba.

  • Four docked for alcohol theft

    For allegedly stealing alcoholic beverages worth about N56,000, four men have been arraigned before a Lagos Magistrate’s Court, Tinubu.

    The defendants are businessmen, Glade Illevbaoje (41); Godspower Agbedia (35); furniture maker Joseph Ndifreke (27), and a battery charger, Taiwo Salami, (35).

    They were alleged to have on November 15 last year, around 12pm, broken into the shop of one Abigael Augustine, stealing five cartons of Star beer, worth N10,000; five cartons of Guilder valued N10,000, as well as a carton of Calypso liquor valued at N3,000; a cash sum of N40,000, among others.

    According to the police, the defendants damaged the complainant’s shop estimated at N133,000.

    They were arraigned on a four-count charge of conspiracy, burglary, willful damage and theft punishable under Sections 349(4)(b) and 285(5)(a) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty and were admitted to bail in N50,000 each with two sureties each in like sum.

    Magistrate Salama Matepo adjourned the case to March 3.