The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • ‘I bought human head in Cotonou for N12,500’

    A suspected human parts’ merchant, Olorunto Dipe (35), has been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

    He reportedly confessed that he bought a human head for N12,500 from Cotonou, Benin Republic, with intention to sell it for N20,000.

    A police source said the suspect was arrested by a SARS decoy team led by Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP), at Ajibawo in Atan-Ota, Ogun State, on October 22.

    Olorunto said: “It was one Asiwaju at Ado Odo-Ota in Ogun State, who asked me to bring a human head. He said he would use it to cure me of leprosy. I went to Cotonou and bought it for N12,500 with intention of selling it for N20,000 to him. I was arrested with the head as I wanted to go and deliver it.”

    Asiwaju was arrested and granted bail when he denied knowing Olorunto.

    Olorunto is lamenting that Asiwaju denied him. He said: “If I am released, I will stop dealing in human heads. Please tell the police to forgive me; I will not do it again.”

  • Maid, driver ‘kill’ lawyer

    Maid, driver ‘kill’ lawyer

    •Police: we’ll get fleeing suspects

    A notable lawyer and insurance practitioner, Mrs Ola Adeola, has been killed in her Lekki, Lagos home.

    She is the daughter of a former Chief Justice of Ogun State, Justice Ebenezer Craig.

    The slain lawyer was allegedly killed Sunday night by her driver and house maid at her 108, Omisore Lane, Oniru Estate home.

    Her throat was slashed, a source told The Nation.

    Both the driver and housemaid were said to have disappeared, while the victim’s corpse has been deposited at a morgue.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lagos State Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.

    He, however, said two persons had been arrested in connection with the matter.

    “The report is true and I can confirm to you that we are fully on it. We have arrested two persons and they are in police custody as investigations kicks off full-swing on the orders of the commissioner of police.

    “In fact, following his order, the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba on Lagos Minland,” Nwosu told The Nation.

    He added: “The police are on their toes to arrest two fleeing suspects in connection to the case and the commissioner has mandated us to get everyone involved arrested for prosecution.”

  • Residents praised over PVC

    Residents praised over PVC

    A community leader at Ota in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, Femi Ajayi, has praised residents for trooping out to collect the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), despite the inherent challenges.

    Ajayi, who was also once a leader of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the state, made this remark in Ota while addressing youths in the community who thronged his office to lament their inability to collect the PVCs during the period earmarked for the exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    He said their grievance showed that they were ready  to play their civic roles in the forthcoming 2015 elections.

    Ajayi, who condemned INEC for a shoddy job, pledged that nobody of voting age would be denied of his or her right to vote.

    The community leader, who was full of praises to the people for appreciating the importance of the exercise, said the people had expressed the fact that that they were adequately prepared to elect their choice representatives in the coming elections.

  • Man jailed 63 years for N4.9m fraud

    Man jailed 63 years for N4.9m fraud

    Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of the Lagos High Court sentenced yesterday Segun Bright to 63 years imprisonment for defrauding 40 of people of  N4.9million.

    She passed the sentence after Bright pleaded guilty. Bright was sentenced to three years imprisonment on each of the 21-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The sentence will run concurrently for three years.

    EFCC counsel Mr Emmanuel Jackson told the court that Bright swindled more than 40 people through a fraudulent investment scheme.

    Jackson said the convict, through his company, Wexford Global Resources Ltd, committed the offence between 2008 and 2010 in Lagos.

    He said Bright collected between N10, 000 and N615, 000 from people with the promise to re-invest the funds for high returns.

    Jackson said following complaints received by EFCC, the convict was arrested and charged to court.

    He said the offence contravened Sections 383 (1) and (9) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State 2003.

  • Ex-CIBN chief, others honoured

    Ex-CIBN chief, others honoured

    A former Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Oyo State and currently, the Chairman/Chief Executive, FFP Global Investment Resources Limited, Alhaji Abiola Alli has been honoured.
    He was honoured alongside six distinguished professionals by the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), Oyo State branch.
    The award, which was in recognition of their excellent professional service in the state, took place at the Ibadan Civic Centre yesterday during the Investiture of the 4th Chairman of APBN, Gbenga Ilori and induction of its new executive council members in the state.
    Other award recipients are: Alhaji R.M Ajao, Vincent Agha, Joseph Okedele, Folu Bademosi and Prince Oyebade Fatai.

  • Tinubu to youths: Be productive

    Tinubu to youths: Be productive

    Senator Oluremi Tinubu representing Lagos Central District in the Senate has urged youths to be productive.

    The senator, who spoke yesterday at the 2014 Musical Youth Fiesta in Lagos, called on the youths to help their communities.

    She said the focus of the fiesta, among others, is to bring together youths and teach them how to become future leaders.

    “We teach them how to be leaders of tomorrow and how they can be productive to their environment,” she said.

    The Musical Youth Fiesta is an interdenominational gospel concert/competition featuring youth choirs and groups from different denominations.

    The theme of this year’s fiesta is “perfect love.”

    The choirs that performed at the fiesta focused on the need for unity in Nigeria.

    Senator Tinubu urged parents to enrol their children for the event to help build them for a better tomorrow.

    “This event brings together youths from various church choirs in Lagos State to compete against one another in a lively and friendly atmosphere, after which the best performing choir will emerge. The event serves as a veritable platform for the youth to pull their collective resources and talents together to help set the pace and chart a way forward for other youths in the country,” she said.

  • Pakistani jailed 10 years for heroine trafficking

    Pakistani jailed 10 years for heroine trafficking

    The Federal High Court yesterday sentenced a 35 year-old Pakistani, Bukhari Ahmed, to 10 years imprisonment for importing 13 kilograms of Heroines.

    He was arrested by men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on February 10, 2012 at the Murtala International Airport, Lagos, on his arrival from Pakistan.

    He conspired with Benjamin Okereke and Chukwudi Okereke, both at large, to import the banned narcotic.

    He was tried before Justice John Tsoho on a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful importation of the illegal drug.

    The offence contravenes Section 14 (b) and 11 (a) of the NDLEA Act, Cap. 30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    NDLEA said Ahmed was arrested during inward clearance of a Qatar Airline flight from Pakistan.

    His lawyer, Victor Abana, urged the court to temper justice with mercy because the convict is a foreigner, a first offender, and a father of three.

    Justice Tsoho held that the convict had in his confessional statement, stated that he was arrested on his third trip to Nigeria on the illicit business.

    The judge said had he not being arrested, he would have continued in the business to the detriment of Nigerians.

    He sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment, and ordered that the seized drug be destroyed if there is no appeal within 90 days

    The NDLEA yesterday also arraigned a businessman, John Obi, before Justice Tsoho for allegedly attempting to unlawfully export 21.695 kilograms of methamphetamine to South Africa.

    The accused, according to the prosecutor, Mr. Abu Ibrahim, was arrested with the banned substance on November 16 during the outward clearing of Arik Airline flight to South Africa.

    Abu said the offence contravened section 11(b) of NDLEA Act Cap. 30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    Obi pleaded not guilty to the charge. His lawyer, Chief Benson Ndakara urged the court to grant him bail.

    The court granted the accused bail for N2 million, with one surety, who must be a Lagos resident and must swear to an affidavit of means.

    The judge ordered that Obi be remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons, pending his meeting the bail conditions.

  • Kerry, EU meets over Palestinian occupation

    Kerry, EU meets over Palestinian occupation

    US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet the chief Palestinian negotiator in London over moves to set a timetable for an end to the Israeli occupation.

    He is expected to urge Saeb Erekat not to push for a UN Security Council vote on a draft resolution calling for Israel to leave the occupied territories by November 2016.

    A separate draft would set a two-year deadline for a final peace treaty.

    Israel has sought reassurances from the US that it would veto both resolutions.

    After meeting Mr Kerry in Rome on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he saw no reason why Washington would not “stand by its position for the past 47 years that a solution to the conflict will be achieved through negotiations”.

    Direct peace talks brokered by the US collapsed in April.

    After his visit to Rome, Mr Kerry travelled to Paris to discuss developments with his counterparts from the UK, Germany and France.

    Several European parliaments have called on their governments to recognise a Palestinian state

    He then flew to London for Tuesday’s talks with Mr Erekat and a delegation from the Arab League, including its secretary general Nabil al-Arabi, and the representative of the Middle East Quartet, Tony Blair.

    Jordan circulated the Palestinian-drafted resolution last month, and Palestinian officials said they would push for a UN vote.

    The Palestinian representative at the UN, Riyad Mansour, has said the draft might be submitted on Wednesday and could be put to a vote as soon as 24 hours later. However, Jordan’s representative Dina Kawar has said she is not expecting any developments this week.

    Another draft resolution, being formulated by France, would call for a return to negotiations on a final peace treaty to achieve a two-state solution to the conflict within two years.

    It does not mention an Israeli withdrawal, but does lay out some of the parameters of a permanent deal, including using the ceasefire lines which separated Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 Six Day War as the basis for those of a future Palestinian state.

  • Maid, driver ‘kill’ lawyer

    •Police: we’re after her killers

    A notable lawyer and insurance practitioner, Mrs Ola Adeola, has been killed by yet unknown persons in Lagos.

    She is said to be a daughter of a former Chief Justice of Ogun State, Justice Ebenezer Craig.

    She was allegedly killed Sunday night by her driver and house maid at her 108, Omisore Lane, Oniru Estate home. Her throat was slashed, a source told The Nation.

    Both the driver and housemaid were said to have disappeared while the victim’s corpse has been deposited at a morgue.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lagos State Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kenneth Nwosu, who confirmed the incident, said two persons had been arrested in connection with the matter.

    “The report is true and I can confirm to you that we are fully on it. We have arrested two persons and they are in police custody as investigations kicks off full-swing on the orders of the commissioner of police.

    “In fact, following his order, the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba on Lagos Minland,” Nwosu said.

    He added: “The police are on their toes to arrest two fleeing suspects in connection to the case and the commissioner has mandated us to get everyone involved arrested for prosecution.”

  • Son laments father’s disappearance

    Son laments father’s disappearance

    I keep wondering how and where he lost his way. He had no loss of memory or deformity. He was always vibrant. I sleep less now knowing my father is out there helpless. I desperately need him back”.

    These were the words of Mr. Kabir Olugbade, whose father has not been seen since December 11. His voice quivered as he relived the family’s agony in the past five days.

    Sixty-seven-year-old Surajudeen Olugbade, a Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) retire, dressed in a brown robe (jalamiya), left his Ajegunle, Lagos home between 1pm and 2pm on that fateful day for a mosque. He is yet to return home.

    His elder sister, Nofisat, told The Nation yesterday: “My brother (Surajudeen) visited me that day around 3pm and told me that he was returning home. I was shocked to have received a call that he was nowhere to be found.”

    The next day, the family searched hospitals, mortuaries and psychiatric homes, among others, but could not find the father of six.

    “Two years ago, I remember my father once left home out of anger but returned himself the following day. We have been in this neighbourhood for decades and I can say that we have not had issues with anyone except when he was trying to discipline his children. My father doesn’t mingle with people he is not familiar with. He doesn’t roam about. If he is not sitting outside our house, he is either in the mosque or in our mother’s kiosk opposite the house,” Kabir said.

    Surajudeen’s wife, Kehinde, described her husband as “mentally alert, physically fit and too friendly to be missing.”

    She added: “Within a very short distance, I am now a shadow of myself. I really pray for God’s intervention because he has always been my confidant.”