The Nation Newspaper

Category: City Beats

  • ‘I started stealing to cure a sickness on my tongue’

    ‘I started stealing to cure a sickness on my tongue’

    A 20-year-old robbery suspect, Olalekan Ajibola, has relived his ordeal in the hands of a mob while attempting to rob a resident of Mushin, a suburb of  Lagos, with a sharp axe.

    According to police source, the suspect Ajibola on Tuesday scaled the fence of a house situated at No. 9A Folarin Street, Oladipo off Mushin bus stop Lagos and used an axe to tear the door net of a resident, Paul Rotimi Ogungbe and attempted to rob him at about 3:00am. Unfortunately, the landlord, Mr. Ogungbe,  jumped on the suspect and grabbed him with his axe and began  shouting Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole buruku.

    The surprise defence by the landlord surprised other three members of the gang and they took to their heels, abandoning their gang leader Ajibola  to the mercy of an irate mob who stormed the house and dragged the suspect out into the street and beat him to a pulp.

    The lucky  victim said:  “There were four of them. They tore  my door net with axe and forced the door open. I got up and with speed, I jumped on one with an axe and grabbed him together with the axe while the rest three members of his gang ran away.

    However luck smiled on  the suspect when the wife of the victim noticed that the mob wanted  to lynch him with condemned motor tyres and she quickly sent distress call to Olosan Police Anti-Robbery squad who came on time and rescued and later transferred him to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Lagos State Police Command for investigation.

    During interrogation, the suspect confessed to Superintendent Abba Kyari that it was the fifth time his four-man gang operated in Mushin area and attributed his arrest to heavy drinking of alcohol and smoking of weeds suspected to be marijuana before he went for robbery operation with his gang members who operated with clear eyes and were able to escape when the victim grabbed him and raised alarm that attracted neighbours

    Blaming his ordeal on his father’s deficiency,he said:” My father divorced my mother and the  poor woman  found it difficult to take care of my education, clothing and feeding. That made me to become an armed robber. I was formerly  a one-man pick pocket before I recruited the other three members. It was only my mother that used to take care of me to the best of her ability and little income as a medicine hawker in Ibadan. My father is from Foragory Area between Oyinbo and Bariga in Lagos and a building contractor. He abandoned my mother because  she had mental problem.

    “She is a sickler, there was a time I had mental problem because of smoking hard drug and I was rehabilitated in a mental home.

    “I learnt how to sell clothes at Dugbe Market near Queen Cinema not from Ogunpa, Okepad Primary School, Shama, Ibadan, Oyo State.

    “I learnt to steal when I relocated to Oyingbo in  Lagos and graduated as an armed robber when I was looking for enough money to cure the sickness affecting my tongue. One Imole a buyer of stolen goods is still owing me N150,000.00

    Confirming the arrest, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Lelma Kolle said the axe was recovered and efforts are on to arrest the other three suspects at large.

  • Security man, 40, charged with raping girl, 13

    Security man, 40, charged with raping girl, 13

    A security guard, Matthew Sunday, who allegedly had carnal knowledge of a 13-year-old girl, appeared yesterday before a Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos.

    Sunday, 40, who lives in Immaculate High School, Mende, Maryland, in Lagos, is standing trial for child rape.

    The Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Godwin Anyanwu, told the court that the accused committed the offence on September 25, while guarding the school premises.

    Anyanwu said that defendant beckoned to the teenager, who was running an errand for her mother, grabbed her, and forced her into his room.

    “Sunday shut the door and forcefully had carnal knowledge of the teenager.

    “She came out of his room bruised and bleeding, which attracted the attention of some officials of the school.

    “She was then taken to the hospital with the school bus where it was confirmed that the teenager had been defiled,’’ the prosecutor said.

    He said the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The Magistrate, Mrs Yewande Aje-Afunwa, ordered that the file be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 137 prescribes life imprisonment for anyone found liable of defilement of a minor.

    The accused pleaded not guilty.

    Mrs Aje-Afunwa granted the accused N100,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum and adjourned the case to October 29 for DPP’s advice.

  • ‘I found condoms in my wife’s purse’

    An educationist, Andrew Ekpenyong, has sought the dissolution of his 10-year-old marriage at the Customary Court in Alagbado, a Lagos suburb. He is accusing his wife Blessing, of threatening his life.

    He told the court: “She is not caring. She does not treat my relations and I with respect. She often publicly harasses me and she deprives me of seeing my children.

    “We got married after eight-month courtship because I cherished her presence. We managed every situation because I thought that living as a couple would be a dream come true. But I never knew it was for a short period. The following month, I was shocked to find condoms in my wife’s purse. When I asked her, she said it was for protection.”

    Alleging that she is always ready to stab him over trivial issues, Ekpenyong added: “We have never settled our differences amicably except with the intervention of community leaders. She has no job, but I provide her needs. I wanted to take her to a church for deliverance when the situation became unbearable, but she refused. The last time I slept with her, she excused herself, saying that she wanted to ease herself. I don’t trust her anymore.”

    Blessing denied the allegations, saying: “I have only paid him back. I don’t want the marriage anymore, but  my children.”

    The union is blessed with three children: Richard (8), Regina (5) and Rebecca (1).

    The court’s President, Mr Olabode Sekoni, adjourned the case till Thursday.

    He ordered Blessing to bring the children to court.

  • Woman dies at 83

    Woman dies at 83

    The family of the late Elder Ebenezer Adefarati Daomi of Okia in Oka-Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State has lost its matriarch, Chief Beatrice Wuraola Daomi. She died after a brief illness on July 13 in Lagos. She was 83.

    In a statement, one of her children, Olusoji Daomi, a lawyer, said her remains would leave Lagos for her Odemagbe Compound, Okia home on February 6, 2015 for Wake-keep/Service of Songs that would begin by 5pm.

    Funeral Service, he said, would hold at 10am the next day at St David’s African Church, Okia, after which interment follows at the church cemetery. Reception, he added, would hold immediately at St David’s Primary School’s Open field opposite the church.

    The late Mrs Daomi, was the first Secretary of African Church Women League (Egbe Aya Bishop), Ondo Province (now Ondo/Ekiti State), founded by African Church Primate Olulode.  Until her death, she was the Iya Egbe Akorin of St David’s African Church, Okia, the statement added.

  • Two held for ‘car snatching’

    Two held for ‘car snatching’

    Two persons have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti -Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos Police Command, for alleged car theft.

    They were arrested at Ojuelegba, Lagos Mainland, on August 18, following a tip-off.

    The suspects – Musbao Ayinde (25) and Isiaka Afolabi (28) – are from Offa in Kwara State.

    Ayinde, a technician resides at 2, Oko Oba Street, Ebute Meta, Lagos Mainland; Isiaka Afolabi (28), washes cars at Costain.

    Police sources said the suspects operated around Ifo in Ogun State for about three years, but were caught when they attempted to operate in Lagos.

    Two locally made guns were recovered from them.

    A source said penultimate Thursday, the suspects hit a victim with gun butt before snatching his car.

    “The man passed out and was dumped at a nearby bush where he was found and taken to hospital by passersby. It was at the hospital that he was revived”, the source said.

    The victim was said to have taken his case to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police when there was no swift response to his distress call by police in the area.

    The Decoy One led by the Officer in Charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP) swung into action and arrested the suspects with their guns.

    Ayinde told The Nation: “We are car snatchers. We used gun to intimidate our victims. We never intended to shoot them. We prefer to run away than to fire a victim.

    “I have only operated around Ifo in Ogun State twice. It was the operation on the Third Mainland Bridge that put us in this trouble. It was greed that made us come to Lagos State to rob and snatch vehicles despite the high risk involved.”

    “I was asked to come and collect money by the buyer of one of the cars we snatched not knowing that he was with the police. When I got there, I was arrested after collecting N150,000 from the buyer,” he said.

    Afolabi said: “I became a car snatcher because of my mother’s death and the bad poverty ravaging my family. My father is alive, but he could not solve the family’s financial problem.

    “It was Ayinde who asked me to follow him to go and collect money for a vehicle sold to one of our buyers. Whe we got there, policemen arrested us. I have operated only three times. In the first operation I got N35,000; the second, I got nothing and from the third,  I got N30,000. It was Ayinde’s arrest that led to mine.”

    Assistant Police Public Relations Officer, Lelma Kolle, an Assistant Superintendent (ASP), said the suspects were being interrogated as efforts were ongoing to arrest other armed robbery gangs connected to them. He said they would soon be charged to court.

  • Local govt chiefs urged to work with workers

    Local govt chiefs urged to work with workers

    Council chairmen in Lagos State have been urged to work with workers to enhance quality service delivery at the grassroots.

    The Permanent Secretary in the Office of Local Government Establishment, Training and Pensions (LGETP), Mr. Adewale Ashimi gave the charge at the end of the Public Policy Development, Analysis and Implementation training for senior administration managers of all the 20 councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) at the Public Service Staff Development Centre (PSSDC), Magodo, Lagos.

    Ashimi said the commission’s efforts to train and equip its workforce for future challenges would be futile, if the chairmen and the management staff do not work together.

    He said the commission decided to train the council workers in policy development to enable them key into the overall vision of the government to empower workers in order to drive efficiency of the public service, whether at the local or state government levels.

    Ashimi said the commission would link up with the chairmen to ensure that the lessons of the trainings are not lost. “If you want to increase revenue, work with the local government workers; if you want to increase tourism potentials in the state, work with the councils; if you want to grow entrepreneurship, work with the grassroots; government at that level is key to development anywhere in the world and anyone working at the councils must be as effective as possible if they must drive the overall growth potential of the state government,” he said.

    He charged participants to be change agents and ensure that introduced what they learnt anywhere they found themselves. “I will urge you not to be frustrated if you met with challenges as you try to implement what you have learnt here, but be persistent and introduce the change,” Ashimi said.

    Earlier, PSSDC Director General Mrs. Olubunmi Fabamwo hailed the participants for putting in their best during the training.

    Mrs. Fabamwo said policy development, analysis and implementation is a newly designed programme and one of the eight contents designed for civil servants at the grassroots.

    She said: “Take away all the good things you have learnt from us here and introduce them at your various offices and local councils to improve service delivery.”

    Mrs. Fabamwo presented awards to two of the participants in line with the centre’s tradition. The most outstanding participant award went to the class governor, Mr. Joseph Olufemi Ojo, an engineer at the Badagry Local Government; Mr. Michael Adebisi Opeseyi, an administrative officer with the Mushin Local Government Area got the punctuality award.

    Ojo and Opeseyi praised the facilitators for giving their best during the training, adding that the training would make councils deliver to people at the grassroots. Over 46 participants were at the training

     

  • How Customs officers attacked us, by LASTMA

    How Customs officers attacked us, by LASTMA

    Officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA) have accused Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) men of attacking them for impounding a vehicle that contravened traffic laws.

    The customsmen, they alleged, invaded their Zone 22 Mile 2 Yard in Lagos.

    The vehicle, a Honda Pilot Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), marked EKY 521 CZ, belonging to a senior Customs officer, allegedly drove “one way’ around Coconut area of Mile 2. It was impounded and taken to the LASTMA yard.

    Over 20 Customsmen in three patrol vehicle, led by a deputy controller were said to have invaded the LASTMA office.

    Zonal head at the Mile 2 yard, Victor Adeyanju said: “The officers who were in uniform stormed the office and demanded the unconditional release of their colleague’s vehicle, but we made them to understand that there is a standard procedure for the release of vehicles that contravene traffic laws in the state. Then, they started beating and dragging our officials on the floor, damaging computers and breaking windows. They threatened not to leave the premises without the contravened vehicle.

    “When we stood our ground, the Customs officers started shooting sporadically and held people inside the offices’ hostage while those outside scampered for safety from stray bullet. It took the concerted effort of policemen from the nearby FESTAC Police Station led by the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) Superintendent (SP) Owoh Ifeayin to restore normalcy”.

    He said Musiliu Edu, Wensu Idowu and Police Corporal Saliu Isiaka were battered.

    While Edu and Isiaka were beaten for recording the act and their phones and camera seized at gunpoint, Idowu was hit in the mouth with a gun butt, Adeyanju said, adding that they were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

    LASTMA’s spokesperson, Bola Ajao confirmed the incident, saying: “The vehicle was apprehended about 9.15am for driving against traffic and taken into the LASTMA yard. An hour after the arrest, a group of Customs officials in a convoy of three patrol vehicles fully armed with automatic rifles and led by an officer who introduced himself as a Deputy Controller, stormed the LASTMA yard and inflicted injuries on officials on sight.

    “The Custom Officers, who were arrested by the police, however, escaped on the way to the station but one of their official patrol vehicles was apprehended and taken to the FESTAC Police Station, while the apprehended SUV was deposited at the LASTMA Headquarters.

    “The officers who hurriedly left to evade justice left behind evidence such as bullet shells and a name tag belonging to one of the officers, AUDU. A.A.”

    LASTMA General Manager, Mr. Babatunde Edu decried the attack, saying it was appalling for the officers to brutalise LASTMA officials and prevent them from carrying out their duties.

    Edu urged uniformed personnel whether military or para-military to see LASTMA officials as partners in progress.

    Efforts to get Custom’s spokesperson Wale Adeniyi to speak on the incident failed as text messages sent to him were not replied.

  • Civil society bodies tackle HIV/AIDS

    To reduce the HIV prevalence level from the 5.6 per cent to zero, the Oyo State Agency for the Control of Aids (OYOSACA), has engaged 30 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to provide HIV support services at the local government.

    The scheme is under the second World Bank-assisted HIV Programme Development Project (HPDPII).

    Members of the OYOSACA project led by its Acting Project Manager, Mr Kolawole Bolarinwa, have visited all the project sites of the CSOs.

    The target beneficiaries of the prevention intervention, Bolarinwa said, were: female sex workers, injecting drug users, highly vulnerable men, in and out of school youths, long-distance truck drivers, farmers and migrant farm workers, pregnant women and the general population.

  • Group holds songs competition to revive ‘old Lagos’

    Group holds songs competition to revive ‘old Lagos’

    How do you revive the Lagos of old where people lived in harmony and kept public infrastructure? A non-political, non-religious group, the Spirit of Lagos (SoL), is aiming to do so through music.

    It is staging a songs competition to create what it calls a saner Lagos.

    The competition, which begins today, is open to all residents, is aimed at selecting a theme song that will resonate with Lagosians and promote the ideals of a sane Lagos. The contest will end on September 26.

    According to the organisation’s Project Director, Niyi Omotoso, who addressed reporters in Lagos, the contest is expected to drive engagement and adoption of SOL’s messages among Lagosians.

    “The theme competition was conceived to engage Lagosians and create an opportunity for musical talent to thrive as well as generate thought and conversation around the values of the Spirit of Lagos. The best theme song must, among other things, be new and had never been played in any media platform or performed anywhere prior to the competition; promote the unique attributes that made Lagos a centre of excellence; inspire social justice, civic responsibility, citizenship and neighbourliness, and must not exceed three minutes,” Omotoso said.

    The winning theme song, he said, must align with the objectives of the Spirit of Lagos’ ‘Change your thinking’ campaign to restore those unique values that in the past, made the city a safe, just, prosperous and neighbourly place to live in and visit.

    The winner of the contest, he added, would gain, among other things, a recording contract, opportunity to be considered for SOL ambassadorship, a N500,000 cash prize and a chance to perform the song alongside some notable artistes at the Lagos State Governor’s Ball billed for the third quarter of the year.

    “The first and second runners-up in the contest will be rewarded with N200,000 and N100,000 cash prizes respectively, while the song with the highest vote will get N500,000 cash reward,” he said.

    A panel of judges consisting of performing artistes and record label owners, he explained, would select the winning song, adding that each song would be judged on creativity, originality, message content, balance/blend and overall acceptability.

    Prospective participants, Omotoso said, would have the opportunity to vote for their choice songs on SOL’s facebook page, www.facebook.com/spiritoflagos, or any of its online media platforms.

    Participants, he added, could also send their entries in a CD/DVD to The Spirit of Lagos Song Competition at the following places: PlayHouse, 2 Abieyuwa Amadasun Street, off Oduduwa Way, Ikeja GRA; C&F Porter Novelli, 26A Babatope Bejide Street, Lekki 1 or TBWA at Harold Shodipo Crescent Ikeja GRA.

    “Contestants are expected to enclose their full names, addresses and phone numbers in their entries as well as like the Spirit of Lagos facebook page before sending in their entries,” he said.

    General Counsel to Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Mrs Oyinkan Badejo-Okusanya, who was at the parley, expressed government’s willingness to support the project.

    She said the administration’s concern of this administration is to ensure an all-round sane Lagos, adding that the government would partner SOL to make the project a success.

    “The Spirit of Lagos believes firmly that we must live with a keen sense of ownership of the city by being part of any effort aimed at ensuring that it indeed remains the centre of excellence in all ramifications. This is in tandem with the fundamental objectives of the current administration,” she added.

  • Community gets first grassroots fire station

    Community gets first grassroots fire station

    To facilitate quick response to fires in his domain, Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA) chairman Olajide Jimoh has built a fire service station.

    Opening the facility, Jimoh said the council also provided fire-fighting trucks with a structure to house them and ready water supply among others.

    He praised the management of Lagos State Fire Service which, he said, gave the council “absolute cooperation,” especially by training personnel to man the station.

    Jimoh said the need for programmes that would enhance residents’ standard of living informed the decision to build the facility.

    Governor Babatunde Fashola lauded the council chief for being the first in the country to build a fire station.

    Fashola’s spoke during the passing out of the 17 fire fighters through the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Oyilomo Danmole. He urged other council chiefs to emulate Jimoh to complement government’s efforts to ensure safety of citizens and their property.

    The Controllers General, Federal Fire Service, Mr. Olusegun Okebiorun, also hailed the “good initiative” of the council, saying that it would be of benefit to the people.

    A statement from the Federal Fire Service, Abuja, signed by Assistant Controller (Corporate Service), Mr. Elechi Collins, reads: “This initiative is worthy of emulation and highly commendable because of its importance in the drive towards prevention and other emergencies in the country… it is a demonstration of good governance.”

    Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Razak Idowu Fadipe also praised Jimoh, saying: “I am elated that the Yaba Local council chairman has keyed into the focus of this administration. When the governor first came on board, he observed that we had only eight power stations; he swiftly added five more.  Now two more power stations are currently under construction and will be due for inauguration this year.”