The Nation Newspaper

Category: Crime Diary

  • How I evaded arrest for years -Nigeria’s ‘most wanted’ alleged robbery gang sponsor

    How I evaded arrest for years -Nigeria’s ‘most wanted’ alleged robbery gang sponsor

    His arrest came after years of manhunt by the police. It also constituted a piece of surprise for many because of the myth that surrounded his name. Obinna Okorie Emeka, an alleged sponsor of robbery gangs declared by the police as most wanted, was said to have the mastermind of numerous trucks and containers hijacked by dare devil bandits in different parts of the country.

    Many members of the gangs he allegedly sponsored were said to have been killed or arrested by law enforcement agents while others had been tried and jailed, but Obinna remained elusive until he was recently arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command.

    Even the men that worked for him were said to have believed that he was too smart to be arrested by the police, particularly because he had the power to appear and disappear at will. Many police stations and commands, especially Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FedSARS) who had some years back arrested container and truck hijackers who claimed that Obinna was their chairman, were said to have tried in vain to track him down. Hence his designation as the most wanted sponsor of armed robberies. He was also regarded by the police as the biggest receiver of stolen goods in Nigeria.

    Asked how Obinna appeared on the wanted list of SARS, a police source said that SARS operatives had arrested and investigated more than eight armed robbery cases in which the suspects confessed that Obinna was their chairman and sponsors, and that he was the receiver of all the containers and trucks they had hijacked or diverted.

    The matter got to the knowledge of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, who immediately directed the officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to launch a manhunt for Obinna. Kyari swooped into action with his men and got Obinna arrested after he had given them some tough time.

    Upon Obinna’s arrest, it was discovered that his full name is Obinna Okorie Emeka, a 33-year-old indigene of Omo village in Olumba Local Government Area, Anambra State. But he was said to be resident at Ngozika Estate in Awka, Anambra State capital, where he was dealing in fairly used clothes. He was said to have been travelling to Cameroon to import the clothes before he ventured into crime.

    During his days as a pupil, he was said to have been very brilliant as he always came second or third in a class of 60 pupils. He, however, could not proceed to secondary because of his father’s early death and the poverty that ravaged his family. He was said to have avoided marriage for fear that policemen might storm the wedding venue to arrest him or use his wife to track him down. He did not have a girlfriend either for the same reasons.

  • I rob by drugging my victims, says Nigerian accused of burgling jewellery shops in Dubai

    I rob by drugging my victims, says Nigerian accused of burgling jewellery shops in Dubai

    A robbery suspect, who allegedly induces his victims to sleep in order to rob them, has been arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command. Thirty-nine-year-old Akeem Ogunniran, an indigene of Osun State, was arrested after he allegedly drugged two women before robbing them of jewellery valued at about N7 million.

    A police source said Ogunniran had been arrested several times for similar offences but had managed to escape prosecution. He was said to have been in the practice of approaching jewellery dealers, pretending to be very wealthy and asking them to bring their wares to his hotel room so that he could buy some for friends and loved ones. Upon the jewellery dealer’s arrival in his hotel room, he would serve him or her with drinks already diluted with sedatives. The moment the dealer fell asleep, Ogunniran would pack the entire jewellery, abandon him or her in the room and vanish into thin air.

  • Abducted teacher recounts ordeal

    Abducted teacher recounts ordeal

    A school teacher, Mrs. Roseline Okolie, has relived her experience in the hands of her abductors after she was rescued by operatives of the Delta State Police Command. Mrs. Okolie who described her ordeal as “traumatic and horrible”, however, said she had forgiven her abductors. “While I was in captivity for more than six hours, I was not maltreated,” she said.

    Okolie, who spoke with our correspondent in the company of her husband, Dr Emmnauel Okolie, at the State Police Headquarters, Asaba, maintained that her faith in God was unwavering while her ordeal lasted.

    Her words: “The only thing on my mind during the abduction saga was that God would somehow free me from my abductors. I believed that God would come to my rescue, but I did not know the way and manner it would take.

    “I cannot express my emotions while in captivity. It was horrible. The boys looked fierce. While they were taking me through the forest, I fell down more than 10 times. Each time I fell, they would drag me up. After some time, they asked me to pick myself up.

    “I really thank God. Now I believe in the existence of God. It is not by power, because many people did not survive this kind of ordeal and were not rescued. I also thank the police that swung into action immediately because if they had delayed further, maybe the kidnappers

    would have taken me away.”

    According to her, she was woken up at about 2.30 am by the barking of their dogs and the commotion that ensued. She said shortly after, sporadic shootings followed when the gang had

    climbed their fence and three armed men forced their way into the living room.

    She said the invaders ordered her mother, husband and herself to lie face down, threatening to kill anyone who disobeyed them. She said the armed men ransacked every room in the house and requested for their phones and money.

  • My life as an ex-convict

    My life as an ex-convict

    A suspected female member of a four-man robbery gang allegedly terrorising residents of Ajegunle, a suburb of Lagos, has said that she not learnt nothing from the Kirikiri prison after spending four months in the facility for selling Indian hemp and other hard drugs. Rather, she said, the prison hardened her the more and she became a worse criminal than she had been before being sentenced to jail for four months.

    Thirty-five-year-old Juliet Albert, a native of Utu village, Egbema Local Government Area, Rivers State, said she would not have befriended Ugochukwu, the alleged leader of the gang if she had learnt any lessons from her stay in the prison.

    She called on government to focus on building prisons that can reform convicts and make them better citizens when they finish their terms, noting that most convicts take Nigerian prisons as higher institutions where they learn more about crime.

    Other alleged members of the gang include Francis Kalu a.k.a. Mopol (23), Jackson Imoh a.k.a. Airforce Bullet (23), Solomon Onyemaechi a.k.a. Soldier and Ugochukwu a.k.a. Navy.

    A police source said unknown to the suspects, the force men had been monitoring the activities of the suspects in Ajegunle, especially the boundary and Tolu areas, including a popular market in the area called Kasuwa, where anything can be sold without any law enforcement agent raising an eyebrow.

    “I was charged to court for being in possession of Indian hemp and was later sent to Kirikiri prison where I stayed for four months. I was freed on May 20, 2013.

    “I learnt sewing while I was in prison, but let me tell you the naked truth: there was nothing to learn in prison. Rather the prison hardens the inmates because of the hard life there. I was only lucky to have been selected as one of the cooks that prepared food for the inmates.

    “I would have continued as a food vendor when I came out of prison, but I had no money. We used to cook half-done beans which we ate with gari. We also ate eba with ordinary soup. No meat. Only church people used to bring good food on Sundays. People who have rich relations also get good food because they get money from their people with which they bought food outside.

    “Prison soup has no meat. It is only on Fridays that they put fish.

    “When I returned from prison, I started selling ogogoro. I stopped selling Indian hemp because it was what sent me to prison. I was arrested this time because of my boyfriend, Ugochukwu.

    “When the police came, they asked me about my boyfriend, Ugochukwu, and I told them that he was not around. They became annoyed and asked me to follow them to the police station. I did not know anything about how they collected money from somebody.

    The second suspect, Jackson, said: “I finished JSS 3 in Ojora Memorial Senior Secondary School, Boundary, Ajegunle. My result was seized, but I took GCE (General Certificate of Education) and cleared six papers at credit level.

    “I later went to work at Papillion Industries, a company that makes plastic buckets. We were paid on a daily basis and I was paid N450 daily. At times, I would go home with N550 or N600, depending on how much work I did.

    “I later left the company and went to Tin Can Island in Apapa area of Lagos to look for another job. It was my late friend, Wale, who took me there. There we were doing clearing and I was there for eight months. It was whenever Wale got a clearing job that I got some money.

    “My problem started when he went to Igbokoda in Ondo State and none of his clients or boys wanted to give me a job. After five months, I became frustrated and started thinking of what to do.

    “I met one customs officer and started working with him. I used to help him to check what was inside containers and he used to give me transport money every day. I also used to make some small money to help myself.

    “One day, I met Ugochukwu through a friend named Michael and told him my frustration and plan to look for another job. I even told him to look for work for me. Ugochukwu told me that he could not find work for me. He advised me to purchase a form for recruitment into the army, saying that government wanted to recruit more people.

    “I took my mother to his house and she thanked him for that advice. I have six credits while Ugochukwu told me that the army only required three credits to qualify for recruitment. I went to Union Bank and bought a form. I also travelled to Calabar and Ikeja for Army and Air Force examinations and interviews.

    “My name came out in the army and we were asked to go for medical screening, but I had no money. I begged Ugochukwu to help me with some money but he refused.

    “Another form came out in April. Before I bought the form, I went to our pastor to pray for me. The examination we wanted to take was to come up on July 4. There was a space to be filled by a divisional police officer of my area.

    “I told Juliet about it and she said I should not worry because her boyfriend, Ugochukwu, knows many DPOs, including the one at Ajeromi. She assured me that with Ugochukwu’s intervention, the DPO would sign my form because he was Ugochukwu’s cousin.

    “I am not a soldier or air force personnel. Ugochukwu slapped Don, Gabriel’s cousin and police informant, and Don’s mother was begging me to help him but I could not do anything. She was begging me to rescue her son as Ugochukwu was slapping him.

    “I am not even interested in joining the force again. I want to go to the university to study Electrical Engineering. I want to buy JAMB form.”

  • Land speculators behind most crimes in Lagos —Robbery suspects

    TWO  robbery suspects in the dragnet of the Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) Lagos State Police Command, Akinbola Akinyemi,34, aka Chiefoo and Abdul Rasheed Ahmed,18, have blamed the crime rate in the state on queer land speculators. “I blame my predicament on land speculators aka Omo Onile. They were the ones who hired us to protect their land with a token fee. Instead of calling professional surveyors they give local surveyors a token, despite advising them to call professional surveyors. At times, they pay me as little as N2, 000. Some of the landlords are retired armed robbers. However, the attraction there is that, at times, if you are lucky you can be given a plot of land as compensation. At times, they purchase guns for us to fight rival gangs. They gave me an acre of land at Isawo in Ikorodu.” “What happened that day when guns were discovered in our bag was very unfortunate because I was not used to carrying ammunition for them. A police source said the two suspects are members of an 11- man robbery gang who also work as thugs for some land speculators. “ Akinbola was arrested by a team of highway policemen in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State after an exchange gunfire, while other members of the gang escaped. Akinbola’s confessions during interrogation led to the arrest of the second suspect, Ahmed. A bag containing one locally made short gun, axe, charms, five cartridges and one expended cartridge was abandoned by the fleeing gang members. When interrogated, Abimbola said he was attached to a Task Force under the Federal Ministry of Works. Ahmed, who claimed to be jobless, later told police that he was employed by the first suspect, Akinbola ,to join his gang to protect lands for their clients and, at times, to take over disputed property. Ahmed, in his confession, said, “We are 11-man gang. Akinbola, who is popularly called Chiefoo is my brother. He asked me to follow him to the site. When I got there, I saw many of the boys armed with machetes, cutlasses, iron rods, guns and other dangerous weapons, smoking and drinking heavily. We drove a rival gang away from the land with our superior fire power and charms. After taking over the land, we told some policemen in the area to arrest any of the boys driven away anytime they are sighted within the neighbourhood.” Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, is expecting the officer in-charge of the SARS, a superintendent of police ,SP Abba Kyari, to fish out the remaining nine members of the gang as a standing order that no hoodlum that dares Lagos would be allowed to rest until fished out, even if they escaped to foreign lands.

  • Ogun community leaders take supremacy battle to court

    THERE is no end in sight to the battle for supremacy among community development associations in Ejigun-Agbede community under the Ado- Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State as chieftains of the associations have taken their fight to an Ota High Court. The suit was filed by Ogunshola Abiodun, Ishola Dauda and Taiye Badru on behalf of the Ejigun-Agbede Community Development Association against Ifeoluwa, Toluwalase, Irewole, Anuoluwapo, Ikeoluwa, Ejigun-Ilo and Itele-Awori Community Development Associations (CDAs). The defendants who are chieftains of the aforementioned CDAs are Olayinka Ezekiel; Michael Adeniyi; Lawal Bashiru; Olufemi Olushipe; Sheik Awayewasere; Babashola Adeyemi; Prince Olatunji; Lola Alayande ; Yemi Olu and Rashidi Osho. The claimants, among others, averred that the defendants have been disrupting its activities and truncating the peace hitherto enjoyed by the community. An affidavit sworn to by Abiodun, on behalf of the claimants, reads in part: “When the election to the central executive council held, the defendants ,most especially the 1st defendant herein led thugs to disrupt the free and fair conduct of the election. Since the outcome of the election wherein I was elected, the central chairman has not favoured the 1st defendants who also vied for that position; he has been doing everything to truncate the peace hitherto enjoyed by the community. One of such instances is the disruption of the inauguration of new executives at the central meeting and further disruption of the meeting held on October 9, 2010. “Subsequent to the disciplinary measure meted out to the 1st defendant, the 1st- 7th defendants being zonal chairmen of zones under Ejigun-Agbede CDA decided to secede from Ejigun-Agbede CDA to form their own community development associations. Having formed these new CDAs, they decided they attempted to co-opt some members of their various zones into becoming members of the new CDAs by informing them that Ejigun-Agbede CDA no longer exist as it has been dissolved. While some of the members in these zones decided to identify with the newly formed CDAs, others refused to join these newly formed CDAs and decided to remain with Ejigun-Agbede CDA and did not go down well with the defendants.Owing to this, the 1st-7th defendants resorted to threatening and harassing members that refused to go with them claiming that Ogun State government did not recognize Ejigun-Agbede CDA due to its incorporation at the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC).When they saw that people were not falling for their cheap lies and could not substantiate their claim, they resorted to thuggery and violence, disrupting meetings and activities of the Ejigun Agbede CDA.” The claimants, therefore, sought an order restraining the defendants, their privies and agents from disturbing its peaceful assembly/association or interfering with the use of public /social amenities by its members. Saturday Nation had reported a few weeks ago the revocation of Ejigun- Agbede CDA by the Ogun State government over alleged gross misconduct of some of its leaders. In a counter- affidavit deposed by the 2nd defendant, Michael Adeniyi, on behalf of six others, he said: “Community Development Association (CDA) is a creation of the Ogun State government to reach out to the grassroots for the development of each community as an integral part of the larger society to engender and foster development in its community and maintain peaceful co-existence among the people of the community as enshrined in the constitution of the Ogun State Community Development Association. In order to attain the set goal, the state government established a ministry for the purpose of taking care of the community development and the ministry is named ministry headed by a commissioner. The ministry is saddled with the registration of community development associations in Ogun State and issuance of a certificate of registration to CDAs. Upon registration by the ministry and issuance of certificate, the ministry would direct the local government of the community to also issue a certificate of registration to the CDA. “Ejigun Agbede CDA was the only CDA under Itele-Awori Area Community Development Committee up till year 2000.Sometimes around 2010, the ministry directed that all CDAs executive members should be dissolved and that those with larger population should be divided into more CDAs for administrative convenience. After wider consultation and agreement of all community leaders, six CDAs were created from Ejigun-Agbede CDA by the Itele-Awori Area Community Development Committee. The six CDAs are: Ifeoulwa;Toluwase; Irewolede; Ejigun-Ilo;Anu Oluwapo and Ike Oluwa; all from Ejigun Agbede CDA as it then was…the six CDAs were duly registered and issued a certificate of registration by the ministry, while the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area also issued a certificate of registration to the six CDAs.Each of the six CDAs has its geographical boundary which was ratified by the (Ado-Odo/Ota)local government and the (Ogun)state.However, in the ‘wisdom’ of Mr.Sunday Arowomole,the pioneer chairman of Ejigun Agbede CDA and Mr.Abiodun Ogunshola, the 2nd claimant in this suit, the entire town(Ejigun Agbede) should be under one simple CDA chairman which is alien to Ogun State CDA constitution.The Chairman of Ado- Odo/Ota LGA and Itele-Awori CDC had at various times resolved this matter amicably but Mr. Sunday Arowomole and the 2nd claimant rubbished their peace move as they perceives themselves as harbinger of development in Ejigun community. “When all efforts at peaceful resolution of the impasse between the community on the one side and the claimants on the other side reached a crescendo the Itele- Awori CDC, the umbrella body of all CDAs in Itele area caused a clarion call letter dated June 19, 2014 to be forwarded to Governor Ibikunle Amosun on the atrocities being perpetrated by the claimants. His Excellency(Gov Amosun), through the ministry replied by a letter dated July 1, 2014, withdrawing the certificate of registration( No 1002786), issued by the ministry to the claimants.” The respondents, therefore, asked the court to dismiss the prayers of the claimants on the grounds that it was frivolous, vexatious, abuse of court process and action aimed at embarrassing them.

  • Fadipe: Mother-in-law dies from injuries sustained during attack

    Fadipe: Mother-in-law dies from injuries sustained during attack

    A days after Lagos lawyer, Kunle Fadipe, was killed, another tragedy struck the family as his mother- in- law, Madam Cecelia Owolabi (nee Ogunleye), who was also stabbed by Fadipe’s assailant died shortly before he was buried. The 74-year-old woman was stabbed in her left breast at Fadipe’s Harmony Estate, Ifako residence in Lagos on July 4, while on a visit. An impeccable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “She was admitted to a private hospital and discharged two days later. She was subsequently taken to Ibadan, Oyo State, by Fadipe’s wife’s relatives for further treatment.” It was gathered that the woman later died on July 14 even though this was not disclosed to Fadipe’s wife. “She died on July 14 ,but her death was not revealed to Fadipe’s wife, Kemi, who was still grieving over the loss of her husband. Although the woman’s health had improved, it suddenly relapsed as a result of the trauma she suffered, having witnessed the incident. She was complaining of recalling the horrific scene and at a point expressed reservation about continuing with her treatment. At a particular point, she stopped responding to treatment and that was when her health began to deteriorate. In fact, she told some of those around that it was better for her to die than to battle with the trauma of the incident for live,” the source said. Fadipe’s widow began to suspect that something was amiss at the burial of her husband when her siblings who were supposed to be taking care of her mother showed up in Ile-Ife, Osun State. “Her worst was confirmed last Sunday when her siblings along with their pastor visited her at her Lagos residence to break the news of their mother’s death,” he said. Fadipe’s mother, who is said to be unaware of her son’s death, according to a source, is already becoming suspicious that something is amiss. He further said: “Fadipe is survived by an aged mother who should by now be 85. Kunle(Fadipe) was so fond of his mother that he ate his lunch on Sundays in her residence in the Haruna area of the Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area. In fact, the house where the woman lives was the first house built by the late lawyer before he moved into his house in Harmony Estate,” It was emotions all the way last Thursday at a wake held for the deceased at his residence. Not a few sympathizers who had tasted from his legal benevolence expressed shock at his gruesome death. “When I had problems with some people a few years ago and was to be detained by police, he came to my rescue without collecting a kobo from me. He was courageous and forthright. He believed that the poor should have access to justice, despite their limited financial resources and he worked in tandem with that principle till death,” said a sympathizer who simply called himself Tade. Another sympathizer, Deacon Babatunde Opawunmi, said: “He defended me free of charge when I was charged to court with three others on trump-up charges. We were to be remanded in prison when I got in touch with Kunle (Fadipe) through a friend and he quickly responded by defending us in court. We were granted bail and he challenged the suit till it was dismissed.” The late lawyer was buried last Saturday in Ile-Ife amid tears by sympathizers who witnessed the burial. His remains were interred at his residence in the Parakin Estate, Ile-Ife. The brief funeral service started about 12 pm and ended at 1.30 pm ,following which his body was lowered into the grave. Until his death, the Ile Ife, Osun State-born legal practitioner was seeking compensation for some female members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos State chapter, who were injured in a ghastly motor accident in 2011, while travelling to Abuja for the final lap of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign. The women were among 50 enthusiastic members of the PDP who had left the party’s secretariat in Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, March 25, 2011 to take part in the campaign rally of President Jonathan at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the next day. But tragedy struck as the travellers approached Ikire, an ancient community in Osun State. The driver of the luxury bus that conveyed them lost control of the vehicle, leading to the death of a passenger while scores of other passengers sustained various degrees of injuries that have refused to heal till date.

  • We grind human heads to make powder for ladies in search of husbands- Native doctor

    We grind human heads to make powder for ladies in search of husbands- Native doctor

    A native doctor and suspected ritual killer arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command has said that he grinds human heads into powder as charm for ladies who are looking for choice husbands and big contracts. Olasunkanmi Owolabi, a 43-year-old native of Oyo town, said the concoction is also used as cure for stubborn sores, mental illness, sickle cell anaemia and epilepsy. He also said had planned to establish a specialist native hospital if government gave him the approval.

    Arrested with Owolabi were his two co-travellers, Clement Omodijie and Usman Saliu a.k.a. Alfa. Omodijie, a 54-year-old indigene of Ekpoma, Edo State, says he is married with three children. A grave digger at Gbogbo Cemetery, Ikorodu, Lagos on a monthly salary of N22,000, he said he had worked at the cemetery for five years before he was arrested by SARS operatives.

    Saliu, a 31-year-old native doctor from Ilisa town in Osun State and Owolabi’s ally, said he trained as an alfa (Islamic cleric) at Ralwu Islamic School, Ikewu, Osun State where he claimed he spent nine years learning native medicine. A police source said the three had been charged with unlawful possession of human parts.

    Owolabi (43), who was arrested on June 22 this year, was said to have requested a human head from Omodijie, saying that he needed the skull to prepare a medicine for his patients. Omodijie obliged Owolabi by exhuming a corpse from one of the graves in the cemetery where he worked and delivering the head to Owolabi.

    Upon a tip-off from a member of the public, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, was said to have directed the officer in charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to fish out the ritual killers.

    Kyari immediately swung into action with his team. He put a call through to Saliu, saying that a human head was urgently needed to save the life of a wealthy patient whose illness had defied orthodox medicine. Saliu asked the detectives to come to Ikorodu for the transaction. But he was arrested as soon as he showed up at the agreed place. The human head he came with was recovered and put in a polythene bag as an exhibit.

     

    confessing his role in the saga omodijie said, “i was content with being a grave digger before i met owolabi in a restaurant in front of the cemetery in gbogbo area of ikorodu. since i met owolabi, my life has not been the same again. I have moved from one problem into another. i was enjoying my n15,000 monthly salary as a grave digger before i met him and he lured me into supplying human heads to him at n4,000 each. “The naked truth is that there is nothing reasonable i have done with the n4,000 per human head that he has been paying me. i used it to drink gin or smoke cigarettes with it. it is the devil’s money. “i hardly fell sick since i was born. but after selling human heads to him, my health has been deteriorating.

    I buy drugs as if it is food, making me to spend more money than before. “i was moulding blocks before i secured a job in the cemetery as a grave digger. we were paid on a daily basis. we used wooden or machine moulder. but whichever moulder we used, we charged the owner n500 per bag of cement, which can give one about 40 blocks. if we did three bags, we collected n1,500. “when i got a job in the cemetery, i was happy because it is not as hard as moulding blocks.

    The salary was small but i was enjoying it. the grave was shallow or deep, depending on the owner of the corpse and the way he or she wants it to be buried. “my trouble started a day i went to buy food opposite the cemetery. that was where i met owolabi and he said there was something he had wanted to tell me. He asked whether i was a worker in the cemetery and i said yes. he said i should give him a human head and i asked him what he meant. he said the head of a corpse already buried. “we have cemetery rules which forbid us from doing such a thing. i told him that i would not be able to do that, and he left. but thereafter, each day i went to the restaurant to buy food, he would accost me with the same request. i insisted that i would not do it because i did not want to lose my job, but he said it was better to sell human parts to him than allowing them to waste. “I summoned courage to ask him what he wanted to do with human heads and other parts. he said he was a native doctor and alfa, and that he wanted to use it to make medicine.

    He said he would grind it into powder and mix it with certain herbs for pregnant women to drink in order to deliver their babies without complications or operation. he also said that he grinds human heads and mixes them with the powders some ladies carry in their handbags, saying that it helps those that are looking for choice husbands and big government contracts or companies’ lpos to secure them without stress. he also said that it can cure sickle cell anemia, among other ailments. “I told him that i didn’t have any but if i got one, i would call him.

    A few days later, i called him on the phone and told him that i had got some. he asked me where i kept it and i told him that i kept one in a nearby bush. he asked me to bring it to my house so that he would come later to collect it. “he knows my house because he had followed me to my house several times after we met and became friends. he gave me n4,000 for the first head he came to collect from my house. the following day, he bought another one for n4,000.” asked how he obtained the heads he sold to owolabi, omodijie said: “The graves where i normally bring out the skulls from are shallow, and coffins are not used for the corpses brought there because of religion or financial status of the owners. it is cheaper to bury a corpse in a shallow grave than to do so in a deep, cemented or marbled one. “most burials done in shallow graves are temporary. that is why that section of the cemetery is called the temporary site. after some months, the corpses buried in shallow graves are excavated and burnt. that was why owolabi i should not allow the skulls to waste and that i should sell them to him instead.” “four of us work in the cemetery, but the other workers did not know that i was smuggling out human skulls and other parts to sell to native doctors. it was only two heads i had sold before detectives from sars arrested me. “there is no useful thing i can say i did with the money.

    I was deceived by the devil. i am pleading for forgiveness because i did not kill a l anyone to sell their heads. i sold the skulls of corpses already buried and had decayed. i did not know that it would land me in this trouble.” owolabi on his part said: “i am an alfa and a native doctor. but i am not yet registered. i finished my arabic studies in kwara state about 13 years ago and relocated to ikorodu to work as a native doctor. i have the ambition of building a native hospital if the government gives me an approval. “I started by praying for sick people. last year, i met this cemetery worker (omodijie) and told him about the products (human parts) they were wasting. i learnt about using human skull to do powerful charms and medicine after travelling to kano, kaduna and other parts of the north. “in kano, i met a yoruba native doctor who told me that if i mixed ground human bones with soap and some herbs, it would bring luck for my clients or patients.

    He said it could also cure chronic and stubborn sores and help pregnant women to deliver without complications or operation. it can also cure madness and other terrible diseases that defy orthodox solution. “women who are looking for husbands can also mix the ground bones with their powder. when they see a man they like, especially if they want a husband, they would rob the powder and talk to the man and the man will fall for them. it can also bring good luck and help job seekers to secure employment. “it can make somebody to become rich. it can cure epilepsy. a woman can also bath with it and men will be begging her to marry them. i sell a tablet of the soap for n2,000. it depends on the pocket of the buyer. some buy it for n1,000. I sell it around ikorodu and ajah in lagos. “saliu had told me to help him to get a human head and i collected one for him from the cemetery worker. he gave me n4,000 and i gave it to the cemetery worker that supplied the products. “when sars operatives arrested him, he led them to my house and i was also arrested. i knew the grave digger to be a worker in gbogbo cemetery at ikorodu. when he wanted to throw away some (human) parts, i told him that i needed them. i normally gave him n4,000 per skull.” saliu said: “i am a native doctor. i also spent nine years in ralwu islamic school, ikewu, osun state. i pray for women who are looking for husbands. i collected whatever amount they gave me. when the prayer worked for them, they would come to thank me with anything they liked. “i usually lock myself up to pray for my clients for between seven and 21 days, depending on the personality involved. they paid whatever amount they liked.

    The only money they were required to deposit with me was the one to buy certain things that i would use to prepare the things i would use for the prayers.” asked why he had to use human skulls for his prayers, he said: “i had not used it before. one of my brothers came and met me in the house one day and told me that he went to ila-orangun in osun state to do rituals for money but the person he met told him that it would require a human skull and certain leaves. “when i met my brother, owolabi, we talked about how to get the human head. he told me that he himself used to do the same medicine with human heads and some herbs and even made medicinal soap with it. he asked me to go and bring money and he would help me get a human skull. “i asked owolabi where he would get it from and he said he had a link at the gbogbo cemetery in ikorodu. after six to seven months, my brother called me while i was still in bed and asked whether the human head was ready. i told him to let me ask owolabi about it. when i asked owolabi, he told me to come and meet him. when i met him, he said it would cost n18,000, saying that he bought it for n12,000 from the cemetery man. “a friend of shina came and gave him n15,000. owolabi took n10,000 and gave me n2,000 only, and told me that he would use the remaining n3,000 to pay for the transportation of the human head to the final destination.

  • TRENDING SCAM: Fraudsters adopt auction sales as latest trick to dupe victims

    TRENDING SCAM: Fraudsters adopt auction sales as latest trick to dupe victims

    Is there an advertised auction sales from which you are hoping to reap bountifully? Events in recent times dictate that you should be more circumspect in embracing such an offer. Hundreds of Nigerians are daily falling prey to fraudsters by falling for offers of cheap valuable items, particularly the one advertised on the Internet. The Nation investigation revealed that the social media have become particularly notorious for such adverts through which unsuspecting internet users fall prey to the conmen.

    The items on offer include automobiles, textiles and vehicle spare parts among others. After advertising the goods purportedly meant for auction, the scammers their innocent respondents to a fake warehouse and show them sealed containers purportedly containing the items that had been advertised. The victims would then be given a bank account in which they would deposit the sums they intend to pay for the items they are interested in. But once payment is made, the fraudsters vanish into thin air and their victims would never set their eyes on them or the goods they had paid for.

    A typical case is that of one Elder Afolabi Oni, a retired civil servant who wanted a fairly used Toyota Camry car and was introduced to a man named Danladi Wushishi and his wife, Ojuolape. The couple allegedly claimed they had cars they wanted to auction but would need advanced payments with which they would clear the cars at the port. It turned out that Oni was courting serial fraudsters who had already fleeced hundreds of unsuspecting people of their hard earned moneys. In the end, Oni lost the sum of N1.2m to the couple.

    Recalling the incident in a chat with our correspondent, Oni said: “I met the woman and her husband through one of my relatives named Olowe when I wanted to buy a Tokunbo (fairly used) Toyota Camry car in 2010. The woman in question used to live in an estate belonging to the Nigerian Army in Abule Egba area of Lagos before she moved into a hotel in the neighbourhood.

    “She told me that she had a container of vehicles, including the type of car I was looking for. I had no cause to doubt her because she even showed me a bill of laden for the goods. She however said she needed some money to clear the container from the port and I gave her N1.2 million.

    “It was after many months of failing to deliver the vehicle that I asked for a refund. I began to pile pressure on her to refund my money but she issued me a dud cheque. Since then, I have not been able to retrieve my money from her.”

    The 63-year-old indigene of Ekiti State said he had given up on the matter until he read in a Saturday edition of The Nation newspaper that the couple had been arrested by the police.

    He said: “I had lost any hope of getting my money back from the coupe until I was told that the woman and her husband had been arrested by the police and that their story was published in The Nation a few Saturdays ago. Now, I want to retrieve my money from the heartless couple because it is my sweat.”

    Police sources said the couple had allegedly been using the moneys they duped people of to avoid justice until they were arrested after one of the couple’s numerous victims filed a petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko.

    A police source said: ”The husband has been detained for defrauding someone to the tune of N19 million, which the Command’s ‘X’ Squad is still handling. The case is likely to be transferred to SARS (State Anti-robbery Squad) for discreet investigation. It was the case in which his wife allegedly posed as his sister in order to secure his bail.

    “It is likely that their arrest by SARS will alert many of their victims who are still looking for them.”

    Before then, two traders, Chinyere Uzorchukwu and Nkechi Anokwuru, had fallen victim to the couple .The couple allegedly hoodwinked the two women with a fake customs allocation paper to auction 437 bales of textile materials valued at N8.6 million.

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, another victim of the couple, who identified herself simply as Hajia Oluwakemi, recalled how she was defrauded of N8 million in an auction sales that never was.

    Oluwakemi said: ”I fell into their trap a few years ago when Danladi (Wushishi) told me he had some goods to auction. He said the goods would be auctioned by customs men at the port and I was taken in by the papers he presented, not knowing that they were fake. Not only did I lose N8 million, I also lost my job as a result of the deal because I borrowed the money from various sources including my office.

    “Apart from that, the couple also defrauded my father to the tune of N1 million. As I speak, I am yet to get out of the mess I found myself as a result of the transaction. I know of three other persons who have been defrauded by Danladi and his wife through the auction sale scam. They moved from one part of Lagos to another in order to avoid being caught by their victims.

    “Danladi had once been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but he ran away after he was granted bail. It was at EFCC’s office that his path and that of his wife, Ojuolape, crossed. Ojuolape had also been apprehended by the anti-graft agency following a petition from some that she too had duped.

    “Contrary to what I have read in the papers that Danladi claimed he has several landed properties he could sell to defray the money he had dubiously collected from innocent people, I can tell you that he does not have more than a building and a plot of land somewhere in the Akute area of Ogun State.

    “However, I have been praying to God to avenge for me on the heartless couple for ruining my life, and I am happy that with their arrest by the police, my prayers have been answered.“

    Yet Hajia Oluwakemi is not the last victim of the fake auctioneer couple. One Mr. Livinus had also lost N19 million to the couple in another fake auction sales. Wushshi admitted that he had not received any container since he collected money from his victims.

    It is becoming a fad for unscrupulous elements to pose as senior customs officers on the internet where they also post fake cars meant for sale at rock bottom prices.

    In one of such messages posted by one Custom Johnson (sic) on his Facebook account recently, he asked people to purchase cars of different makes at ridiculously low prices.

    The message reads: ”Nigeria Custom (sic) impounded auction cars… at a cheaper rate, we deal with (sic) all kind of cars: Mercedes Bnez (sic) M500,N600,000, Toyota Camry (tiny light 2.2 model), N350,000; Toyota Sienna-N450,000; Nissan Xtera,N400,000; Nissan Murano SUV N600,000; Nissan Pathfinder (2000-2010 model)N650,000; Toyota Highlander- N700,000; 2003 Toyota Corolla,N650,000.850,000; Toyota Prado=800,000; Toyota RAV4=450,000; Camry 2012 model=550,000; Toyota Yaris=350,000; Toyota Matrix=2005=450,000=2006=550,000, Range Rover=1.5, Golf 3 GOLF 4=250,000=300,000, Toyota Avalo=2001=350,000=2010=450,000, Toyota Hiace=2000=2006 Hummer bus=850,000, Toyota Corolla 2003=2006=350,000=400,000, Lezus RX 2005=600,000, Honda CRV=1998=2001=450,000, Honda Accord 2001=2003=350,000=2004=450,000.

    “Feel Free to call for any of the year model of car you are interested on (sic).”

    In their desperation, the scammers frequently trend into online conversations wherein they announce the auction sales. In one of such incidents in September 2013, one Johnson Umeugoji, who claimed to have seen one of such announcements on the social media, contacted the announcer who identified himself as Peter Amune. As usual, the deal went awry after Peter had allegedly paid N200, 000 into Amune’s bank account in Auchi, Edo State.

    “The scale fell off Johnson’s eyes after Amune told him to come to a customs warehouse in Agbara, Lagos where a purported car auction was to take place. He soon found that he had been duped as there was no such thing as an auction when he got there. He reported the matter to police and the suspect was arrested in Auchi after a manhunt by detectives.

    Commenting on the incident, the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, said: ”Peter (Amune) resides at Osomurika Road, Igarra in Edo State, but he committed the crime in Agbara, Ogun State. He was, however, arrested in Auchi, Edo State on September 16, 2013 and will soon be charged to court at the completion of investigation.”

    In January 2013, an Enugu-based business man, Obiekwe Chigozie , who wanted to buy a 2010 Toyota Camry as a gift for his mother thought he had landed a good offer on the internet. Unknown to him, he was dealing with a fake auction sales syndicate. The price of the car was given as N400,000 and he was asked to pay N100,000 deposit into an account belonging to a member of the syndicate. The said account was domiciled in one of the branches of a commercial bank in Minna ,Niger State. Shortly after the money was confirmed to have been deposited in the bank, the syndicate cut off all lines of communication with Obiekwu.

    Luck however ran out on the conmen when one of them named Musa went to the bank to withdraw the money and was promptly arrested by operatives of the EFCC who had been put on the alert by the distraught Obiekwu.

    In a recent statement, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) warned members of the public to disregard the activities of internet auction sale syndicates, saying: “They use many ploys, but the most popular is using fake Facebook accounts opened in the name of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr. Dikko Abdullahi. You are therefore deceived to believe that you are chatting with the Comptroller General of Customs who might even refer you to an officer in Seme Border or any department of the Service.

    “Beware, the discussions that will eventually lead to a request that you pay some money into some private account is pure scam. Many have been scammed. They are fraudulent. Don’t patronise them.”

    In the same vein, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin Can Island Port, Mr Chris Osunkwo, explained that the NCS does not conduct online auction sale of goods, urging people to desist from patronizing such websites where such sales are announced, as they are created by scammers to deceive people.

    Osunkwo said: “The auction exercise conducted by the Nigerian Customs is a continuous exercise whereby an interested buyer applies and if successful, obtains a letter of allocation from the Customs headquarters in Abuja. Those who auction items or vehicles through Facebook are scammers.”

    “The Nigerian Customs usually floats two types of auctionseizure auction (SA) and the overtime type. While the former is done for items/vehicles seized by the NCS, the latter is overseen by a designated committee.”

    He explained further that there is a process for every auction exercise and that no individual can single-handedly allocate items or vehicles to a potential buyer.

  • How we broke into Omisore’s house,raped his maid -Chadian robbery suspects

    How we broke into Omisore’s house,raped his maid -Chadian robbery suspects

    Four suspected members of a robbery gang made up of Chad nationals have been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command after allegedly carrying out an attack on the Ikoyi, Lagos home of the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore.

    A police source told our correspondent that the suspects stormed the senator’s house at No. 11, Thomson Avenue, Ikoyi at about 2 am on June 18, 2014 and used an iron cutter to cut the electrified wire on top of the fence before they jumped into the compound, raping a housemaid and stealing valuable items.

    Once they had gained entry, they were said to have bound the two security men that guided the house with ropes and told a member of the gang named Musa to watch over the security guards. With one of the iron cutters in their possession, they cut the burglary proof on the door and gained entry into the house.

    They were also said to have pointed a gun at the housemaid and ordered her to undress. The hapless housemaid was said to have been reluctant in carrying out the invaders’ instruction, following which they became angry and beat her mercilessly, tearing her clothe and stripping her naked before assaulting her sexually.

    The poor housemaid was said to have been left unconscious by the robbers who also ransacked the rooms. The Senator, who is based in Abuja and currently campaigning for the governorship seat of Osun State, was said not to be at home at the time the robbers struck. A member of his domestic staff was said to have made a distress call to the Ikoyi Police Station whose men responded promptly and got to the house before the invaders could escape.

    Noticing the arrival of policemen, the robbers were said to have opened fire to scare them away and facilitate their escape, but the police responded with superior fire power, wounding one of the robbers and arresting him while the three others escaped.

    The police were said to have the suspect with bullet wound for treatment, after which he was transferred to SARS on June 19 for discreet investigation. The Commissioner of police, Mr. Umar Manko, was also said to have instructed the officer in charge of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police, to ensure that the fleeing suspects did not escape from the state or the country.

    Kyari and members of his special squad were said to have swung into action immediately, tracking down one of the suspects named Mohammed at Epe, a suburb of Lagos. Mohammed then led them to the hideout of another member of the gang named Ibrahim Abdulahi.

    Upon interrogation, Abdullahi was said to have disclosed that a member of the gang had escaped to Ibafo, an Ogun community not far away from Lagos. He was said to have led some SARS operatives to Ibafo but the suspected member of the gang opened fire on the policemen as they were approaching their hideout. The police again responded with superior fire power and cordoned off the whole area. Unknown to the police team, some other robbers lived in the house and had hid themselves in the ceiling.

    Upon entering the house, the policemen notice some strange noise in the ceiling and opened fire on the ceiling, wounding one of them in the process and arresting another without any bullet wound. The one without injury, Jidoh Sale, was immediately put in handcuffs while the one with injury was rushed to the hospital where he gave up the ghost.

    A search carried out on the uncompleted building was said to have led to the recovery of three big iron cutters, two red hand gloves, assorted charms, a chisel, a machete, a nail remover, two screw drivers, a torch, three different identity cards, voter ID cards, two Man O’ War ID cards belonging to Mohammed Yusuf and Ali Yawarb, a pen knife, a hammer and two locally made pistols.

    Confessing his involvement in the operations of the gang, one of the suspects, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said: “I am 29 years old. I am a foreigner from Amtima village in Chad. I came to Nigeria in 2010 in search of greener pastures. After three months, I secured a security job in a company in Anthony Village (Lagos). After few months, I was sacked and I went to stay with my brother at Ajah, a suburb of Lagos. I later returned to Chad to take a second wife with the little money I had saved from security work.

    “My problem started when I came back from Chad and there was no money for me to eat and feed my wives. I was thinking about how to survive when Mohammed Sale, who is still at large over his involvement in several robbery operations in Ajah and its environs, came to me with thousands of naira on him. I saw the money on him and begged him to help me, even if it was with a small amount as loan.

    “He promised to help me to get out of my financial problems. But he said he would not give me fish but will take me to the high sea to fish and eat as much fish as I wanted. I told him that a hungry would not understand riddles and that he should speak to me in plain language so that I would understand him. He then asked me to follow him.

    “He took me to Senator Omisore’s house, saying that he would put me at the gate. He said that two other people would join us later. He also told me that as soon as the work started, they would tie the two security men in the Senator’s house and that my role was to guard the security men and be the gang’s eyes while they would go inside the house to work.

    “At about 10 pm, we went to Obalende area and hid ourselves in the flower. There the two others came to join us. Around 2 am, we trekked to the Senator’s house at No.11, Thomson Avenue Ikoyi, armed with two guns, cutters and charms, among other items.

    “When we got to the house, we used a cutter to cut the electrified wire on the fence, climbed the wall and jumped inside the compound. Two dogs wanted to harass us but one of us, Mosale, pursued them. That made the two security men to wake up, as they wondered why the dogs were barking. The dogs continued to bark, showing that there were strangers in the compound, but they did not know what to do. It was while they were thinking of what they would do that Musa and Jidoh used guns to order the two security men to lie down and tied them with ropes. We then went inside the house and ransacked all the rooms.

    “We carried clothes, shoes and other things. We only spent 20 minutes. We collected a fine wrist watch and a phone. There were four of us: myself, Mosale, Idris and Mohammed Sale, but I did not join in raping the housemaid. I have two wives and three children. I cannot rape. I only wanted to get money to feed my family.

    “If I had got enough money to do business, I would not have been interested in armed robbery. Look at me, I cannot rape. If the housemaid recovers and we go for identification parade, you will see that I am telling you the truth. Not every armed robber is a beast. I don’t take hard drug. I am conscious and mentally alert every day. I don’t drink or smoke too much because it is very risky to lose control of your senses during a robbery operation. So, count me out from those who raped the housemaid.

    “Idris and Mohammed are still at large. One of our members died when we exchanged fire with SARS operatives at Ibafo.”

    Asked why Chadians enter Nigeria in droves, he said: “Our people come to Nigeria to do one job or the other. Nigeria is our best hope of greener pastures abroad. Some come with their cattle while some come to do security work in private homes and companies.

    “About 50 Chadians come to Nigeria every day to do one thing or the other, but half of us engage in armed robbery because Nigerians have many rich people and they keep big money in their cars and in their houses.

    “Whatever work we do in Nigeria gives us money with which we do reasonable things like building houses, farming and educating our children. There is a lot of money in Nigeria. Those who engage in armed robbery do so to get quick money and go back to Chad. Some do it because it is faster, but they do not kill their victims unless there is exchange of fire, because they do not carry gun for fun. They carry guns so that they can escape if they are challenged.

    “The primary aim of carrying gun is not to kill their victims but to protect themselves and to enable them escape from serious danger during and after operation. Nobody likes to kill his fellow human being just like that.

    “If I am released, I will relocate to Chad and do farming and other jobs to feed my family. I will not rob again. It was financial problems that made me to join them to rob. We are all from Chad.”

    The second suspect said: “My name is Mohammed Musa. I am 26 years old from Amdam village in Chad Republic.

    “When I came to Niegeria some years back, I secured a security job at Living Word Church, Ajah on a monthly salary of N15,000. I was on temporary appointment with the church. When I finished the job, I went to live with Ibrahim at Ajah..

    I was facing hard times in Ajah because I had no work. I had no money while Ibrahim was going out to rob and come back with a lot of money and handsets. I became jealous and begged him to allow me to follow him to his money spinning work.

    “I was still owing the Igbo man who helped me to cross to Nigeria and get security work in the church. When I was working in the church, he used to help me to get manual jobs that fetched me N1,500 every day, out of which he got a commission of N500. When I left the church, he did not know that I had relocated to Ajah, so he was still calculating the money I was supposed to be giving him every day.

    “Later, Ibrahim permitted me to follow him to do armed robbery and I celebrated it. Our gang leader is Mohammed Saleh, who is still at large.”

    Asked how he managed to get somebody to help him to cross from Chad to Nigeria without the necessary papers, he said: “If you have the papers, you can cross. But if you don’t have them, is it not somebody who will help you to cross? Money is involved at every step and I did not have the money.

    “Even when somebody helps you to cross, getting work and accommodation in Nigeria is not easy because you don’t know the country you are going to very well. You can be arrested for wandering.

    “I am not yet married. I had planned to get married after two or three robbery operations but luck was against me. I put my trust charms, not knowing that I would be confronted by SARS operatives. They rendered my charms useless.”

    The third suspect, Jidoh Sale, said: “I am 31 years old. I came with cattle from Chad. My wife is in Chad. I was arrested from one room in Ibafo. I have a room there in an uncompleted building. Area boys used to come there to collect money from every tenant. We do not know the landlord of the house till date.

    “I know that criminals live in the house. But for me to continue to live there, I have to mind my business. It is highly risky to report criminals to the police when you are living in the same place with them.

    “It was Zachariah who came into my room and told me that policemen were everywhere with powerful rifles and that their eyes could scare even a lion, so I decided to run. Unfortunately, I ran into one of the SARS operatives who had a rifle. He ordered me to stop or he would shoot me dead. I fell short of words and fell down in shock.

    “I shouted and pleaded with him not to kill me when he told me that I was playing tricks the way I fell down. He came closer to me and ordered another operative at my back to handcuff me and take me to their vehicle, which they parked near the road.

    “I know Ibrahim Abdullahi. We entered the ceiling together and jumped down together. We took different directions. I would have escaped if I had followed him.”

    Contact for comment, the Media Director, Omisore Campaign Organisation, Mr. Diran Odeyemi confirmed that the robbery took place in June. But he said it had not come to the knowledge of the governorship aspirant that the perpetrators of the act had been arrested.

    “You are the one that is just telling us about their arrest,” he told our correspondent on Thursday.