The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • Who killed APC stalwart in Lagos?

    Who killed APC stalwart in Lagos?

    Rights activists have called for an independent investigation to unravel the killers of a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Eyitayo Peters, on Orile Road, Agege, a Lagos suburb. Peter was killed last Thursday.

    Another supporter of the party, Mr Lanre Ogunjimi, was shot in the waist but was rushed to a nearby hospital.

    Convener of Activists for Good Governance, Mr Declan Ihekaire, told newsmen that the dastard killing of Peters and wounding of Ogunjimi was caused by a feud between the supporters of the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Ihekaire said his group’s investigation has established that the two political parties had engaged some youths to mobilise people for the collection of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Agege area.

    Fight broke out when some youths attempted to steal the PVCs at the Methodist Primary School, Tabon-Tabon from the agents of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The youths were said to have taken to the streets to wreak havoc during which Peters was shot and killed.

    Relying on witnesses’ account, Ihekaire said the thugs were engaged by one of the party’s candidates.

  • Fashola lifts police with ICT centre

    Fashola lifts police with ICT centre

    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday handed over an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Resource Centre to the Area ‘C’ Police Command in Surulere to facilitate its work.

    He said his administration plans to hand over 100 of such centres to the police before his tenure expires on May 29.

    The ICT centre has two computers and trained personnel to man the accessories which include a digital camera, Digital Assert Management Systems Software (DAMS) and two KW Solar installations.

    “We cannot over-emphasise the importance of information communications in our lives. What we have done with these centres is to empower and enable the police to be able to keep detailed records of evidence. For instance, why do we have to keep a vehicle that was involved in an accident in the station for so long and allow it to rot, thereby losing value and depriving the owner of the vehicle? With this centre, the police can just take the photographs of the vehicle from all possible angles and incident it in their electronic file,” he said.

    The ICT centre, he said,  would also help to ensure a clean environment as the police can do their work with improved self-esteem; remove blockades and reduce  traffic gridlock.

    Fashola praised the Ministry of Science and Technology, which he said,  helped in the training of the policemen.

    While commending the dedication of policemen, the governor said: “In spite of the remarkable decline in crime rate in Lagos, the state government will not relent in taking to another level the wide-ranging crime-reduction strategies to address the peculiar security challenges arising from the heavy human density and daily economic-driven migration into the state.”

    Commissioner of Police Kayode Aderanti praised the governor for his investment in the police, saying: “What we have in Lagos as far as policing is concerned would not have been possible if you were not police-friendly. The ICT centres would really help us in our fight against crime in the state.”

  • Relief as senator equips artisans

    Relief as senator equips artisans

    Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon (GOS) has donated working tools to members of Lagos State Vulcanisers Association (LSVA) and Nigerian Automobile Technicians Association (NATA).

    The associations’ leaders received the equipment on behalf of their members at the Senator’s Ikeja, Lagos office.

    Alhaji Ayinla Adeyemi, who chairs LSVA, and his NATA counterpart, Asiwaju Jacob Fayeun, were at the ceremony with some top officials of their associations.

    Tens of vulcanising machines and mechanic tools estimated at millions of naira were the cynosure of all eyes ouside the venue awaiting.

    “Please see this as a promise made and kept. It is a gesture that was specially thought out to respond to the unbearable economic realities in our dear land today. I want you to distribute them equitably across the state in the overriding interest of all the less-privileged members of your respective associations.

    “It is a task I could shoulder with my aides but I want the prospective beneficiary members of your associations to see these things as coming through you as their reliable and serviceable representatives. We have done it for other artisans in good spirit. And I dare say that with God behind us, this is just the beginning,” Solomon said.

    He lamented the rising unemployment, noting that the only panacea at the moment is for Nigerians, especially the jobless, to seek ways of ensuring economic self-reliance.

    Adeyemi and Fayeun hailed the senator for his continued support for their, organisations.

    hite-collar jobs for all the citizens. If this is so, it behoves the people to work on alternative avenues through which they can fend for themselves and their wards. This is why at our individual ends, we have been doing things like this,” Solomon said.

  • ‘I went into bunkering to save my wife’

    ‘I went into bunkering to save my wife’

    A 37-year-old man,Shittu Jamiu, yesterday said he took topipeline vandalism  to save his wife, who was in labour.

    The Ogun State-born suspect was paraded yesterday alongside three others in Ikeja by the Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).The others are: Isila Bolaji (47), Ishola Ogunlade (36) and Semiu Bello (47).

    Jamiu said: “I joined this business three months ago because my wife needed N150, 000 to go through Caesarean Section (CS) at a private hospital in Lagos. She was attended to after I strived to raise N80, 000.

    “As I speak, I still owe the hospital N70, 000.  I am a taxi driver. I was introduced by other drivers. My wife doesn’t know about this. I had involved myself before I knew it was illegal. We buy at the rate of N2,500 and sell to co-drivers at N3000. I will never do such again if I am released. Semiu is just a mechanic. I sought his assistance when my vehicle was faulty.”

    NSCDC Commandant Gabriel Abafi said the suspects were arrested on January 16 around Sabo in  Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, with vandalised Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

    According to him, the suspects drove a Toyota Premiere Space bus marked: KRD63BM with 50 gallons of 50-litre PMS and a Nissan Bluebird marked: AG15FKJ with two gallons of 25-litre PMS.

    Abafi said:”Every indication has showed that they are guilty and some of them have confessed to the crime. We are trying to see if they can help us fish out the kingpins and if not, they shall face the consequences of their actions. Ours is to make sure such suspects are caught but the court justifies their case. They should look for legitimate business to do other than bunkering.

    Bolaji, a mechanical engineer and driver, said: “At times, I don’t make a kobo in my shop and even the money I make as a driver, the traffic monitoring officers do threaten us. I had to join because I have a family to cater for. I just started December last year through some drivers. We purchase fuel at a very cheap rate from some people along the road at Abule. I know it is illegal, but I pray we are pardoned.”

    Ogunlade, also a driver, said: “Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) seized my vehicle. I dabbled into bunkering because I had nothing to do. I was with Bolaji when we were caught. I also started last December.”

    Bello, who claimed to be a graduate from the School of Agriculture in Akure, the Ondo State capital, said he wasn’t part of team.

    “Jamiu told me his vehicle broke down on the road which I went to repair. Since it wasn’t easy to get a commercial motorcycle from Eyita community to Sabo, I followed them since it was also my route. On getting to Sabo, we were apprehended. I was shocked when they accused us. The fuel was covered with tarpaulin. I am only an automobile engineer.”

  • Policemen invade church over ‘debt’

    A pentecostal church, People of Peculiar Ministry International, Araromi in Igando, a Lagos suburb, was thrown into disarray on January 15 following invasion by 10 armed policemen.

    They dispersed the worshippers, assaulted and whisked away the pastor and some members over an alleged N300,000 debt.

    The policemen who came in mufti, were said to have been sent by the Divisional Police Officer, Amukoko Division, Mr. Abayomi Agbana, a Chief Superintendent  (CSP), although they initially claimed to have come from the General Investigations Division (GID), Ikeja, to execute a court order.

    When the church’s protocol officer, Mr. Samuel Ajakaiye, demanded to see the court order, the officers were said to have descended on him, before, forcing their way into the church to ransack offices, the kitchen and the pastor’s rest room.

    Ajakaiye, with a swollen eye-ball, told reporters: “We had a morning prayer session on Thursday, January 15, 2015 and the pastor, James Kunle Hephzibah, had two radio programmes at Bond Fm and Radio Lagos. At about 6.30am, an old danfo commercial bus stopped in front of the church. In fact, the way its occupants jumped out, I thought they were armed robbers. They said they were from GID, Ikeja with a court order.

    “When I demanded to see the court order, immediately they descended on me, tore my clothes and hit me with their handcuffs and gun butts. Just look at my swollen eyes. In fact, they scattered the office, kitchen, rest rooms, broke the door and the worst part, they humiliated the pastor. They dragged and forced him into the bus. They also arrested four members that questioned their conduct. But instead of the GID, Ikeja, they took us to Amukoko police division, where they subjected us to more ridicule and trauma until 7pm when people intervened from higher police formations.”

    The popular televangelist, Pastor Hephzibah, also known as ‘Baba Peculiar’ queried the legality of the action.

    “How can they invade a church without a legal authority? They came all the way from Apapa and did not register their presence at the nearest police station. When has the police turned to a debt collector? These men invaded our church, brutalised members and made away with three of my handsets and over half a million naira,” he said.

    The pastor added: “I have never seen or received this kind of embarrassment in my life. It was too much in our church yesterday. I am not a robber or fraudster and these people came all the way from Apapa to humiliate me and my members. They wounded our Protocol Officer Samuel. I lost three of my handsets – Samsung X2, X3, X4 – and we cannot find N560,000 meant for the radio programmes after their invasion. I just don’t know what to say but those policemen who came and disgraced me on the street and in the neighbourhood for a mere false allegation must receive their due punishment from the law and God. I had to calm down when their DPO apologised because I am a servant of God.”

    It was gathered that the policemen did not “book” their arrival at the Area ‘M’ until a crowd compelled them to take the pastor and his people to Igando Police Division to prove that they were from Area ‘B’ Command.

    When contacted, Agbana said he was not in his office, promising to be there before 2pm. But, he could not be reached later on his phone.

    Police spokesman Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Kenneth Nwosu said he was not aware of the incident.

    It was gathered that the church bought a Nissan bus from one Mr. Alabi Haruna for N1.2 million for which itpaid N900,000. The c hurch promised to pay the N300,000 balance after the bus was test-run.

    In a petition to the Commissioner of Police, the church said: “When we test-ran the bus, it was in bad condition, hence we asked Haruna to either effect the repairs as we agreed or balance us our money and take his bus away. For one year and two months, he disappeared and never showed up. We did everything to contact him but he ran away. The case was initially at Igando Police Station, where he was asked him to comply, but after one year and two months, he connived with those policemen that his bus was missing.”

     

  • Man escapes lynching for attempted child theft

    Man escapes lynching for attempted child theft

    A middle-aged man narrowly escaped being lynched last Saturday for allegedly attempting to steal a three-year-old child.

    One of the women, who caught him said she suspected he was a ritualist.

    “I noticed the way he was trying to lure the child with a piece of biscuit. At a point, he carried the child and made to hurry out of the place. Seeing that if left alone without watching him, I may not see him again, I quickly alerted two other women and asked them look for the mother of the child.

    When the woman (mother) arrived at Agbe Road in Abule Egba, she found her child in the hands of a total stranger and raised the alarm,” said the woman.

    She added: “Within some few minutes, people started gathering. All efforts for them to know why he carried the child and attempted to go failed. He was silent. So, the crowd became angry and started punching him. Some people even attempted to break his head with empty bottles, but two men who held the man made it impossible for them to use broken bottles on him.”

    Another source, said the suspect was given the beating of his life.

    The irate crowd was said to have dragged him to a nearby police station from where he was transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) at Panti, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

  • Student group supports Buhari, Ambode

    Student group supports Buhari, Ambode

    A coalition of Nigerian students under the aegis of APC Campus Connect has called on students and youths across the country to come out en masse and vote out the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) government.

    They said the Federal Government had only brought them pains, hardship, suffering and unemployment.

    Representatives of the group, which comprisesgraduates and undergraduates from Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education and the University of Ibadan (UI), among others, visited the Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola on Education, Fatai Olukoga at his office in Ikeja.

    They declared their  support for APC’s Akinwunmi Ambode for governor and General Muhammadu Buhari for President in next month’s elections.

    Opeyemi Eniola, who coordinates the group, said they were campaigning for a change for the better through APC.

    Olukoga expressed delight about the youths’ initiative, saying: “What Nigeria needs now is a change from bad to good, from darkness to light and to achieve this, the electorate should wipe out PDP in governance in totality. Enough is enough and Mr. President should know that we are no fools”.

    He chided President Goodluck Jonathan over what he called the insignificant reduction in petrol price from N97  to N87 per litre, saying it was merely a political gimmick and an insult on Nigerians.

    Olukoga warned government not to take Nigerians for a fool with the hypocritical reduction which, according to him, came few weeks to the presidential elections.

    He said: “The reduction is not proportional to the reduction in the prices of crude in the international market. In fact, if this administration is serious at all, the fuel price should be brought down to N67 per litre. From the foregoing, it is evident that the President, government and the PDP lack integrity because they talk from two sides of their mouth and I want to advise the electorate to be wary of any hypocritical carrot they dangle before them at this time.”

  • Suspected robbery kingpin, seven others held

    Suspected robbery kingpin, seven others held

    The Police paraded yesterday in Lagos eight persons for allegedly snatching N100 million cash from a man in Festac Town and robbing a Micro-finance Bank (MfB) in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

    Their victim was said to be returning from Cotonou when he was robbed.

    The cross-border robbery suspects were paraded with a Toyota Sienna bus, two AK 47 rifles and 11 AK47 loaded magazines, which were recovered from them. The weapons were hidden in a specially constructed compartment underneath the bus.

    They are: John Nnamdi (42), their leader; Ifeanacho Igwe (35), Samuel Igbi (59); Anthony Umeh (38); Chineye David (29); Uchenna Eze (35); Victor Anamalechi (45) and Desmond Obinna (32). They were arrested following a tip off the police got last December 15.

    The suspects told reporters that they participated in no fewer than four operations.

    Nnamdi’s confession was said to have led to the arrest of others.

    The gang leader said he got N20million from the Alakija operation, adding that he bought an Infinity Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and other cars from his share. But Igwe said they got N28million each.

    He said: “I got N28million and from the money I bought a tipper truck and a car. I also completed my mother’s house at Onicha in Ebonyi State and sponsored my younger ones in school. I was arrested in Cotonou and jailed for 20 months because I went with a friend to buy guns to start my own gang.

    “I was released on December 31 and I came to Lagos only for the police to arrest me on January 5 for an operation we carried out in 2011. When I received my own N28million from the Alakija operation, I ran away from the gang, destroyed my SIM card and bought another one. I bought a bus which I started using for commercial purposes and my tipper was carrying sand. But the tipper had an accident and killed someone. It also fell into a river.”

    Nnamdi, who claimed that Shola (Chineye David) usually gave them information, said one Onyema contacted him for the Cotonou operation. He said: “We entered the bank at night from the back and we tied the security guards who were sleeping. Victor specialises in opening safes and so, he was the one who opened the bank. We saw a bag there and used it in packing the money. We released the security men after our operation.

    “When the money was shared, I got N7million. I bought a Sienna car for N1.5million in Lagos. We were not caught and we used this Sienna car for the operation. We don’t usually have problems at the borders because they don’t check our vehicle. We hide our guns under the Sienna.

    “What we got from the Alakija operation was over $200,000 and when we shared the money, I got N18m. That was in 2011. From the money, I bought an Infinity SUV. I am not the one who built the house as claimed by the police; the mansion in Igando is owned by my France-based brother.

    “I used part of my money to start importation of musical instruments which I sold at Alaba International Market. I was arrested when Onyema called me to bring his international passport which he left in the Sienna. I did not know he had been arrested.

    “I have gone for about four operations in Nigeria and Benin Republic; I have not gone to any other country. We have never killed or shot anyone because we usually go at night and don’t shoot. I have never used charm, but I pray before going for operations.

    “As a Catholic, I go for confessions, but I have never told the priest that I am an armed robber. I am from Obinwa in Abia State. I am married with a child and my wife is currently pregnant. She does not know I am an armed robber. I was arrested at Ijebu because I had a problem with someone over a vehicle. I regret my actions and I want an opportunity to change.”

    Police Commissioner Kayode Aderanti said the suspects’ arrest followed a tip-off about thier activities in Iba, Festac and Igando.

    He said the officer in charge of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP) , with two SARS decoy teams, stormed the suspects’ hide-out at Victory Estate in Iba on the LASU-Igando Road.

    “The operational Toyota Sienna space bus with registration number KFC and two AK47 rifles with serial numbers 3610142 and UR4341 hidden in a specially constructed compartment underneath the Sienna bus were recovered from Nnamdi.

    “The suspects confessed to several robberies including bank robberies in Port Novo, Benin Republic, a filling station and Bureau De Change in Mali;  attempted robbery of UBA Bank, Sagamu Road, Ikorodu; several robberies in Port Harcourt, Kano and the biggest of it all, N100million successful robbery in Alakija, Lagos, from which Nnamdi John built a mega mansion at Igando, while Ifeanacho Igwe built a duplex in his village in Onicha, Ebonyi State.”

  • NDLEA finds cannabis in head-mistress’ luggage

    The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has foiled a 30-year-old man’s attempt to smuggle cannabis to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in an headmistress’ luggage.

    The drug, which weighed 130 grammes, was packed inside an alcoholic beverage , Alomo Bitters. The substance was detected at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.

    The suspect, Nnadi Chibueze, allegedly concealed the drug and gave it to the woman to deliver in Dubai.

    NDLEA Airport Commander Mr. Hamza Umar said: “As soon as the drug was detected, we conducted a follow-up raid that led to the arrest of the main suspect, Nnadi Chibueze. He has owned up to the crime and the case is being investigated for subsequent prosecution.”

    According to Chibueze, the drug consignment was inadvertently given to the head mistress. “I personally concealed the cannabis inside one of the bottles of Alomo Bitters. The original plan was to send the drug to my brother in Dubai through a friend, but the consignment was given to the head mistress in error. When I was told that the goods were given to her, I was greatly disturbed. It was a great mistake that she was given the consignment that contained the drug,” he said.

    The suspect, who hails from Imo State, claimed to be a 2008 graduate of Physics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

  • Foundation to disburse N79m Zakat

    A faith-based humanitarian foundation, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF), will on Sunday give out over N79million in Zakat proceeds to no fewer than 200 persons in the South.

    The ceremony will hold at the Multi-purpose Hall of the University of Lagos Central Mosque in Akoka, Yaba, by 11am.

    The beneficiaries will get motorcycles, deep freezers, tricycles, sewing machines, generating sets, cameras with printers, among others.

    Cheques will be issued for cancer treatments, fibroid operations, hole in the heart surgery and eye treatment. Some beneficiaries will get educational support and accommodation facilities.

    ZSF and Jaiz Bank Plc Advisory Board Chairman Dr Umar Mutallab will chair the event; Prof Tijani El-Miskin, Deputy Secretary-General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Dr Tajudeen Yusuf, Acting Head of Department of Actuarial Science, UNILAG, will deliver the keynote addresses.

    Special guests expected at the ceremony include Company Secretary of First Bank of Nigeria Plc Alhaji Tijani Borodo; Chief Security Officer of Forte Oil Plc Mallam Muhammad Bello Bala; President, Muslim Community of Lagos State, Prof Tajudeen Gbadamosi, representative of the U.S. Consul General Jeffrey Hawkins; Executive Director, Dangote Foundation Hajia Halima Dangote; Consultant Ophthalmologist/Chief Executive Officer, An-Nur Eye Centre Dr Halima Alimi; Chief Executive Officer, Baytuzzeenah Hajia Saidat Otiti; Chief Executive Officer, Arabel Hajia Shareefah Andu, and President, UNILAG Muslim Women Society Alhaja Tayyibat Gbadamosi.