The Nation Newspaper

Category: Crime Diary

  • ‘Poor salary pushed me to internet fraud’

    ‘Poor salary pushed me to internet fraud’

    A 27-year-old graduate of Statistics from Anambra State University, Uli, Anambra State, Henry Ushie, arrested for internet fraud by the operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) has blamed his criminal activities on poor salary.

    Ushie told The Nation on Tuesday at the Lagos office of IRT that his father, a serving top police officer, refused to secure his release because he had vowed not to ever come for his release if he was caught again after he was remanded in prison for the same offence in 2015.

    He said: “When I was rounding up (sic) my National Youth Service in Jalingo, Taraba State, my father was happy and was expecting me back.

    I saved money from the N18,000 monthly allowance they were paying me for serving and N15,000 monthly salary I was being paid as personal assistant to one of the Corps Commanders of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Taraba State, where I did my primary assignment.

    ‘’Unfortunately, one of my friends who was in 200 level when I was in school named Stanley Onwuka was arrested at Ubi Campus for a fraud related case. When he was asked to list his friends he put my name and police went to my father to ask of my whereabouts.

    ‘’My father being a serving police officer who does not want to hear that any of his children is involved in fraud called me to come back, and explain what I knew about what they were alleging.

    ‘’When I came back, he took me to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) who came to look for me. They joined me with two other suspects and charged us to court for internet fraud.

    ‘’Luckily we were granted bail at N40,000 with reasonable surety and three years tax clearance among other demands. My father could not perfect my bail that day, hence, I was remanded in prison custody. I was released on November 2016 after the perfection of my bail.

    Continuing, he said: ‘’I told my father that I would look for legal means of surviving and promised him that I will not go back to internet fraud or any other kind of crime. I started looking for job and I got employment in a pure water company Ihiala. They started paying me N5, 000 only as I was still under probation. They promised to be paying me N8, 000 monthly after my one month probation. Initially I was not worried about the poor salary because I used to trek from house to the company because I had no money to transport myself to work.

    ‘’As time went on I began to feel demoralized with the poor salary because it was not enough to take care of my needs not to talk of helping my junior brothers and sisters as the first son of our family.

    One day, I got up from my bed and told my father that I would be travelling to Enugu, to look for better employment. Though my father believed me and wished me both journey mercies and good employment and mercy of God, I failed him.

    ‘’He did not know that I lied to him because, instead of going to Enugu I diverted to Asaba, Delta State and went to squat with one of my friends to enable me stay there and search for job. Unfortunately life was becoming harder and employment of any kind was nowhere to be found. I started thinking on how to survive. One day I saw an article on the internet. It said that some police officers would be traveling to some foreign countries in Africa for peace mission. I started researching on how to make money out of the programme. This made me to open  a facebook account.

    ‘’When I opened a facebook account, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Abba Kyari, the Commander of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team people started chatting with me as ACP Abba Kyari whereas I have not seen Abba Kyari in life. I had been hearing his great performance in crime fighting but I have not met him on one-on-one. I later got his picture from the internet.

    ‘’Some people were telling me that they want to go to another state. They were all serving policemen. I told them that I could do it but it would cost some money. I pegged it to N6,000 each. My friend’s junior brother named Uzoma helped me to open an account in Zenith Bank. The account name is Ifedirichukwu Chinonso Benjamin. My bank account number is in my phone. I don’t know it off hand.

    ‘’Three policemen became victims, one who wanted to be in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, paid N10,000. The one who wanted to go to Benue paid N6,000 while one who said anywhere was good paid N6,000. My trouble started when I read a lot about Kyari and what he said on facebook, that some criminals have started using his name in facebook and that the general public should be careful.

    ‘’I tried to log in again and the facebook account was disabled which is in line with facebook policy. I tried to open retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Mbu facebook it failed because they asked for verification of my real picture, driving license or the national Identity card. I also tried to impersonate the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Emmanuel Iyang. Though it worked but I got only one victim who paid N36,000 to assist him to go for peace keeping. After him I could not get another victim because they continued to block my account. I also tried to impersonate female army captain. I got her picture from the internet. Soldiers were to become victims but verification of my picture failed because she is a woman.’’

    “On the 2nd November 2017, I went out to cut my hair. As I was coming back with two of my friends I got a phone call from a girl I was proposing to marry. She told me that if I had chance we should see. I told her let us see at the hotel close to our house in ten minutes time as I would be coming out with my two friends to go and drink at the hotel bar and charge my phone.

    She said she would be with me in a minute. I waited for two hours. The next thing I saw were policemen in vest with the inscription IGP IRT operatives. They ordered everybody in the bar to lie face down.

    ‘’When they said we should raise our faces, I raised my face and they said I was the one they were looking for. They picked me and my two friends Chimezie and Chibuzor. Both were later released at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Asaba, as there was nothing that linked them to the case.

    ‘’I knew that what I was doing was criminal but I continued to do it because of frustration. If I am released I will go and seek for legal job no matter how small the salary will be. I have advanced diploma in ICT and Computer Maintenance at NC Computers Sources Limited at Ihiala, Anambra State.’’

    Ushie however denied impersonating Ministers and industrialists saying:  “I just started. I have not gone to that length. Like I told you, some scams I tried failed. It is the Kyari own that busted everything. So, it would not have been possible for me to have reached that extent within a few days I have practiced internet fraud, the facebook fraud to be specific. I can’t lie to you.

    The police said the phone, SIM cards and ATM card used to commit the crime had been recovered from the suspect.

     

  • IRT operative dies after he was shot by suspected kidnapper

    IRT operative dies after he was shot by suspected kidnapper

    One of the two injured operatives of the Inspector General of Police Response Team (IRT), Sergeant Sanusi Lanre yesterday died of gunshot injuries sustained during an encounter with suspected kidnappers in Sapele area of Warri, Delta State.

    The unnamed kidnap suspect was killed during the incident.

    According to police sources, the IRT operatives were shot by the suspect who was a member of a kidnap gang that abducted four British citizens in Burutu, Delta State on the October 13, 2017.

    The policemen had successfully arrested two of the suspects in Warri, while another member of the gang fled to Sapele to hide there.

    On sighting the policemen, the fleeing suspect brought out a pistol and the minions of law and fatally injured Sergeant Sanusi in the stomach, while his colleague, Sergeant Agunbiade Adebayo was shot on his two hands.

    The attack prompted other IRT operatives to open fire on the suspect that shot the two policemen, leading to his death.

    The suspect’s pistol was also recovered.

    The injured operatives were rushed to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DESUTH) Oghara, where their colleagues donated blood to save their lives

    It was said that Sergeant Sanusi underwent a surgery to remove bullets lodged in his body before his condition worsened leading to his death.

    The Nation learnt that efforts are being intensified to apprehend other suspects at large.

    Meanwhile, the Lagos Sector Commander of IRT, Phillip Irieane, a Superintendent of Police (Supol), has paid a condolence visit to the father of the late policeman.

    The Nation gathered that the late Seageant Sanusi was to be buried yesterday in line with Islamic rite.

  • Man, 28, bags 3 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of 3 boys

    A 28-year-old businessman, Abdullahi Mohammed, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for sexual abuse of three boys.

    Mohammed was sentenced on Friday following his arraignment at a Jos Upper Area Court.

    According to the Prosecutor, Sergeant Ibrahim Gukwat, the incident took place on Oct. 22.

    Gukwat said that the accused had been in police custody since then, adding that the case was reported by members of a vigilance group on Nigeria Alikazaure Street.

    The prosecutor said that the vigilance group arrested and bought the accused to Laranto Police Station.

    Gukwat said the accused was caught having anal knowledge of the three boys forcefully.

    “He had three boys at the same time, namely Mustapha Abubakar, 9 years, Umar Usman, 12 years and Haruna Abdullahi, 12 years.”

    Gukwat said during police investigation, it was revealed that the accused was beaten by concerned members of the public.

    ‘’The accused sustained injury from the attack from angry public, but he was taken to the hospital for treatment.”

    On arraignment, the accused pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for mercy.

    Gukwat said the offence was contrary to Section 284 of the Penal Code.

    The Judge, Yahaya Mohammed, sentenced the accused to three years imprisonment without an option of a fine.

    Mohammed said the sentence would serve as a deterrent to others.

  • Five policemen arrested for allegedly aiding murder suspect’s escape

    NO fewer than five policemen in Ebonyi State have been arrested and placed on Orderly Room Trial for their complicity in the escape of a murder suspect, Ogonna Alioka aka ‘Pilot’ and three others from the police custody.

    Commissioner of Police, CP Titus Lamorde told journalists in Abakaliki that Ogonna was one of the 15 suspects arrested for their role in the abduction and murder of one Mrs. Chukwu Okorie.

    He said the victim was kidnapped on January 8, 2017 in her home at Egba Amanye community in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and was murdered and buried in a shallow grave at Lopkpanta forest in Abia state.

    “After his arrest, Ogonna was helping the police to arrest the two other gang members but unfortunately, on the night of October 22, policemen of the state CIID on Cell/Counter duty negligently allowed the escape of kidnap suspect, Ogonna Alioka and three other suspects of various offences”, the commissioner said.

    Lamorde said all the policemen on duty on the day the suspects were arrested, detained, defaulted and tried in an orderly room.

  • Five killed in renewed Ebonyi/ Cross River boundary dispute

    FIVE women were on Thursday beheaded by unidentified persons in Itim-Amagu, in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

    Itim-Amagu is a boundary community between Ebonyi and Adadama community in Cross River state.

    Both communities had been locked in a perennial boundary dispute.

    The bodies of the victims have been recovered while three persons have been declared missing.

    The Chairman of Ikwo council area, Mr. John Nnabo in a statement accused the Adadama community of carrying out the killings.

    However, it was gathered that the war has claimed hundreds of lives and unquantifiable cost of property destroyed on both sides.

    Nnabo said he was called on Thursday morning by his Vice Chairman over the incident.

    The council chairman noted that the victims had gone to the area to uproot their cassava and other food crops, only to be attacked by warlords of Adadama.

    Nnabo pointed out that the problem had persisted because the Adadama people would always cross the river boundary to the side of Ebonyi State to humiliate them.

    He said: “It is true. I was called on Thursday morning by my Vice Chairman. Five women were killed and beheaded. We have recovered their corpses. Three persons are still missing. Our people went to uproot their cassava and other crops thinking that the war has subsided without gunshots for a long time”.

    “As they were in the farm, the Adadama people surrounded them, killed and beheaded them. They will always cross the river to humiliate us”.

    Meanwhile, an Ikwo stakeholder and National Coordinator of Buhari/Osibanjo Initiative For Demonstrating Change, Comrade Chinedu

    Ogah has called on the federal government and the National Boundary Commission to quickly take urgent steps to delineate the boundary to forestall further loss of lives and property in the area.

    He, however, commiserated with the families of the victims, assuring them that efforts were on top gear to ensure amicable resolution of the dispute.

    He urged security agencies to ensure adequate security for the protection of lives in the area to avoid the repeat of the dastardly act.

  • Court orders return of official vehicles to ex-Registrar of AOCOED

    THE National Industrial Court sitting in Lagos last Wednesday ordered the return of official vehicles seized from a former Registrar of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, AOCOED, ( formerly Lagos State College of Education), Ijanikin, Mr Olumuyiwa Coker.

    Coker  had urged the court to issue a restraining order against the defendant or its agents from taking possession of his official vehicles-Toyota Camry with registration number BF 741 EPE and the Toyota Hilux vehicle with registration number BDG 218 DK or prevent him using the vehicles.

    His prayer was granted when the court in February restrained authorities of the college from harassing or intimidating Coker.

    The order was however allegedly violated in August when officials of the school in company with policemen retrieved the vehicles from Coker’s residence.

    The presiding judge, Justice Jibade Peters gave the order in a suit filed by Coker challenging his ‘illegal’ disengagement’ from the college and subsequent withdrawal of his official vehicles.

    The judge ordered that the vehicles should be returned to Coker on or before November 3, 2017.

    Coker said his unlawful disengagement from the college, was in violation of Section 33 of the Lagos State College of Education Law.

    In the suit, the first defendant is AOCOED is represented by the Provost, Mrs Omolola Aina-Ladele, while the second defendant is the Governor of Lagos State.

    In the suit filed by his counsel, Mutiu Ganiyu of Smithworth Partners, the claimant averred that his purported removal from office by the first defendant was also done in violation of the terms of his letter of appointment dated 25th of June, 2014, which stipulates among other matters that his tenure was for the period of five years commencing from July 20, 2014.

    He claimed that he was purportedly removed from his position as Registrar of the college without any prior warning on any occasion.

    The claimant also averred that the first defendant breached his right to fair hearing as enshrined in Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

    The claimant urged the court to declare that he is still the Registrar and Secretary of the Governing Council of the first defendant and cannot be removed from the office in accordance with the provision of Section 33 of the Lagos State College of Education Law.

    The defendants, in an affidavit deposed by the Senior Assistant Registrar of the institution, Ombugadu Adewunmi averred that the compulsory retirement of the claimant was in compliance with Section 33 of the Lagos State College of Education Law and chapter three of Conditions of Service of the college.

    Also in a counter claim, the defendants averred that the seizure and refusal of the claimant to return his official vehicles had largely grounded the activities of the office of the Registrar, particularly his movement.

    The case was adjourned to November 8, for further hearing.

  • Police, NSCDC to prosecute violators of female genital law in Ekiti

    THE Police and Nigeria Security an Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ekiti State have signed a pact with two civil society organizations to arrest and prosecute violators of Child Rights Act and Female Genital Mutilation Prohibition Act.

    The Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) and the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative (NIGAWD), with the signing of the agreement, signed the agreement at the end of a two-day workshop in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The workshop funded by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), trained security officers drawn from the 16 local government areas of the state on the adverse effects of the practice.

    In her presentation, CEWHIN’s Executive Director, Mrs. Adebanke Akinrinmisi, described security agencies as key in the fight against female genital mutilation.

    She said: “We are imploring them to use different networks they use to gather information in all the council areas to arrest and prosecute the cutters. The practice is high in the rural areas of Ekiti, and that was why we drew the police and NSCDC from the rural areas”, she said.

    NIGAWD’s Chief Executive Director, Miss Abimbola Aladejare lamented the non-implementation of the law saying about 20 million girls are carrying the pains of genital mutilation in Nigeria alone, representing 16 per cent of the population.

    “We are failing in our fight against FGM because we are not involving the security agencies, who have the power to arrest and prosecute offenders, this we are trying to correct,” Aladejare said.

  • Panic as two siblings disappear on their way to farm in Ogun

    THE strange disappearance of two siblings, Ayomide, 14, and Adeola Oriolakosun, 9, has caused panic in Olorunleke community in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.

    The children were sent to feed pigs at their parents’ farm on September 28, 2017, but they have since not returned home.

    The farm, which is located near their parents’ residence at Dodo area of Olorunleke Village.

    According to their parents, the children were sent to feed pigs at the farm around 5.30 p.m.

    The distraught father of the children, Saka Oriolakosun said he had visited several police stations and operations office of other law enforcement agencies without any positive outcome.

    He said he was away from home when his wife asked the children to take feed to their farm in order to feed pigs being reared there, adding that they since not been seen or heard anything about their whereabouts.

    The mother of the victims, Busayo, said: “Their father (Saka) came back around 6 p.m and enquired about their whereabouts following which he left to check on them at the farm but did not meet them there.

    “Since then, we have visited several police stations and informed other law enforcement agencies without fruitful result. We are appealing to people to assist us in finding our dearest children and save us from the trauma we are currently experiencing as a result of our children’s strange disappearance.”

    Anyone with useful information that can assist in locating their whereabouts should contact the duo’s distraught parent on 08034495432 or 08102522152 or better still contact the nearest police station.

    Meanwhile, residents of the village have expressed worried over the safety of children in their neighbourhood.

    A cross- section of residents urged the police to step up surveillance operations in the community in order to prevent recurrence of the incident.

    A resident, Idowu Beyioku said: “The news of the disappearance of the children was greeted with rude shock because such incident is strange to us here. We are therefore calling on men of the Nigeria Police to increase their surveillance activities here and put a stop to this unfortunate incident.”

    Contacted, the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the children had disappeared from home since April this year adding that the incident was reported to Onipanu Police Division in Ota in September.

    “The children disappeared in April but their mother reported the matter to our division at Onipanu, Ota and she has since not come back to the station. However, we are intensifying our effort towards locating the whereabouts of the victims.”

  • Guarantor lands in hospital as friend bolts over unpaid N500, 000 loan

    Guarantor lands in hospital as friend bolts over unpaid N500, 000 loan

    The fear of being haunted by creditors has landed a woman, Doris Oghenovo, in a private hospital, after her friend bolted over unpaid N500, 000 loan.

    Oghenovo, it was learnt, stood  as a guarantor for her friend, Queen Obienu, for the loans she took from a group of local lenders, Blessing Okemena in 2016.

    The Nation learnt that Obienu was given the loan based on the assurance given by Oghenovo that her friend would not default in paying back the money.

    Obienu was said to have offered her landed property at Oko Afo in Badagry as collateral to secure the facility but the lenders allegedly rejected the property citing its lack of commercial value.

    Speaking with The Nation, Oghenovo, who is still recuperating at the hospital located in the outskirts of Ijanikin area of Lagos State attributed her health conditions to the pressure from the creditors.

    She said: ‘’ I was rushed to the hospital after my blood pressure jerked up because the creditor group brought a police woman to arrest me last Thursday.  I explained to them that I could not locate the whereabouts of my friend; I even promised to defray the debt by paying a sum of N5000 every month but they insisted on having the money in full before they left my house. Surprisingly, the leaders of Blessing Okemena told me on the telephone to report at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, and that was when I developed high blood pressure and my people rushed me to the hospital.’’

    ‘’ I stood as a guarantor for Mr Obienu in 2016 at the office of Blessing Okemena on Irokosun Crescent, Ayetoro, Ijanikin, with a maximum repayment period of six months. Obienu was paying the interest on the loan until December 2016 when she could no longer service the facility.

    ‘’ In March this year, I took Obienu back to the leadership of the creditor group and she signed an undertaking to pay up the entire loan. She even offered to use her landed property as the collateral for the facility but the lenders said the location of the land has no commercial value, hence, they rejected it and a few weeks later, Obienu disappeared from her residence without a trace.’’

    ‘’About six months ago, in rushed down to Obienu’s house after sources told me that her husband, Edwin was packing out of their residence at number 10, Oremeji Street, Ketu-Ijanikin. I went to their house with policemen from Ijanikin Police Division, but he could not be arrested because the police said he was not the one that took the loan. Edwin later visited me in company with a lawyer called Edem promising to repay the loan to no avail.’’

    A sister to Obienu, who identified herself simply as Mama Efe in a telephone conversation with The Nation said the family would pay back the loan ‘’once Obienu is found.’’

    “We don’t know Queen’s (Obienu) whereabouts. Her husband told us that she left home without disclosing her destination. He told us that she owed a number of people from whom she collected loans. The economy situation of the contry might have affected her business so much that she could not pay back the money.

    ‘’However, the family members would meet and fashion out how the loans would be repaid. I can assure you that we would repay the money once we find out her whereabouts. Please asked her creditors to be patient with us.’’

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, one of the leaders of the creditor group,   Omoraru Oghale said the leadership of the group decided to go after Oghenovo since she stoo d as guarantor for her friend who took the loan.

    “Doris (Oghenovo) was the one that collected the money on behalf of her friend and it was for this reason that the leadership of our group decided to make her pay back the loan.’’

    A police source, who asked not to be named confirmed the story saying that ‘’ the debtor’s husband could not be arrested because he was not the guarantor for the loan. We are still looking for the woman( Obienu) in order to make her explain her complicity in the matter.’’

  • Police arrest six suspected rustlers

    Police arrest six suspected rustlers

    Operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) have arrested six suspected rustlers, who specialize in stealing goats in Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Kwara, Ekiti and Lagos States.

    The suspects are: Gani Adeyemi, 29, Kabiru Oladimeji, 50, Alimi Ayodele, 32, Kunle Olasebikan, 45, and Umaru Mohammed, 46.

    According to police sources, the suspects had carried out several operations in the neighbouring states, where they stole goats, money, phones and jewelry at gun point.

    It was gathered that the suspects lured goats with raw white beans following which they would gag the animals and cart them away in the operational vehicles.

    Confessing, Ayodele said: “I am married with three children. I stopped at Senior Secondary three and became a bus driver. I started stealing goats seven years ago when armed robbery became very hard in Lagos.

    It was my friend Akube that introduced me into goat stealing. We operated at Osogbo, Oyo, Ilorin, Ijebu. In each of the operations we went home with at least 20 goats. We used to be three in number namely Alimi, Gani, Akube who is still at large. We used to  operate at about from 11p.m to 12 midnight along village roads where goats sleep.

    ‘’ Gani’s role is to drive our operational vehicle, Akube catches the goats with raw beans while Ayo seals the goat’s mouth. Most of the goats sleep on the road. We were challenged by vigilante men at Iyana Oba in Osogbo where they blocked the road and we exchanged fire with them. We sold the goats to one Kazeem at Mile 12 market (Lagos) at N7,000 each. Kazeem is still at large.

    ‘’For the 20 goats we got at last operation at Osogbo we got 20 goats and sold 19 for N133,000 and roasted the one that died out of suffocation and celebrated our dinners with it. Out of the N133,000, I paid N20,000 for fuel and N20,000 for vehicle maintenance and shared the balance.

    In his confession, Kabiru, whose gang operated in Ojodu Berger, Agbado, Mowe Ibafo and Sango areas of Ogun State said his group stole only three goats on a daily basis.

    Kabiru and other members of the gang were however arrested by a police patrol team which also recovered guns from them.