For three days in October this year, suspected hoodlums hijacked the EndSARS protests in the border communities in Ogun State, sacked customs men from checkpoints and outstations and forcibly opened the border posts for smugglers who had a field day flooding markets in Lagos and Ogun with contraband goods, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
For three days last month, mayhem was unleashed like a volcano on several border communities in Ogun State. Between Tuesday October 20 and Thursday October 22, 2020, suspected hoodlums hijacked the nationwide EndSARS protest against police brutality and attacked customs men at checkpoints and outstations across the border communities in Ipokia, Ado Odo/Ota, Imeko Afon Yewa South and Yewa North Local Government Areas of Ogun State.
The minions were hunted, beaten, chased away from their duty posts, checkpoints, outstations and makeshift tents, with their patrol vehicles razed by suspected smugglers who seized the moment to bring in contraband ranging from foreign rice to assorted commodities and vehicles unhindered.
At the Ihunbo, Oke Ore axis of the popular Idiroko Road, Ijoun in Yewa North Local Government Area and Ilara in Imeko-Afon Local Government Area, customs men were sacked from their border posts by hoodlums who subsequently had a field day smuggling bags of rice on motorcycles from neighbouring Benin Republic into the country.
It was said that the hoodlums went into jubilation after sacking the Customs officials from their checkpoints and flooded the markets with contraband, especially foreign rice, so much so that the price of the commodity crashed from N22,000 to N15,ooo in one fell swoop.
At the popular Owode market, the staple which hitherto sold for N22,000 was sold between N14,000 and N15,000.
At about 9 am on Tuesday October 20, hundreds of hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons, including machetes, axes, guns and charms, attacked a Customs patrol base at Oke Ore, Yewa South Local Government Area.
A customs officer, Solomon Alagye, was shot dead in an attack by the suspected hoodlums.
According to sources, the slain officer was not the target, but his colleague identified as Mukaila Oladipupo Lawal, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC) popularly called MK, who had been a thorn in the flesh of smugglers around the axis.
•One of the vandalised patrol van at Ijoun
It was said that the hoodlums were actually a group of smugglers based in Ado- Odo area, whose contraband the said ASC Lawal had been intercepting in recent times despite the pleas made to him by the owners.
An eyewitness said: ”When the hoodlums who are smugglers based in Ado Odo community stormed the customs checkpoint at Oke-Ore, they targeted Officer Mukaila Oladipupo Lawal, an Assistant Superintendent of Customs (ASC), and searched everywhere, calling out his name, but he had narrowly escaped.
“It was in an attempt to disperse the mob that Officer Alagye was killed by the rampaging hoodlums, who also set ablaze the tent used as checkpoint by customs men.
“Officer Alagye was actually killed by a stray bullet fired by the hoodlums during the mayhem. The late Algye was a brave and brilliant officer who went about his duty diligently but lost his life in an unfortunate incident.”
It was said that the hoodlums went to Lawal’s residence to possibly fish him out but his family had been moved to an unknown location before the mob got to his home.
“They went to his house thinking that they would meet him at home and harm him, but he was not at home while his wife and children were said to have been moved into safety before the hoodlums arrived there,
“Lawal was then picked on by smugglers cum hoodlums because of his no nonsense posture at work which has earned him praises from his superiors,” the source added.
The siege on Idiroko border post, others
After they had succeeded in sacking customs men from Idiroko Road, an attempt was made to attack the Idiroko border post which overlooks Igolor Market in Benin Republic, but a joint drill team of customs men and soldiers from 192 Battallion in Owode repelled the mob.
At Ijoun, a customs base was destroyed and officers chased away. The hoodlums moved to Ilara area of Imeko-Afon, where they also attacked a customs base and forcibly opened the border for influx of rice smugglers who moved thousands of bags of rice into the community and ferried them into the townships.
“They opened up the borders after they successfully sacked customs men at Ilara, heralding a free day for smugglers who used motorcycles to move in hundreds of bags of foreign rice, frozen turkey, chicken and vegetable oil, among others, into various markets and warehouses in Lagos and Ogun communities”
At Oko Eye and Oke Odan axis of Idiroko Road, some customs checkpoints manned by men of Ogun 1 Customs Area Command and Strike Force Team of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A were attacked and razed. However, no patrol vehicles were set ablaze as the minions had moved their operation vans away from sight.
The hoodlums also blocked the Iyana Ago, a stone’s throw to Idiroko border, and prevented motorists and commuters from passing through the area for more than one week.
Customs men around the Ilaro/Oja- Odan/Obele border post between Yewa South and Yewa North Local Government Areas were also not spared as they also suffered multiple attacks at their duty posts. The hoodlums, wielding machetes and guns, also destroyed and ransacked their tents, carting away sundry items, including uniforms.
Late Alagye
An eyewitness who said there was no shooting during the attack, said the hoodlums were sighted with bags of foreign rice and other contraband from neighbouring Benin Republic.
“The Customs men fled their duty posts and ran for their dear lives when the hoodlums stormed their base and smugglers brought in all kinds of contraband for about five hours,” he said.
It was said that the hoodlums went into wild jubilation after sacking the Customs men from their checkpoints.
“The hoodlums celebrated the sacking of the customs men as they went into frenzy, singing and dancing as if they had just overthrown a government. They opened the border and used their motorbikes to bring in contrabands without any resistance by security or law enforcement agents, ” an eyewitness said.
Seizure, recovery of goods
The Controller of Ogun 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs and Excise, Comptroller Michael Agbara, explained that normalcy had been restored to the affected checkpoints.
Speaking with our correspondent during a briefing held at the headquarters of the command in Idiroko penultimate Thursday, Agbara said that officers of the command had since regained control of the border areas, while a number of seizures and recoveries had been made.
He said: ”Following the recent nationwide EndSARS protest hijacked by hoodlums and smugglers particularly at the border areas, our Area Command suffered vicious attacks in which an officer (AIC Solomon Alayge) was killed and others were injured.
“In the early hours of Thursday, 22nd of October, 2020, many of our patrol teams were attacked. Their patrol bases were vandalised and set ablaze. Our officers and men were trapped as a result of the multiple attacks suffered along Oja-Odan, Ilaro (along Ilaro/Oja- Odan/Obele border), Ihunbo, Adesba, Owode (along Idiroko axis), Ijoun and Imeko. Many of our personnel’s belongings including uniforms and other valuables were looted. Many of our patrol vehicles were also vandalized.
“In a move that looked like a premeditated action, the hoodlums/smugglers in large numbers seized the opportunity of the security challenge which made all the security agencies to focus on protecting their operatives and facilities, embarked on massive smuggling of rice and vehicles for about three days.
“However, the Command afterwards intensified effort by strengthening her workforce with reinforcement from the military. This helped in beefing up security and restoring control in the Command.”
The controller also disclosed that his men foiled an attempted attack on government owned warehouses and other facilities in Abeokuta.
He said the attack would not stop his men from carrying out their statutory roles no matter the effort made to frustrate them in their lines of duty.
“He said: We wish to reiterate that the continued attack on operatives of NCS and other sister agencies will not deter us from performing of our legitimate duties. appeal to parents and guardians to prevail on their children, wards and youths to desist from such criminal acts as smuggling and attack on security agents.
“It is important to note that activities of the Command are patriotic duties in the interest of national security and economic wellbeing of Nigeria.
“NCS operatives, in observance of the rules of engagement, will continue to carry out its legitimate duties as prescribed by law.”
Speaking further, Agbara said a number of smuggled goods were either recovered or intercepted from smugglers with support from sister security agencies.
“In the same vein, with bravery and gallantry of officers and men of the Command coupled with the maximum support of the military, the Command made the following seizures after the restoration of law and order across our borders: 2,947 bags of rice, 1,875 litres of premium motor spirit (petrol), 18 vehicles, 4 motorcycles, 10 sacks and 1,658 pieces of cannabis sativa, 159 cartons of sugar, 30 cartons of tomato paste, 12 cartons of cosmetics and soaps, 19 cartons of insecticide and 7 kegs of vegetable oil (25 litres each).”
He added: “It is worthy of note that the Command, during the third quarter of year 2020, successfully recorded 420 seizures comprising 11,146 bags of foreign parboiled rice (50 kg each), an average of 18 trailer loads per month; 86 vehicles; 39 motorcycles (used in conveying smuggled items); 10 kegs of vegetable oil (25 litres each); 81 bales in 34 sacks of secondhand clothes; one sack and 1,344 pairs of used shoes; 1,814 cartons of frozen poultry products; 299,450 litres of PMS (petrol); 127 Kegs of palm oil (25 liters each); 1,225 litres of diesel; 75 litres of kerosene and other sundry contraband items with a total duty paid value (DPV) of N397,076,991 (N397 million)
“Despite the precarious situation experienced recently by the Command, we will continue to dialogue, engage, sensitise and educate the public on social/economic implications of smuggling as well as perform our statutory function of enforcing compliance with government’s fiscal policies.”
Umar is nearing the age of 60. He sat wearing a mournful look in front of his consultant at the Psychiatry Department of Federal Medical Centre Gombe. He had lowered his head in a gesture of regrets. By the time he raised it up, it was tears that rolled down his cheeks.
His lips mumbled some incoherent words in Hausa language. Then he asked in Queen English: “Doctor, please what can you do to help me get my life back again?”
Umar’s was a sad tale of a spoilt child who got from his parents all the good things that life can offer. Like his siblings, he had the opportunity to study some of the best of courses in citadels of learning around the world. But four times he tried and four times he failed all because he was addicted to cocaine.
His parents who had offered him protection had died, leaving him a lot of properties to make something out of his life. But within a short period, all the properties were gone. Without wife or children and now without property, Umar sat in front of Doctor Rotimi Oyedun, a consultant psychiatrist at Federal Medical Hospital Gombe, asking the one million dollar question: “Doctor, can I get back my life back? Please help me.”
Umar was one of the numerous psychiatric patients slated for counseling for the day. After more than an hour in the counseling room, Umar walked out with his head lowered to face the scorching sun of Gombe and continue his life of regrets. But he was not alone in this condition. “There are many of them,” said Doctor Oyedun.
A few minutes later, another patient, Amina, walked into the counselling room with face, hands and feet that looked very clean. But other than these, the other parts of her body were riddled with boils caused by the use of needles to inject pentazocine.
Emmanuel is a member of a popular Pentecostal Church in Gombe. He was a fervent worker in the church until he suddenly developed a change in attitude and was brought to the Psychiatry Department of the FMC. Unknown to the church, Emmanuel had been involved in substance abuse, namely cannabis, for some time. But unlike others, Emmanuel recovered with the same speed he got caught in substance abuse.
Umar and Amina were not that lucky. In some cases, drug addicts develop ulcer in the limbs, which may lead to amputation of the limb as the wound may refuse to heal.
According to Dr Oyedun, commonly abused drugs are classified into opiate, stimulants, depressant, hallucinogen and others.
He said: “Opiates are drugs like morphine and pentazocine commonly called “penta” or “vectra”. Vectra is 225mg of tramadol. There is almost no medical indication for that single dose but it comes like that in tablet.
“Usually, doctors will prescribe 50 mg or 100 mg once or twice a day, but people are using 225mg of it. Usually, it is very difficult to even get it for prescription in the hospital, yet it is sold across the counter at 225mg.
“Depressants like common valium are also known as “D5” or “yellow boy” in this area. Then we have stimulants like benexol and coatine called “exol”. Apart from the alcohol which comes in various forms, the common one is pentazocine.
“A lot of people are injecting pentazocine. They also do mix amphetamine in soft drinks. A lot of people take tramadol because they believe it enhances their sexual performance, but in the long run, it destroys their sexual organs.”
Substance abuse, which is the abuse of psychoactive materials that exert their major effects on the brain resulting in sedation, stimulation or change in the mood of a person, is a universal social problem. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report, substance abuse is a major public health problem all over the world. Thus, an estimated 208 million people or nearly 5 per cent of the world‟s population between the ages of 15 and 64 years consume illegal drugs.
One hundred and forty-four million people abuse cannabis (marijuana), making it the most prevalent illicit substance, followed by amphetamine type stimulants, opiates and cocaine. Thirty-five million used amphetamine type stimulants, 16 million are opiates and 13 million are cocaine users (Naqshbanndi, 2012).
Substance abuse does not only expose the individual to major health problems but also serves as a predisposing factor for crimes. The need to control the supply and reduce the demand for narcotic drugs in Nigeria led to the establishment of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in January 1990 by the then Ibrahim Babangida administration.
According to a survey conducted by a group of sociologists from Federal University, Kashere Gombe; Gombe State University and Federal University Dutse Jigawa State, led by Haruna Mageed Oshogwe, on substance abuse among youths in Kashere town, Gombe, the main causes of substance or drug abuse among adolescents and even teenagers are multifaceted. They include high level of illiteracy among parents and children, inadequate or lack of skill among the youths, lack of awareness on the dangers of drug use and abuse, decaying moral values, broken homes due to divorce and, above all, lack of effective crime prevention measures such as effective partnership, especially among the stakeholders in the area.
The first sign of a disturbing situation in substance abuse in Gombe State was first noticed by Governor Inuwa Yahaya during his governorship campaign throughout the state in 2019. Governor Yahaya noticed a high and disturbing level of misbehaviour among the youth, which was traced to substance abuse. He had since then made up his mind to address the situation once he became governor.
Lamenting the ugly situation of drug abuse in the state, the Special Adviser to Governor Yahaya on Drugs and Narcotic, Mr. Birba Samu Godfrey, said: “I am really bordered by the situation and I think that is the passion his Excellency has for the youths who are into drugs. That is why he established the office of Special Adviser on Drugs and Narcotics so that we can go out and find the best way of solving the problems of youths who are into drugs in the state.
“It may interest you to know that this is the first time that government is establishing such an office in the state. In this office, we collaborate with traditional rulers, the NGOs, youth agencies and the NDLEA to find ways of reducing the problem to the minimum level if not eradicate it.”
Already, the office has located some places where cannabis are grown in Balanga, Dukur, Yamaltu-Deba and some parts of Shomgo Local Government Area of the state. The growing of cannabis is common in most of the hilly areas, some of which are not easily accessible by road. According to the Special Adviser, some of these places have been located and arrests have been made through the cooperation of traditional rulers, hunters and local vigilante groups in the areas.
However, in the Gombe metropolis, most of the hard drugs are sold in pharmaceutical and patent medicines stores, but most guilty of the sale of illicit drugs are the patent medicines stores, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, which recently organised a sensitisation workshop in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicines Dealers (NAPPMED) Gombe State on their role in curbing the abuse and trafficking in controlled and psychotropic substances.
The Chairman of NAPPMED, Salisu Mustabi, said right now, there was no member of the association involved in the sale of such illicit drugs to members of the public. He said although there was such an incident sometime last year, the person involved had been apprehended and handed over to the police.
“There has not been a single arrest of any of our members for illicit drugs this year. The one you are talking about happened last year, and since we have arrested the person and handed him over to the police for prosecution, we have not had any record of such thing again.
“Our Governor, Inuwa Yahaya has also invited us and talked to us on this matter. He said he does not want such a thing in the state again, and since he is the father of everybody, we have no choice but to listen to him. That is why you see us collaborating with the NDLEA for this sensitisation programme,” he said.
According to the NDLEA, Gombe is rated number three among the high risk drug abuse states in the country, even though it has a small population of about 3.5 million people. Already, seven spots have been located within Gombe metropolis, but the problem is how to arrest them because of the sophistication of the drug barons.
According to Godfrey, “most of the time, the barons got information of the plans to arrest them even before the arrest is made, because they often hack the mobile phones of the operatives involved.
“We have made several attempts but because of the technology involved, by the time we are going, they have already got the information and then conceal the exhibits, and you may end up getting nothing.
“In one instance, we met a boy of seven years in the drug shop. What can you do with a boy who does not even understand what you are talking about? That is to tell you how smart these barons are in Gombe. And normally if you don’t get the exhibits, the case is as good as dead.”
According to Mr. Segun Ishan, the Principal Legal Staff Officer of NDLEA in Gombe State, the agency has successfully prosecuted no fewer than 12,000 cases all over the country with 35 prosecutions made in Gombe last year alone out of which only one was a female.
He observed that the issue of drug abuse had gone beyond abuse to commercialisation of the case, and that is why, according to him, the case is common among men than women.
He said: “It has become a commercial enterprise, and that is why I think it is more on the male side than on the female. Now, drug offence is mostly an offence where people want to make money. So it is not just a case of the abuse itself but the commercialisation of the offence.
“In the whole country, Gombe is not in Class A or B. It is in class C because of its population.”
The programme Officer of Drug Free and Preventive Care organisation (DFPC) Gombe, Mr. Abba David Ali, said that more than 20 per cent of the youth in the state are involved in drug and substance abuse, and this made the state to be ranked as the number three among states with high prevalence of drug abuse.
According to him, “drug abuse is common among both sexes, but it is most prevalent among men because they are the ones we see mostly outside while the women are usually indoors.
Gombe NDLEA State Acting Commander, Mrs Rosana Nnodim, while speaking with NAPPMED members in Gombe, the state capital, said the agency could no longer condone the conduct of some NAPPMED members which she said had led to the destruction of some youths’ lives and insecurity in the country.
She said: “If you look at it very closely, the root of all the insecurity and youth restiveness in the country today can be traced to the use of illicit drugs which are made available by some of your members.
“I speak to your conscience today, those of you who are engaged in the sale of all these outlaw stand wrong prescriptions, what goes around will surely come around. Whatever you wish for the children of other persons that you sell those drugs to so as to make money will surely one way or the other come back to you.”
Twenty years after Zamfara adopted the Shari’a as state law and amputated the hands of its first convicts for theft, incumbent Gov. Matawalle is offering two cows for every AK-47 rifle surrendered by ‘repentant’ bandits. This has aroused mixed feelings among victims of banditry and the first convicts by the Islamic penal code, writes Olatunji Ololade, Associate Editor
The infinite pains of Shari’a amputees Buba Jangebe, Lawali Isa
How cow thieves murdered the son of the first ‘reformed’ cow thief
There is only one solution to banditry – Ex-Hisbah boss
Buba Bello aka Jangebe nurses bitter-sweet love for Zamfara. Something subtle yet feral, like clarity and haze of the same bond.
Some days, he stirs with gratitude in his heart. Most days he wakes resigned. These days, he mops about like a wolf caught in a trap.
Speaking with The Nation at his base in Jangebe, Zamfara State, he tiptoed across his past, through a jungle of memory and moods too harrowing to be recalled. From his son’s murder by bandits to his unpaid salaries, the 60-year-old vented in the tenor of a pawn caught in an intense chess game between life and Zamfara’s ruling class.
He said, “My son was killed by bandits. They entered my house at night and hacked him to death in the presence of his wife and two children. I was not there. I was at work when someone came to inform me.”
Immediately Bello heard the peace salutation from his guest, “Salaam alaykum warahmotullah wabarakatuhu,” his “heart skipped some beats” and he “knew instantly that there was serious trouble.”
The visitor tearfully informed Bello that his eldest son, Abubakar, had been killed by cow thieves.
“Allahu Akbar! (Allah is the Greatest), I cried to my Creator,” said Bello, humbled by the implied irony of his predicament.
Back when he was King of his jungle, Bello attained notoriety as an expert cow thief, a skill that earned him the moniker: Buba kare garke (Buba, the exhauster of the cattle herd).
Even though he was accused of no murder, Bello boasted about town that he could steal any cow, and that once a cow got into his compound, it would vanish for ever – and he’d never get caught.
However, he stole this particular cow, and it did not vanish; the owner came and identified his cow. Buba confessed, and the punishment announced was amputation, in fulfillment of then governor, Sani Yerima’s campaign promise to establish the Sharia law in Zamfara.
•Victims of bandit attacks being prepared for burial at Talata-Mafara
Thus in February 2000, Bello was pronounced guilty of stealing a cow and sentenced. On March 20, 2000, the government amputated his right hand according to provisions of the Islamic Shari’a.
Bello made history as the first person in Nigeria to endure such penalty. But he said he wasn’t upset about losing his hand because it led to the end of his 12-year career as a cow thief. His notoriety ended at his conviction for stealing a cow valued at N2,640.
From ill-fame to piety
Bello refused to appeal his verdict within the 30-day window furnished him having seen his relatives, who initially ostracised him for being a thief, re-integrate him into the family. At the pronouncement of his sentence, they forgave him, and Bello thanked God for the amputation. He saw it as his atonement, his passport from notoriety to piety.
Everyone thought the amputation had transformed him from a notorious thief into a devout Muslim, and he adamantly sought to fulfill the part. Thus he proceeded on a new path as a honest man.
To show that his redemption was in full bloom, the government of Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima employed Bello as a messenger at the Government Secondary School (GSS), Jangebe, his hometown.
Fate’s wicked humour
His life unfurled without much incident until the gruesome murder of his first son, Abubakar. Then, several months after receiving news of his son’s murder, the state government dealt him a deadly blow. “My salary was stopped,” he said, stressing that he was employed by Governor Yerima who paid him N18, 000 monthly until there was a change of government and Governor Mahmuda Shinkafi assumed office and increased his salary to N20, 000.
He said, “I was collecting N20, 000 monthly until my salary got stopped 12 months ago. Till date, I have not received any salary from the government. This is the 12th month that I have gone without salary now.”
•Repentant bandits in Zamfara
Bello, like the proverbial tortoise, wishes to fight with his wrists, but he has no fingers. He would love to get paid his due. He would also love to apprehend the bandits who killed his son. Fresh in grief, he informed his hamlet head, who called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) on phone but the latter refused to send a team in pursuit of the culprits claiming the incident happened in a remote community and if the police went there, they could be attacked.
Bello felt disillusioned and angry but he kept his cool. He said, “Quietly, I travelled back home to bury my son. His wife and his siblings’ wives were seriously disturbed by the incident, and they decided that they could not live there anymore.”
His second son left Jangebe shortly afterwards. Bello pleaded with him to stay but he refused, claiming that he could no longer bear to live in Zamfara.
“He was afraid that what was done to his brother could befall him. I gave him the go ahead to travel out to see where he could live his life peacefully. To support him, I gave him my cows. This is the fourth year that I’ve not seen my cows, he is roaming around Lagos axis,” said Bello.
Bello grudgingly accepts his second son’s refusal to return home to Jangebe stressing that, “The issue of banditry has persisted. It is escalating. People are still being kidnapped in Zamfara. The bandits don’t differentiate between the rich and poor. They’ll take you to the bush and beat the hell out of you, every night, while demanding a ransom that you don’t have.
“To get it, you must sell whatever you have in the bush, and what you have in the town, and give it to them. Your relatives will also bear the brunt. We have no peace here. You may come back from the south today only to be kidnapped by bandits same day. If you live here and you own cows, they’ll pay you a visit at night. They will cover your head with black blanket and take you to the bush. This is our biggest problem,” said Bello.
The grim picture
The 60-year-old paints a clear portrait of the insecurity plaguing Zamfara and neighbouring northwestern states, Katsina and Sokoto.
Over the last decade, more than 8,000 people have been killed – mainly in Zamfara state – with over 200,000 internally displaced and about 60,000 fleeing into Niger Republic. Livestock and crops have been decimated, further depressing human livelihood indices that were already the country’s lowest. The violence is aggravating other security challenges: it has forced more herders southward into the country’s Middle Belt, thus increasing herder-farmer tension in that region and beyond.
‘They came on motorcycles to kill us’
Victims of banditry report extreme violence unleashed against civilians, murders, kidnappings for ransom, pillaging and looting of villages. In a recent attack, 21 people were killed in in Tungar Kwana village in Talata-Mafara town by armed bandits. The invaders stormed the community on motorbikes after blocking the community’s entry and exit points before unleashing terror on the defenceless residents.
They made away with several livestock in the attack which was in retaliation for the ongoing military onslaught against them in their forest enclave.
•Victims of armed banditry/kidnap being fed after their rescue from captivity
The Emir of Talata-Mafara, Bello Muhammed, led the funeral prayer for the victims the following day.
In a separate incident, Asmau Usman, 28, recounted how heavily armed gunmen swooped on her hamlet in Kawaye, and killed her husband and two sons right after they raped her. “They shot my husband in the head because he cursed them for raping me in front of him and our children. Then they killed my two sons claiming that they were young serpents who would grow up to cause them trouble some day,” said Usman.
Mohammed Aliyu, a grocer, relocated to Gusau after his two wives and three daughters were raped and eldest son hacked to death by armed bandits in his presence.
He said, “They came on motorcycles to attack us. They invaded my home, raped my wives and daughters before me and they killed my only son because they didn’t find enough money on me.”
According to the police spokesperson for Zamfara State, Mohammed Shehu, “The gunmen see the villagers as a soft target to avenge the ongoing offensive against them. The area is calm as more security personnel are deployed, and the criminals would be arrested to face the weight of the law.”
The attacks are, however, not limited to Zamfara State. The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency reported few months ago, that 47 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks by gunmen in Kankara town (Katsina state) and the nearby villages of Danmusa and Dusi-ma. In addition 22 villagers were killed on April 1 in Gangara, Sokoto State, according to the local police.
A humanitarian time-bomb
About 23,000 people have fled the upsurge in violence, stated the United Nations High Conmmissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) thus increasing to 60,000 the number who have fled in the last year ongoing attacks by armed groups in the Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara States.
“The situation in the region is a cause for concern, particularly in view of the rise of criminal groups operating in Nigeria. This is the whole point of UNHCR’s presence in the region,” said Alessandra Morelli, UNHCR Representative in Niger.
The crisis has also triggered a humanitarian challenge. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. In September 2019, a joint assessment mission by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, citing local government authorities’ estimates, reported 210,354 persons displaced from 171 towns and villages in the northwest. Of these, 144,996 were in Zamfara state, 35,941 in Sokoto and 29,417 in Katsina.
The violence has also exacted a severe toll on families and children. In Zamfara, the government reports that about 44, 000 children have been orphaned as a result of violence in the last decade.
Amina Ilyasu, a gender empowerment counsellor and social psychologist, argued that the government must extend sustainable socio-economic palliatives and mental support for victims of armed banditry.
“There are many displaced people within and outside refugee settlements in the state and many of them are dealing with severe losses. They need mental health evaluation and intervention. There are several orphans, widows and the elderly struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Many of them were victims of rape, severe battery and sexual assault. They need mental health support alongside security and socio-economic palliatives,” she said.
Roots of the crisis
The attacks are rooted in decades-long competition over resources between herders and farming communities. While most residents of Zamfara State are involved in agriculture – the state motto is “farming is our pride” – cows are valued by the herder community who have been accused of being behind a wave of attacks.
However, herders have repeatedly rejected the allegations saying that they too are victims. Isa Husseini, 41, argued that he was forced to flee his abode in Anka after bandits stole 12 of his cows and robbed him of all his savings.
Over 13,000 hectares of farmland have been either destroyed or rendered inaccessible in Zamfara since the crisis began. Huge numbers of livestock have similarly been lost: from 2011 to 2019, about 141,360 cattle and 215,241 sheep were rustled in the state, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Initial government responses
Former Governor Yari reported that from 2015 to 2019, the government spent N35 billion (about $95.8 million) on logistics support to federal security agencies, special allowances for security personnel deployed to the state and relief for victims of attacks.
As violence continued to escalate, the state government recruited about 10, 000 vigilantes to fight banditry. The poorly armed men were often no match for the bandits and they suffered heavy casualties in the course of the many confrontations in Zamfara and Katsina.
From 2016 to 2018, the Zamfara and Katsina state governments started negotiating peace agreements with herder-allied armed groups and criminal gangs. The states offered amnesty, arms-for-cash programs and promises of spending for local communities, in return for disarmament.
In Zamfara state, a government-initiated peace dialogue with armed groups led to an arms-for-development agreement in October 2016, and in April 2017, police reported about 1,000 herder-allied armed fighters and criminals had renounced banditry and surrendered arms in exchange for promises of cash.
After one year, the programme collapsed, and the mostly herder-allied armed groups stepped up attacks. Some government officials argued that Tsoho Buhari, then the pre-eminent herder-allied armed group leader, popularly known as Buharin Daji, along with some of his lieutenants, had breached the deal conditions and unilaterally returned to violence.
Competition among armed groups worsened over time, stoking yet more violence. On March 7, 2018, Buharin Daji was killed, along with seven of his lieutenants, allegedly by his second-in-command, Dogo Gide.
According to some local sources, Buharin Daji’s murder followed a dispute linked to a clash over rustled cattle; others say it was linked to his refusal to lay down arms, a policy by then opposed by Gide.
Thereafter, the many armed groups loyal to Buharin Daji and some others resumed violent activities at full throttle in Zamfara, and also extended these to Katsina and Sokoto states.
‘Two cows for your gun’
In the wake of sustained attacks by the bandits, Governor Matawalle has devised a scheme to manage the crisis: by offering repentant bandits in Zamfara two cows for every AK-47 rifle they surrender to his government.
An average cow in northern Nigeria costs about N100,000 ($260; £200) while an AK-47 on the black market could cost as much as N500,000 ($1,200; £950).
“These bandits who choose to repent initially sold their cows to buy guns and now that they want a life free of criminality, we are asking them to bring us an AK-47 and get two cows in return, this will empower and encourage them,” argued Matawalle in a statement.
Shari’a in Zamfara from 2000 to 2020
Zamfara’s first amputee under the Shari’a law, Bello, never imagined that he would live to see the day when the state government would negotiate with armed bandits and cow thieves. Back in his time, the state would simply cut off culprits’ right hand.
Lawali “Inchi Tara” Isa, who got sentenced in December 2000 for stealing three bicycles shares mortification with Bello. The 61-year-old native of Gummi, whose hand was amputated on May 3, 2001, is unhappy about the current state of Shari’a implementation in Zamfara State.
He said, “To be honest, the Shari’a legal system and its implementation in Zamfara has now being bastardised. It is distorted compared to how it was before. Immoral activities have resumed. Music is entertained, and other anti Islamic activities are back in the state.” said Isa, stressing that Shari’a currently exists in Zamfara in theory, and not in practice.
On another note, Sanusi Muhammad Usman Kwatarkwash, the former Executive Chairman of the Zamfara State Hisbah Commission, and former Chairman of the State Public Complaint Commission, argued that the problem is hardly with Shari’a as a law but with the implementers of the law.
He said, “Some are so strong enough to implement it while some people are weak to implement it, so if they are weak, the fault is on them…During my time as the state Hisbah chairman, a commercial motorcycle cannot carry a woman, but you can see a commercial motorcycle carrying women now. The Shari’a is still there and it does not permit a woman to ride on a motorcycle but the implementers are relaxed. Whosoever disobeys Allah or do the wrong thing, there are stipulated laws that he should be punished.”
Was justice served in Bello and Isa’s cases?
Although Bello and Isa accepted their sentences with equanimity, and as their pathways to redemption, human rights lawyers argued that the duo were not aware of their right to appeal against the judgements.
Kwatarkwash, however, believes that justice was served. He said, “People always focus attention on Jangebe because his hand was amputated but it is the rule of Allah that the hand of anyone one who steals should be amputated if it is certain that that he or she has committed the offence culminating to a certain amount of money in cash or in property, therefore, when the Shari’a was being applied to Jangebe, it was just, and justice was served.”
To resolve Zamfara’s banditry problems, Kwatarkwash suggested a recourse to Shari’a, arguing that, “If there is Shari’a in place, we will certainly not experience all these criminality. And let’s check, are we really practicing Shari’a the way we are supposed to practice it?
“Our leaders have very important roles to play. Allah will certainly question you as a leader on what you have done to alleviate the sufferings of the people. Why should we be in poverty? What have you done to alleviate the poverty? The leaders should look critically at the problems of their citizens. They should solve them and we’ll be at peace. If not, problems must continue to exist,” he said.
Cutting past governors to size…
Recently, the state government invalidated the pension law for former governors and other ex-public officers in Zamfara State, which provided for the upkeep of ex-governors to the tune of N700 million annually. The state has produced three former governors since 1999.
The drama unfurled in the wake of former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Yari’s written request for the payment of his “monthly upkeep allowance of N10 million only…and a pension equivalent to the salary he was receiving while in office.”
The repealed pension law in Zamfara State allowed former governors to receive pension for life; two personal staff; two vehicles replaceable every four years; two drivers, free medical for the former governors and deputies and their immediate families in Nigeria or abroad; a four-bedroom house in Zamfara and an office; free telephone and a 30-day paid vacation outside Nigeria.
In response, the Zamfara State House of Assembly revoked the law on which authority Yari made his demand. By invalidating the law, the state will save up to N700 million each year, and a substantial percentage of the state’s 2020 budget of N135.32 billion.
But while Governor Matawalle and the state legislature may have earned public respect for righting what has been described as one of the most outrageous wrongs in the history of Nigerian politics, the jury is still out concerning his “two cows for a gun” deal with “repentant” bandits.
FG’s brutal-ferocious vs Matawalle’s carrots
Recently, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, vowed at a security meeting with northwest governors in Katsina, that all the total, brutal and ferocious might of the Federal Government will be brought down on bandits soon.
He said, “The Nigerian security machine will be unleashed in its fury, the way we have never seen before. The sickening criminal acts of these evil people will be brought to an end and all citizens will have assurance of peace and safety once again.”
But how quick and effective these measures would be at ending banditry and restoring peace to the people of Zamfara and other states of the northwest region remains to be seen.
Yet critics argue that Governor Matawalle may have adopted a weak and disadvantageous measure in addressing Zamfara’s banditry malaise. Hussein Masari, a teacher and social health worker in Anka LGA, argued that the measure hasn’t worked.
Gov. Matawalle inspects arms surrendered by repentant bandits at the Government House in Gusau
Zamfara certainly has an interesting history concerning its institution of the Shari’a Penal Code and its implementation. For instance, in February 2000, Dantanim Tsafe pleaded guilty in a Shari’a court, of knocking out his wife’s teeth. The court in Zamfara State ordered Tsafe to pay N157,933.70 (about $1,500 at the period) for knocking out his wife’s front teeth in a quarrel.
Tsafe’s wife pleaded for the “fine” to be set aside, as her husband was unable to pay. Subsequently, the judge reduced the “fine” to N50,000 (about $470), adding that, if he failed to pay, Tsafe would have to “submit his teeth for forceful removal.”
Few months later, Buba Bello Jangebe and Lawali “Inchi Tara” Isa’s hands were amputated after being found guilty of theft.
Going by the kernel of the Shari’a law, it flouts common sense and the spirit of equity that Governor Matawalle would cuddle certified armed bandits in a state that demands clinical justice and recompense as guaranteed by Islamic penal tradition, argued Idris Suleiman, a lawyer and Arabic teacher.
However, neither Bello nor Isa considered it poetic irony that in 2016, eight years after he left office as Governor of Zamfara State to become a Senator, Sani Yerima, on whose watch their amputation was carried out, was arraigned in a Zamfara High Court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on allegation of mismanaging the N1 billion loan meant for the repair of Gusau dam in 2006. That was about 16 years after he supervised the amputation of their hands for theft.
At their encounter with The Nation, the duo betrayed no grouse with their former governor and Zamfara’s justice system; they seemed to have made peace with fate.
Even so, Isa’s wife, 25-year-old Zainab pleaded for government’s support for her husband. Things are very bad at home. It’s increasingly difficult for him to fend for her and their six children (three of hers, three of her senior wife).
“We lived better some years back. During the reign of the former governors, when he was receiving salaries,” she said.
Likewise, Bello’s 61-year-old wife, also called Zainab, urged government to intervene urgently in her husband’s plight. “We are in serious problems. We have no money and nothing to eat,” she said.
The histories and fates of both families are undoubtedly connected to the heart and underbelly of Zamfara’s leadership conundrum and social, human crisis. On paper, the state is rich in terms of cash crops and exploitable minerals like cotton, gold and coal. But Zamfara is extremely poor; cuddling a rather small annual budget for a population of 3.6 million people spread over 14 local government areas, its internally generated revenue (IGR) for the first half of 2019 was a meagre N21.7 billion according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics.
These gruesome realities are discernible in the lives of Isa, Bello and their families.
This minute, Bello starves because the state government stopped his salary 12 months ago. But he goes to work everyday hoping for that one call or bank alert, from his employer, that would change his situation – this is his dream in the short-run.
In the long-run, Bello dreams of better compensation; as government woos and compensates bandits, he hopes similar gesture would be extended to families left bereaved by banditry. But there is hardly consensus on what form such gesture could take.
How do you compensate the bereaved families of Kawaye, who watched armed bandits hack their loved ones to death? How do you assuage and monetise the grief of a husband and father like Aliyu, who watched helplessly as bandits killed his son after ravaging his wives and defiling his underage daughters?
How do you compensate Bello aka Jangebe, for the loss of his son, Abubakar? How do you assuage his hurt and dissent over the radical turn of affairs in Zamfara?
“If wishes can be fulfilled, we want to be looked upon with pity and be assisted with something tangible by which we can feed our families and engage in business. I would love to buy and sell cows for a living. That is my field of specialisation,” said Bello.
These are the humble wishes of a reformed cow thief, a bereaved father and impoverished civil servant. Notwithstanding his sad fate, Bello draws solace from the Hausa proverb: Da abinda mu tu m k an samu , d a abinda k an samu nai, tun ran ta halita shi k e: What a man gets and what happens to him is written from the day of his birth.
Two of the four persons who allegedly raped Favour Okechukwu, 11, to death in Ejigbo area of Lagos State last month have been arrested by police.
The arrest of the two suspects, Quadri Azeez, 22, and Sunday Odunayo, 23, was facilitated by the former Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for Ejigbo, Olabisi Okuwobi, before her transfer to another division.
President, International Child Initiative and Women Development Foundation (ICI-WODEF), Mrs Helen Ibeji told The Nation on Wednesday that the police tracked Azeez to Ogun State where he was arrested during an armed robbery operation.
Mrs Ibeji said Azeez was caught by the local vigilante, who identified him and quickly contacted CSP Okuwobi.
Ten of the 1,993 inmates in correctional centres at Airport and Sapele Roads, Benin City, Edo State have been arrested barely 10 days after escaping from the centres.
One of the escapees returned to his community where he allegedly killed a prosecution witness in his case while five stole a Toyota Lexus 330 and a Camry. The Lexus with registration number: KWL 205 AZ and Camry marked LSD 231 GD were recovered from them.
Commissioner of Police Babatunde Kokumo paraded the 10 jail-breakers alongside 116 suspected criminals, arsonists and looters of COVID-19 palliatives in Benin.
He was silent on the offences of the remaining three of the 10 that returned to crimes.
The 10 re-arrested male escapees are Emmanuel Udoh, Friday Etim, Victor Akpotor, Lucky Precious, Osarumen Enoragbon, Patrick Eguavoen, Abraham Matthew, Endurance Ifobuow, Mohammed Adamu and Henry Atadi.
Kokumo said: “We have commenced actions against the criminal elements. It will interest you to know that 10 of the criminal elements who escaped from Oko Correctional Centre on Airport Road, Benin and the Correctional Centre on Sapele Road, Benin, were also arrested.
“One of them, after having escaped from Oko correctional centre ran back to his village on the same day, to kill the person who stood as prosecution witness in the case that took him to the correctional centre. He has been arrested and he is among the suspects.
“Another group of three escapees from the correctional centre in Benin also went ahead to snatch a Lexus Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV). Three of them met at the correctional centre and they were caught by the police.
“A set of two escapees equally stole a Toyota Camry car. They also met at the correctional centre. They were arrested by Okada Division of Edo State Police Command. We have a total of ten escapees.
“Guns were also recovered from the criminal elements. Anybody who is armed with weapon of destruction is no longer embarking on a peaceful protest.
”The stolen arms and ammunition regrettably would have been unleashed on the members of the public if we had not recovered them.”
Kogi State Commissioner of Police Ayuba Ede yesterday paraded 56 persons who allegedly looted materials and vandalised property worth several millions of naira in Lokoja between last Sunday and Monday.
The exhibits recovered are a spraying pump machine, agro-chemicals, cartons of surgical gloves, and a kit of spanners and screw drivers. Other items recovered were tricycles, motorcycles, essential drugs and medical equipment, air conditioners, computers and other electronics.
Parading the suspects at the command headquarters in Lokoja, CP Ede said the arrest of the suspects was in compliance with the directive of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu to reclaim the public space and restore normalcy across the federation and to bring an end to wanton violence, killings, looting and destruction of public and private properties in the country.
A FEDERAL High Court in Lagos on Wednesday convicted two men of unlawfully dealing in Cannabis Sativa, popularly known as marijuana.
Justice Rilwan Aikawa sentenced Ndubuisi Chinedu a 21-year-old physically-challenged man, to four months imprisonment, for dealing in 1.6 kilograms of marijuana.
In a separate trial, the judge sentenced 25 year-old Abdullahi Yaro to three years imprisonment, for dealing in 350 grams of the banned substance.
The sentences followed their pleas of “guilty” to one count each of drug dealing pressed against them by the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Prior to the sentence, the defendants, each of whom elected to represent himself, pleaded to be given a second chance.
Ruling on Chinedu’s allocutus, Justice Aikawa gave him an option of N50,000, fine.
Earlier, NDLEA counsel Jeremiah Aernan told the court that Chinedu was arrested on August 8, 2020, at Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos, while hawking the substance.
Similarly, the court heard that Abdullahi, was arrested on July 12,, at Alade Market, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos State, while selling the psychoactive drug.
The prosecutor told the court that the offences contravened Section 11(c) of the NDLEA Act, 2004.
As the nation smarts from the violence and destruction that resulted from the protests against the highhandedness of officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police Force, KUNLE AKINRINADE examines the pathetic cases of some Nigerians allegedly brutalised to death by policemen and how their relations have searched in vain for justice.
October 2, 2020, Omolola Ajibade was a hale and hearty woman until her ugly encounter with operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) on October 2, 2020. The 33-year-old trader and mother of one lost the use of her leg after she was allegedly brutally assaulted by operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) during an illegal raid in Ajuwon area of Lagos State.
The incident, according to Ajibade, who now walks with the aid of crutches, occurred in front of Raji Plaza on Alagbole Road, Ajuwon.
Ajibade, who sells men’s wears, was waiting for a vehicle to take her home after she attended a show organised by one of her friends, when a team of SARS operatives appeared in a mini bus and tried to arrest her for alleged wandering at about 11 pm.
The 33-year-old indigene of Ekiti State said she was waiting at the bus stop with her boyfriend when the SARS operatives arrived and tried to force her and her boyfriend into their bus.
The SARS operatives were said to have slapped Ajibade several times for demanding an explanation for her arrest at a time there was no curfew or restriction of movement.
In the process of trying to force her into their operation van, one of the officers allegedly broke Ajibade’s right leg with the butt of his rifle, pushing her and her boyfriend into the bus and driving them to the Ajuwon Police Station in Ogun State alongside two others.
Ajibade said: “The incident occurred on October 2, 2020. One of my friends who operates a wine shop at Raji Plaza had staged a musical show in celebration of Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary. I attended the show with my boyfriend and sold some men’s wear to male revelers at the event.
“The show ended at about 10 pm and the vehicle that was to take us home had taken some of those who attended the event to their homes.
“We were waiting at the bus stop in front of the plaza when a mini-bus conveying a team of SARS operatives halted where I stood with my boyfriend and two others, and the policemen attempted to arrest us.
“I tried to explain to them that we were waiting for the car that would take us home, which had just left a few minutes earlier to drop some revelers at their homes in the neighbourhood, but one of the officers slapped me for having the effrontery to talk.
“I told the officer that slapped me that he had no right to do so because I demanded an explanation for an unlawful raid at a time there was no restriction on movements.
“The officers felt offended by my remarks and one of them broke my leg with the butt of his rifle, following which I collapsed.
“Still, the unfeeling officers dragged me into their bus and drove us to Ajuwon Police Station, where I was dumped on the floor of a cell.
“Realising that my right leg had been broken with the butt of their rifle, one of them picked me up from the floor inside the police station where I reclined and raised the alarm that I needed urgent medical attention because I could no longer walk.”
Jolted by the incident, the policemen hurriedly released Ajibade’s boyfriend and two others detained at the station.
Ajibade, who now walks with the aid of crutches, said that rather than keep her in the hospital, the police authorities at Ajuwon Division hired an orthopaedic nurse to treat her at home.
She said: “I want justice served in this matter because I have been told that I risk losing my leg completely if I do not receive adequate treatment to restore it.”
The spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, however, said Ajibade’s leg was fractured after she hit it against the body of the police patrol vehicle while resisting arrest.
Like Ajibade, a graphic footage had surfaced a few weeks ago on the social media, showing operatives of the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad (FedSARS) dragging two men from a hotel in Lagos and shooting one of them in the street.
In spite of the outrage generated by the footage across the country, SARS operatives were said to have forced one of them to part with the sum of N150,000 before he could regain his freedom.
The footage led many citizens to call for outright scrapping of SARS across the states of the federation, following reports of widespread human rights abuse, including brutality and extra-judicial killings, perpetrated by the notorious police outfit in recent times.
A social media user, Vaughn Itemuagbor, recently narrated how he was subjected to harassment and intimidation during two encounters with SARS operatives, which he said had left him with bodily injuries, saying that SARS officials seemed to have singled him out for torture on a monthly basis.
OTHER CHILLING TALES OF POLICE BRUTALITY
On September 8, 2011, one Ismaila Quadri, a baker, was arrested by some policemen led by one Corporal Mayowa Obaniyi a.k.a. Mayor and Waheed, who accused him of smoking Indian hemp.
Quadri, a native of Igbemo-Ekiti, Ekiti State, who ran a flourishing Olusola Bakery on 29, Andrew Kalu Crescent, Baruwa, Ipaja, where he also built a house, was dragged out of his bakery, beaten and handcuffed before he was dragged to the Ipaja Police Station. All entreaties from other landlords in the area fell on deaf ears.
At the station, he was subjected to further beating with his hands tied backward to a stationery motorcycle at the station. He was kicked, whipped and hit with hard objects by the two policemen until he fell into coma and was untied from the stationery motorcycle.
The errant policemen first rushed him to a private hospital in the neighbourhood where doctors confirmed that his spinal cord had broken and referred him to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, where he died.
The then spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Samuel Jinadu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), had told our correspondent that the late Quadri was arrested for being in possession of Indian hemp, adding that the police officers involved had been arrested and would be dealt with if found guilty.
He said: “Well, we have arrested two policemen in connection with the case, and if they are found culpable, we will take decisive action and they will be dealt with.
“The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba, Lagos, and investigation is still ongoing.
“I was told the policemen went on a general raid of Indian hemp smokers in the area when they arrested the deceased, but I cannot confirm to you if he was beaten or not.
“I couldn’t offer you my comment on the matter the last time you called because the Divisional Police Officer (Mr. Chikezie Okezie) of the station involved had not properly briefed me about the incident, but he later did.”
A 400-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Samuel Chimezie Omeagwa, met his tragic death in circumstances similar to Quadri’s on May 16, 2016.
As the story goes, Omeagwa and one of his friends, Ekene, were arrested by the operatives of Police Thunder Zone 4 Office, Old G.R.A, Makurdi, for complicity in the case of a stolen phone.
At the station, they were allegedly laid on the bare floor with a flash-light permanently fixed to their faces as they were tortured by an officer nicknamed ‘Undertaker’.
By the time he was released to his parents the following day, Omeagwa had become unconscious and had to be rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, where he died.
The same fate befell a 70-year-old transporter and chieftain of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Pa Gbenga Omolo, who was allegedly tortured to death while he was being detained by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Ondo State Police Command.
Omolo was reportedly tortured by police officers for several hours at the SARS office on Oda Road, Akure, the state capital. He died in their custody after he was mercilessly beaten by the minions of law.
His offence, according to his union’s members who staged a protest over his death, was that he had the effrontery to question a police officer in mufti for obstructing traffic on Arakale Road in Akure on May 26, 2015.
The former spokesman of the state police command, Wole Ogodo, said the policemen involved in the act had been arrested and detained at the Police Headquarters on Igbatoro Road, Akure, for further investigation on the incident while the state commissioner of police had invited the family members of the deceased to his office to discuss the matter. That was the last that was heard about the case.
The case of two suspects, Sodiq Omobowale and Waheed Kabir, who were arrested by men of Ikorodu Police Station, further exposed the use of brutal force on people by the police. Omobowale was arrested in his home on July 7, 2015 on suspicion that he was a member of a secret cult. Attempts made by his family members to secure his bail were rebuffed by policemen at the station. A few days later, he was said to have been tortured to death while his body had not been released to his parents at press time.
Kabir (26), a musician, was also arrested during a raid by policemen from the same station on November 20, 2015 on the suspicion that he belonged to a secret cult. His father made fruitless efforts to secure his bail. It later emerged that Kabir was tortured to death in police custody and his body was not released to his parents for burial to date.
The immediate past spokesman of the Lagos Police Command, Mr Joe Offor, in a telephone conversation with The Nation, said: “Following the alleged abduction of Waidi Kabir and the petition sent to the Lagos State Police Command by his parents, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Fatai Owoseni, questioned the DPO and asked him to provide evidence of the identity of the surety to whom the suspect was released to on bail.
“The DPO later brought a bail bond signed by the surety following which the CP ordered him to either produce the suspect or the surety within four days. The DPO at the expiration of the ultimatum could not produce either the suspect or his surety. Hence, the CP ordered his arrest and detention at the SCID while investigation is ongoing.
“At the end of our investigation, we shall issue a public statement on the outcome of our findings in the matter.
SMOKESCREEN
In the case of Quadri, the police tried to cover up its indiscretion by writing a letter asking the authorities of LASUTH to release Quadri’s body, which was then awaiting autopsy, for immediate burial according to Islamic rites.
In the handwritten letter dated September 19, 2011, the then Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Ipaja Police Station, Mr. Chikezie Okesie, requested LASUTH to immediately release the body for burial based on the alleged complaint of a family member called Vincent. But the request was turned down by the hospital management for reasons bordering on absence of proper autopsy on the body and duly signed inquest note by a Magistrate.
Besides, the family of the late baker faulted the claim made by the police in the letter that the body should be released to a family member called Vincent. In a statement, a relation of the deceased, Akeem Bello, said the Vincent the police referred to in the letter, was not known to the family, as they are mainly Muslims.
The allegation that the deceased was tortured to death was confirmed after a report issued by the Pathology Department of LASUTH on Quadris’ autopsy, which indicated that he was brutalised to death while in police custody.
Subsequently, a letter dated November 20, 2011 and signed by Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the then governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola on Public Law, Bola Agunbiade, was forwarded to the office of the Inspector General of Police, Afiz Ringim, in Abuja and that of Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr. Yakubu Alkali, asking for justice for the late baker.
It happened that the police was yet to compensate Quadri’s bereaved family to date.
Although the DPO of Ikorodu Police Station, Remi Adesoye, initially claimed that Kabir was released to a family member called Akala, his father faulted his claim. The celebrated case led to the removal of the DPO of the station after he failed to produce Kabir or his supposed uncle to whom he was released, as directed by the then Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni.
Although, the community leaders intervened to dissuade Kabir’s parents from taking further action on the matter, his dissatisfied elder brother, Lekan, instituted an action at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
In a landmark judgment, the court in October 2016 ordered the police to pay his family the sum of N200 million as compensation for Kabir’s death in custody. The ruling has since been appealed by the police at a Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, despite not making any representation throughout the duration of the suit at the lower court.
JUSTICE DELAYED
The poor criminal justice system in the country provides a shield for security operatives involved in brutality and denial of justice for victims. In Nigeria, confessional statements obtained from torture are mostly relied upon during trial in cases involving capital punishment and, in certain instances, minor offences like stealing or fraud.
Victims of fatal brutality in custody hardly get justice due to the weakness of the criminal justice system, whereby cases bordering on right violation drag for too long. Delay in dispensation of justice in the country is one of the major problems confronting the administration of criminal justice as criminal trials often delay for too long, leading to perversion of justice.
The greatest battle Moriamo Quadri fought till she breathed her last in November 2016 was not the cancer of the breast that eventually terminated her life. It was her fruitless quest for justice over the killing of her husband, Ismaila Quadri, allegedly by men of Ipaja Police Station in Alimosho area of Lagos State.
The two minions fingered in Quadri’s brutal killing, Mayowa and Waheed, were initially arraigned before magistrate’s court in Yaba area of Lagos on a holding charge, but the case has not made any headway since 2012, due to incessant adjournments till the late baker’s wife, Moriamo, died last month.
“We kept going to court while the case was incessantly adjourned. At a point, the accused persons were not brought to court. For several weeks, we were told that the court was waiting for advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“To my greatest surprise, the case against one of the policemen who tortured my husband to death, Mayowa, was dropped and he is now roaming free. The other one (Waheed) has not been convicted to date because of unnecessary delayed trial and adjournments,” Moriamo expressed her frustration a few months before she died in 2013.
The inability of the families of the victims—Quadri, Abdullahi and Omola—to get justice over the brutal killing of their patriarchs underscores the need to reform the country’s poor criminal justice system and the discontinuation of cruel extraction of confessional statements from suspects.
Also, most of the victims of torture do not get justice because their families are handicapped by lack of money to hire lawyers and institute legal action against the culprits and their law enforcement agencies.
“Extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killings and enforced disappearances in Nigeria are not random. In a country where bribes guarantee safety, those who cannot afford to pay are at risk of being shot or tortured to death by the police.
“The family of the victims often cannot afford to seek justice or redress, because they cannot pay for a lawyer or the court charges. In many cases, they cannot even afford to retrieve the body. In many cases, detainees wait for weeks or months in police custody to be charged and brought before a court,” PRAWA and NOPRIN noted.
EXPERTS SPEAK
A human rights lawyer, Anthony Ndukwe condemned the cruel acts of the police and other law enforcement agents on suspects or detainees.
“The duty of law enforcement agents is to arraign a suspect in court and provide evidence for prosecution during trial. It is criminal for minions of law to beat or brutalise suspects either during the time of arrest or in custody.
“Any policeman, SSS operative or other law enforcement agent who does that should be punished for such misconduct.”
An activist, Adeola Adelabu, called for retraining of law enforcement agents in dealing with suspects, saying: “There is need for police and other security personnel to exhibit common civility when arresting or interrogating suspects.
“I want to urge that law enforcement agents should be retrained on how best to handle suspects with civility in line with best practices globally, while adequate compensation should be given to victims of brutality and their bereaved family members.”
Suicide among young persons in the country, especially teenagers, has assumed an alarming rate with Nigeria ranked sixth by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In 2019 alone, more than 42 deaths were recorded from hundreds of suicide attempts in Nigeria, with many of the cases linked to the ingestion of pesticide and hanging, among others. Curbing the ugly trend, according to WHO and experts, requires joint efforts by government and parents, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
It would seem that the life of Rokeeb, a teenager, was tied to figure 13. He was born 13 years ago and also died in a bizarre manner on July 13, 2020.
Rokeeb was said to have terminated his own life after a disagreement he had with his mother. Witnesses said he was found hanging from a tree in the premises of an uncompleted building in the early hours of the day at 25 Ekimogun Street, Bariga, Lagos, shortly after he was scolded by his mother.
The boy, it was said, had asked his mother for some money which she refused. And miffed that her son was grumbling because she refused to give him money, his mother told him to go hang himself if he liked.
Neighbours, who described Rokeeb as a brilliant schoolboy and Quranic pupil, said he became depressed and committed suicide afterward.
A resident identified simply as Kunle said Rokeeb was found struggling for breath while dangling from the tree and was rushed to the emergency section of Gbagada General Hospital where he eventually died.
He said: “We heard some residents shouting for help that Monday morning only for us to find Rokeeb hanging and struggling for breath.
“We brought him down and rushed him to Gbagada General Hospital, but he died at the emergency section before medical help could get to him.’’
Like Rokeeb, like others
Rokeeb’s case is just one out of many young persons with lofty dreams and bright future, who somehow could not rise up to the challenge that life poses. Overcome by despair and frustration, they knock on death’s door and die the hard way, and more often cutting short a life that holds a lot of promise.
The monster reared its head in Gwaram Local Government Area, Jigawa State on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, as a 15-year-old girl, Ummi Garba, ingested rat poison and died.
According to the police spokesman, Abdu Jinjiri, “on April 4, at about 5 pm, a report was received by the police in Gwaram LGA that one Ummi Garba of Kofar Gabas Quarters, aged 15, drank sniper and fell unconscious.
“The police rushed the victim to a hospital where she was confirmed dead,” Jinjiri said.
For 14-year-old schoolgirl, Anita Haledu Ibrahim, death was the only solution to her “disgraceful” pregnancy.
Anita, a student of Government Science School, Andaha, near Akwanga, Nasarawa State, ingested a pesticide to kill herself on Saturday, July 12, 2020 after she got pregnant for a boy she had met during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Such was also the story of 17-year-old Amos Ibrahim who committed suicide in Jos, Plateau State on May 14, 2019 after he drank the popular pesticide called Sniper.
Ibrahim was said to have ended his life after his poor performance in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).
Reasons they took their own lives
Parental scolding, frustration over educational goals, untimely pregnancy, rejection and depression are some of the issues identified as reasons for rising cases of suicide among teenagers. It was the case with Rokeeb who could not stand a reprimand from his mother and so decided to take his own life by hanging. Witnesses said the boy was earlier spotted doing the call to prayer in a local mosque near his mother’s residence before he suddenly abandoned the Quran he was later seen reading when he sighted his mother leaving their residence, in order to collect money from her.
A source said: “Rokeeb’s mother sells noodles at a bus stop in Bariga. A few minutes later, we heard the mother shouting and abusing the boy. I was wondering what could have gone wrong with Rokeeb and his mother.”
According to the source, the deceased had asked his mother for money, but she told him she had none. Rokeeb then started grumbling, complaining bitterly about life. The boy’s action angered his mother and she told his son to go hang himself if he was truly tired of life.
The circumstances in which Ummi took her own life suggested that she had fallen into depression.
Jinjiri said an investigation conducted by detectives in the matter revealed that the girl had previously said she was tired of living.
“Investigation showed that the deceased had said she was no more interested in life. The case is still being investigated,” Jinjiri said.
As for Anita, it was said that she decided to take her life after her father, Haledu Ibrahim, discovered that she was pregnant and beat her up mercilessly. She was said to have being rescued by neighbours from the brutality her father visited on her, upon which she screamed for help.
The girl was later found holding her stomach, writhing in pains and gasping for breath after she had swallowed the pesticide. She later died in the hospital where she was rushed to for treatment.
Disappointment resulting from a botched educational goal was the main feature in the case of Ibrahim, who was withdrawn by his mother from a Christian mission owned University of Nations for fear that her son could become a clergyman. Ibrahim was said to have fallen into depression, which was compounded by his failure to secure a good score in the matriculating examination. Subsequently, he committed suicide by drinking a popular brand of pesticide.
Like Ibrahim, a boy identified simply as Segun on May 13, 2019 attempted suicide after his poor grade at the 2019 University and Tertiary Institutions Matriculation Examination (UTME).
In a tweet that sought to put the world on the alert about his plan to commit suicide over his poor UTME result, Segun, who was said to have lost his father at age six, wrote: “…It is now when people want to send me to school that I would score 167 in UTME? 167? LMFAO. Make I close eyes pick answers sef…Me? 167? Meanwhile, I will be teaching you all how to make tea with Sniper by 9 pm live on Twitter…Tune in. This thing go sweet oo. You all should at least make it fun for me by 9 pm pls. Tune in and wish me luck.’’
Luckily, he was rescued by some of his friends who rushed him to the hospital where he was treated.
Worrisome data
An end to the rising suicide cases in the country seems not in sight yet as more and more young people are dying from the malaise. Media reports indicated that no fewer than 42 suicide cases, mostly involving young people, were recorded in Nigeria as at June 2019.
A recent data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) ranked Nigeria sixth globally and first in Africa. The report also revealed that Nigeria had the highest suicide rate among African countries in 2016 with over 17,000 lives lost to suicide.
The report titled “Suicide in the World: Global Health Estimates,” listed hanging, pesticide self-poisoning and shooting as the three major methods by which people commit suicide.
It said that 17,710 cases of suicide were recorded in 2016 at all ages (in Nigeria). Out of the number, 8,410 were females while 9,300 were males. The percentage ratio of men to women was 53:47.
How to curb suicides
Worried by the impact of suicides on global healthcare, the World Health Organisation (WHO) outlined various strategies, including media intervention, restriction of access to pesticides or insecticides, and education programmes, by which the tide of suicide can be stemmed, especially among young persons.
“Suicide is a serious global public health issue. All ages, sexes and regions of the world are affected (and) each loss is one too many,” the WHO report said.
“Every death is a tragedy for family, friends and colleagues.
“Yet suicides are preventable. We call on all countries to incorporate proven suicide prevention strategies into national health and education programmes in a sustainable way,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said.
The WHO report added that there was progress in suicide prevention activities in some countries, but much more was needed.
The report said: “Key interventions that have shown success in reducing suicides are restricting access to means and educating the media on responsible reporting of suicide.
“There is now a growing body of international evidence indicating that regulations to prohibit the use of highly hazardous pesticides can lead to reductions in national suicide rates,” the report stated.
The global health organisation also called for the implementation of initiatives that would engender personal skills that can enable young persons to cope with life stresses and ‘’to identify early, manage and follow-up people at risk of suicide.’’
In its reaction to the suicide rates among the youths in Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in September 2019 prohibited the sale or hawking of agro-chemical substances including sniper in open markets and superstores in the country. The implementation of the prohibition has however been poor as Sniper continues to account for most of the suicides recorded so far this year.
A clinical psychologist, Olumide Coker, called for greater involvement of parents in the lives of their children.
He noted that the breakdown of the family system as the first agent of socialisation accounts for why teenagers and youths take to suicide.
Coker said: ‘’The family system in the country has broken down and the inherent values that could checkmate extreme behaviours are no longer in place.
“This is the reason for moral decadence and abominable behaviours, one of which is suicide by young people to justify their frustrations over failed goals and dashed hopes in life.
‘’To this end, parents should be more alive to their responsibilities of raising their children in appropriate ways.
“It is not enough to provide for the needs of the children; it is equally important to deeply understand their emotional, educational and psychological stresses through one-on-one interaction so as to help them resolve issues, and through meaningful interventions rather than abandoning them to their fate after providing for their domestic needs.’’
In her opinion, Mary Odogwu urged the government to establish suicide prevention helplines and attach social workers to public hospitals and schools as a way of curbing suicide rates among the youth.
She added: “Some cases of suicide have linkage with psychological disorder. Hence, the only way to address this is for the government to provide helplines for people to contact relevant authorities on potential suicide victims. Also, there is a need to deploy social workers including mental therapists to schools to identify abnormal behaviours in teenagers.
‘’Some children have taken to suicide to escape bullying and loss of self-worth arising from their inability to meet education goals, untimely pregnancy, and rejection or outright isolation by their peers.
“It is important for parents to also find out why their children are withdrawn or isolated or become melancholic.
‘’Some pupils cannot express their feelings and emotional battles, while some of them only do so in suicide notes sighted after they might have killed themselves. Hence, teachers can also be helpful in spotting character malfunctioning in pupils which could be a symptom of bottled up emotions that could lead children to embrace suicide.
“Knowing the reasons through appropriate questioning and interactions would enable teachers working in conjunction with parents to proffer possible solutions to issues affecting certain pupils.”
The killing of a youth in the New Oko-Oba suburb of Lagos State by yet to be identified hoodlums has sparked an outrage as community leaders fingered a hotel as the hideout of the suspected hoodlums; an allegation the hotel’s owner denied, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.
There has been tension on Osho Street in New Oko-Oba part of Ojokoro Local Council Development Area, Lagos State since some gunmen shot a youth named Segun Ogunmodede dead penultimate Thursday.
The incident occurred around 8 pm when some men allegedly pursued 25-year-old Ogunmodede to a spot in front of Soulmate Hotel and killed him.
Other residents were said to have run for dear lives as the rampaging gunmen fired sporadic shots and also attacked bystanders who were returning home from work.
Some community leaders were said to have contacted the nearby Oko-Oba Police Division to ask the police to contain the gunmen.
The gunmen were said to have fled on sighting some operatives of anti-robbery and anti-cultism teams led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Oko Oba Division, Sylva Chinedu, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Sources told The Nation that the killing was a fallout of the supremacy battle between members of the rival Aye and Eiye cults in the neighbourhood.
The cultists were said to have tried to take Ogunmodede’s body away but abandoned it when policemen arrived at the scene.
A source who pleaded anonymity for security reasons said: “It was as if a war was going on in the neighbourhood when the boys fired gunshots sporadically unchallenged. I was returning from an errand when I saw people running helter-skelter and asking me to go back.
“The shooting lasted more than 20 minutes. I hid in the house of a friend on the street while the shooting lasted. By the time policemen arrived at the scene, the victim was lying in a pool of his blood in front of the hotel, and the hoodlums fled as soon as the minions of law alighted from their patrol van.”
However, tension is brewing in the community over the killing, as community leaders and residents see it as the height of lawlessness and violent attacks on residents of the area.
Concerned residents who spoke with The Nation regretted that the hotel’s management had not done anything to discourage cult members from using its facilities as a hideout to disturb the peace of the area.
According to the residents, the boys usually gather at a spot in front of the hotel from where they attack and rob innocent residents on a regular basis.
They explained that all the efforts made by the leadership of the community to make the hotel’s management beef up security around its facilities in order to flush out the boys had been futile.
A landlord in the area, Adejare Oluwafemi, explained that suspected cultists, cyber fraudsters otherwise called Yahoo Boys, and Indian hemp smokers have turned the area into their safe haven, using the hospitality outfit as a shield to further their nefarious activities.
A source who did not want her name in print said: “All of us (residents) have been living peacefully here until a few years ago when the hotel berthed in the community.
“The result now is that we can no longer sleep with our two eyes closed.
“The boys usually flock around a spot in front of the hotel even in broad daylight where they harass passers-by and often dispossess them of valuables forcibly.
“At times, residents who come outside to buy grocery items are harassed and robbed by the armed youths. We have contacted the police, especially in Oko Oba Division, to save us from the grip of these armed youths, all to no avail.”
Not a few residents, according to a landlord in the area, have been robbed in the early hours while rushing to work.
“The community has known no peace since the hotel was built several months ago. Unlike before, people cannot go out early in the morning for fear of being robbed of their valuables or mobbed by armed boys who always storm the area in the wee hours to launch an attack on innocent residents.
“We have complained to the owner several times, asking him to chase these boys away from the vicinity of the hotel, all to no avail.
“We are urging the authorities to help us flush out these boys from this neighbourhood because residents have been relocating from this community for fear of becoming victims.”
A suya (roast meat) seller, who asked not to be named, said he had been robbed of his money by the hoodlums on several occasions.
He said: “The boys would eat my suya without giving me money, and if I protested, they would bring out cutlass and pistol to threaten me, hence I decided to leave the area after reporting the matter to the Baale (community leader)”
A titled chief in the community, Ajani Olutade, said the Community Development Association (CDA) had written several letters to the hotelier, but he would not yield to the community’s request that the boys should be dislodged from the frontage of his hotel.
“Despite the several letters we wrote to him, he shunned our summons while the police have not been helpful in dealing with boys.
“We are, therefore, calling on the Lagos State Government and the police authorities to save us from these mindless criminals who have made life unbearable for us,” Olutade said.
When The Nation visited the palace of the Baale of Orile Egbiriland, Chief Samuel Adegboyega, who is the traditional ruler overseeing the community, described Ogunmodede’s killing as the height of lawlessness in the area and a sad commentary on the security of lives and property.
Adegboyega, who was installed Baale about five years ago, explained that the community had written several letters to the Oko Oba police division, the Lagos Police Command and several other police formations to help rein in the hoodlums terrorising the community, but without any positive result.
Adegboyega said: “We engaged in vigilance services for four years here without any problem. There was a time we embarked on a surveillance of the entire community and what we found was terrifying as hoodlums were sighted in parts of the community.
“We then wrote several letters to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Oko Oba Division, Lagos Police Commissioner (CP) and Area Commander. The CP sent a team here to ascertain the content of our petition and we took them round the community.
“There was a day I warned the hoodlums to steer clear of my domain but they have refused to go.”
The Baale explained that the owner of the hotel had been contacted on the issue several times and he promised to step up security around the hotel.
He said: The hotel owner is an unassuming person and has not been involved in any unpleasant thing here.
“Initially, he bought the house for residential purposes. But he changed his mind when he saw that the road was going to be tarred.
“There was a time the youth leader went to the place with his team to flush out the hoodlums, but they returned afterward.
“What I want the hotel owner to do is to ensure that the hoodlums don’t converge on its entrance to disturb the peace of the community, otherwise, the hotel would have to be relocated from this neighbourhood.” He added: “We are calling on the local council authorities, the state police command and other relevant security agencies to come to our aid by dislodging these hoodlums from the community, especially from the frontage of the hotel.”
However, the hotelier, Victor Adeyemo, said the incident had nothing to do with his hotel.
In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Adeyemo explained that Ogunmodede was killed by suspected cultists outside his hotel and the victim’s body was subsequently evacuated by men of Oko-Oba Police Division.
He said: “The incident happened at a spot outside my hotel when some cultists killed a man. Policemen from Oko-Oba Division were also here and they took the victim’s body away. The hotel has no link with the violence at all.
Confirming the incident via a text message, the spokesman of Lagos Police Command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi said: ‘’The case of Segun Ogunmodede has since been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos, while the corpse was deposited at the morgue of Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for autopsy.”
Suspected internet fraudsters popularly called ‘yahoo boys’ have been relocating from urban centres to rural areas in the Southwest states in recent times to escape from law enforcement agents and recruit more members by establishing training schools, KUNLE AKINRINADE reports.
Set up training schools for aspiring internet fraudsters
Adopt new tactics to beat security agents
They are young men who live their lives on the fast lane. They love the good things of life but lack the legitimate means to acquire them. Rather than seek legitimate means of fulfilling their fantasies, they took to cybercrimes, defrauding unsuspecting individuals and organisations until they recently came under the radar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The onslaught by operatives of the anti-corruption agency has since dislodged these young persons from their bases in the urban centres to various rural communities, particularly in the Southwest to escape EFCC’s searchlight.
It was gathered that many remote settlements in Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Ogun states are now hosts to fleeing internet fraudsters. They include communities like Ikotun, Ojodu-Berger, Alagbado, Abule Egba, Badagry, Ijanikin, Oto-Awori, Lambe, Matogun, Giwa, Oke Aro, Ajuwon, Akute, Ifo, Ewekoro, Ilaro, Ijebu Ode, Sagamu, Ilisan Remo, Itele, Atan, Ogbomoso, Oshogbo, Ado Ekiti, and Akure, safe havens where some of the embattled fraudsters are now recruiting young school leavers into their syndicates.
True to its slogan, ‘you can run but you can’t hide’, however, the anti-graft agency is unrelenting in smoking out the scammers popularly called yahoo boys from their various hideouts. One such was a raid carried out in the early hours of June 16 at Itele, a sleepy community near Ota in Ogun State, in June this year. Residents of the community were roused recently by the unusual presence of EFCC operatives who cordoned off several roads as they searched vehicles that moved in and out of the community in an operation that was to shock unsuspecting residents.
A few minutes later, their targets were picked up in their posh vehicles while one of the scammers escaped in his car.
At the end of the raid, the operatives attached to the Lagos Zonal Office of EFCC arrested five yahoo boys, namely Adeshina Michael, Ayeni Emiloju, Odenigbo Anthony, Afolabi Gbenga and Oyibogbola David Seun.
Posh cars of different brands allegedly acquired with the proceeds of their fraudulent activities were recovered from the suspects.
Investigation conducted by our correspondent revealed that no fewer than 32 internet fraudsters who had relocated from Lagos to Ogbomosho in Oyo State were smoked out of their hideouts on Tuesday, August 11 by personnel of Ibadan Zonal Office of the EFCC,
In October last year, anti-graft personnel recovered the sum of N223 million from the bank account of an alleged internet fraud kingpin, Ajayi Gbenga Festus, during a raid on his hideout in Ekiti State.
The suspect was allegedly the head of a syndicate dislodged from the city, who relocated to a remote community in Ado-Ekiti to beat the dragnet of the EFCC.
According to the spokesman of the Ibadan Zonal Head of the anti-graft agency, Mr Friday Ebelo, during a media briefing at Iyaganku, Ibadan zonal office, Festus was working in concert with other cyber criminals overseas.
He described Festus’ cartel as ”highly sophisticated web of a conspiracy designed to illegally access the accounts of individuals and organisations to defraud them of their money.”
He added: “Illicit transactions made through Festus’ Nigerian bank accounts amounted to N223 million. The suspect served as a conduit pipe through which proceeds of crime reached members of the syndicate.”
Ebelo added that Festus had pocketed up to N75 million within eight months from the illicit transactions.
Like others, 26 yahoo boys were smoked out of his Modzak Hotel in Abule Egba, a suburb of Lagos on December 4, 2019.
The raid was carried out by EFCC personnel attached to its Ibadan zonal office on a hotel believed to be a hideout for internet fraudsters.
The operation was a sequel to a manhunt for one Rasaq Balogun, a suspected internet fraud kingpin, whose illicit activities were uncovered during a raid on the hideout of suspected internet scammers in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Balogun was said to have recruited and harboured in his Modzak Hotel (in Abule Egba) yahoo boys to carry out scams on the internet.
The suspected kingpin and 26 other young men whose age ranged between 18 and 35, we’re arrested and taken to the Commission’s Ibadan zonal office for further interrogation.
Also recovered from the suspects were three vehicles, fetish items, laptops, mobile phones, and documents suspected to contain fraudulent data from the suspect.
What suspects do to escape EFCC’s dragnet
To beat security checks and law enforcement agents on their trail, able-bodied traders, artisans and other individuals are recruited to watch out for security operatives who might be trailing them to their abodes.
Besides this strategy, the ubiquitous internet conmen most times do not park their vehicles where they live. Their cars are mostly parked overnight somewhere else in their neighbourhoods.
In the morning, the cars are driven by the spies hired by them to their streets without parking in front or driving into their homes to prevent the minions of law who might be lurking around from intercepting them.
These were the strategies deployed by the yahoo boys at Itele area of Ota to escape the EFCC dragnet until they were finally busted in June this year.
“For several months, residents hired by these boys supplied them information about the movements of people suspected to be security agents. Once they were alerted, the boys would abandon their homes for several weeks and would only return when they are told by their spies that the coast is clear.
“They also park their cars several metres away from their homes so that EFCC operatives would not suspect them of being their targets.
“However, EFCC operatives swept on them at dawn, and before their spies could alert them, five of them were intercepted in their cars after a stop and search operation on their vehicles in the neighbourhood,” said a source.
Parents submit their children to yahoo boys for apprenticeship
Some parents in some of the aforementioned communities, who are carried away by the luxury lifestyle of this army of fraudsters, are now in the habit of voluntarily giving up their children for apprenticeship as yahoo boys without considering the consequences of their action on the future of their children.
Some of the areas affected include the backstreets of Sagamu and Ilisan-Remo, Ikotun and Ojodu-Berger where internet scammers are flourishing in their unlawful acts. In the ancient Ilisan-Remo community, it was gathered that some parents are fond of begging their young children to be apprenticed by scammers who live like kings in the communities.
“Some residents, who are swept off their feet by the lavish lifestyle of these cyber fraudsters, have lured their children into the act by sending them to these yahoo syndicates in the communities.
”The trend is quite worrisome because most of these yahoo apprentices are young school leavers who are being misled by their parents all in a bid to reap untimely from their labour on them,” a community leader in Ilisan, who spoke in confidence, told The Nation.
“The boys were initially living in Lagos but many of them relocated to Sagamu when the law enforcement agents were closing in on them and they later moved to Ilisan to further escape arrest,” he added.
It will be recalled that on May 28, 2019, personnel of the Lagos zonal office of EFCC uncovered a training institute operated by suspected fraudsters in Ojodu/Berger, a suburb of Lagos.
According to the acting spokesman of the Commission, Mr. Tony Orilade, the training centre with eight students was established by a 22-year-old internet fraudster and was busted by undercover operatives of the agency.
Orilade said: “We did an undercover operation and even acted as part of the students of the training school. We got first-hand information because we were part of the students of the school.
“The boys believe that yahoo yahoo is a form of business, but we are saying no, it is not a way of life or business. You can imagine, the owner is just a 22-year-old boy. He is intelligent but negatively so.
“The scheme of work, content, and curriculum put the school under the category of yahoo yahoo training school.
“The students were aged 24, 29, 23, 21, 19, 22 and 20 years respectively, while nine laptops,16 mobile phones, one internet modem, Orange wifi, and Toyota Camry were recovered from the school.”
While promising that EFCC would continue to step up the fight against internet fraudsters, Orilade urged members of the public to help the Commission with information on other yahoo yahoo training schools in existence elsewhere.
Orilade’s call for support paid off on Thursday, August 29, 2019, when about 12 suspected fraudsters were arrested by EFCC operatives during a raid on another yahoo yahoo training school in Ikotun area of Alimosho, a Lagos suburb.
The school was established to train young persons in the art of using the internet to defraud victims.
The suspects include Oluwaseun Ogunbunmi, Haruna Yussuf, Olubori Hassan; Wasiu Idowu; Basit Adeniran; Aina Olajuwon; Okafor Joseph; David Ado; Olamide Ogunseye; Opeyemi Ahmed; Monsuru Amao and Taiwo Rasak. Their arrest followed complaints by residents of the area to the EFCC on the activities of the proprietors of the training school operated from a rented three-bedroom apartment.
The school’s proprietors were said to have recruited their trainees from the community while some parents also enrolled their children in the school for apprenticeship.
Several laptops and mobile phones were recovered from the school as suspects attempted to bolt by hiding in the roof of the apartment.
Undergraduates in the fray
In the last few months, several suspects arrested by officials of the EFCC have been discovered to be undergraduates or even graduates.
Out of the 32 suspected fraudsters arrested in an Ogbomosho raid, 22 of them were found to be undergraduates and recent graduates.
A statement released by the zonal office of EFCC indicated that personnel of the anti-graft agency swept on the location of the suspects after careful analysis of a series of intelligence gathered on their alleged criminal activities.
“Three of the suspects claimed to be serving members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), 19 were undergraduates of various universities across the country, while the remaining 10 laid claims to sundry vocations.
“Twelve exotic cars, several phones, laptops, and some incriminating documents were recovered from them,” the statement added.
Suspects prosecuted, loots recovered
A number of suspected fraudsters have been prosecuted and jailed in recent times and their loot forfeited. On July 20, 2020, a notorious internet fraudster, Gbenga Ajayi, was jailed and his assets were forfeited to the Federal Government.
Ajayi was pronounced guilty by Justice Ibrahim Watilat of the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, Ogun State and sentenced to one-year imprisonment for internet fraud.
Festus had earlier refunded N1.4 million to the government through the EFCC.
He was prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the EFCC on a one-count charge of criminal impersonation.
His prosecution followed his arrest in October 2019 during a raid conducted in his hideout in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
He was said to be the brains behind high wired internet-related frauds and was subsequently arraigned on eight-count charge bordering on criminal impersonation and obtaining money by false pretence. The charges were amended to one-count, to which he pleaded guilty.
The judge also ordered that the convict forfeits his uncompleted one-story building, located in Ado-Ekiti, a Toyota Corolla car, one gold-colour iPhone, among other proceeds of crime, to the federal government.
Also, 111 out of 263 suspected fraudsters arrested by the Ibadan Zonal office of EFCC were prosecuted and convicted for cybercrime related offences with various jail terms.
According to its zonal spokesman, Ebelo, the zone recovered money, landed properties, vehicles, laptops, phones and many others from the scammers.
Ebelo disclosed that N7,461,378, $56,452, 400 Canadian dollars, 65 pounds and 2,400 euros, were recovered from suspects through the constant support of international law enforcement organisations, especially America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
It will be recalled that the suspended Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, had disclosed last year also that the collaboration between the Commission and FBI led to the recovery of $314,000 and about N373 million from internet scammers by its Lagos office.
