Category: Crime Diary

By Nwanosike Onu, Awka and Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

A 23-year old driver identified as Samuel has been lynched by an irate mob for allegedly attempting to use a four-year-old girl for fetish ritual in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

The deceased, a driver with a private school in the area, was said to have attempted to kill the girl while her mother was away from her shop.

The Nation gathered that the victim’s mother Mrs Ginika Eze , a petty trader, had gone to buy food for her daughter when she was attacked by the suspect.

She said, “I brought my daughter to stay with me at the shop so as to keep an eye on her since her school was on mid-term break. When she complained she was hungry and wanted to eat beans with bread for lunch, I dashed to a nearby shop to buy the items.

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“Later my attention was drawn to my stall where my daughter was struggling with a man almost half-naked. He was kissing and fondling her, while muttering, “I must drink your blood.”

The 42-year-old woman said she raised the alarm.

“Some boys within the area ran to the scene and rescued my daughter from him. By then, blood was already dropping from her face as the man held her tight in his arms.”

A witness, who preferred to remain anonymous, claimed the deceased was shouting for blood and was about to suck the girl’s blood before he was lynched, adding that the deceased’s father had been contacted.

Police spokesperson Haruna Mohammed said the deceased was probably under the influence of hard drugs.

He said, “He seized the little girl and was molesting her before being accosted by irate civilians who beat him to death. When the police arrived at the scene, the boy, who was probably in his late 20s, was lying motionless on the ground while his assailants had dispersed.

“He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

Mohammed said the victim was stable and responding to treatment.

By Robert Egbe

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Office has arrested a former bank Assistant General Manager, Rowly Isioro and his wife Ovuomarhoni Naomi Isioro, for alleged involvement in Business Email Compromise (BEC) and money laundering.

The EFCC alleged that the couple laundered $1.49million transferred to Ovuomarhoni’s bank account from America.

Their arrest followed a petition received by the Commission from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), through the office of its Legal Attache, United States Consulate, Victoria Island Lagos.

The FBI petition claimed that the couple was involved in computer related fraud, stealing and money laundering.

Read Also: N4.6b ‘laundering’: Ministry paid firm N800m without contract, says witness

According to the EFCC, further investigation revealed that the said sum was transferred into Isioro Ovuomarhoni Naomi’s bank account in Nigeria in several tranches.

The commission told The Nation that Naomi met one Michael Uziewe,, who is still at large, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America sometime in 2016, and introduced her to foreign exchange business.

“Naomi has, however, confessed that she and her husband operate two firms namely: Marhoni General Services Limited and Multaid Plus Limited with which they to received money from the America-based Michael, who allegedly owns Global Investment network.

“She confirmed to the operatives that she has been receiving dollars with instructions to pay the naira equivalent into accounts provided by the said America-based Michael.

“Facts have also emerged that each time Naomi receives the dollars, she makes over the counter withdrawals, disregarding the requisite due process which demands that such transactions should go through the regular bank transfer system and sell them to Bureau de Change operators for naira equivalents.”

The EFCC further alleged that Mr Isioro, “with over 22 years of experience has also confessed that he was aware that someone his wife met in United States of America used to send her dollars which she disburses the naira equivalent to various accounts on the  instruction of the person in America,” the Commission added.

The Nation gathered that Mr Isioro was relieved of his job when the bank became aware of his alleged activities.

“The suspects have been charged to court and would be arraigned soon,” the EFCC said.

By Ebele Boniface

The police have arrested a mortuary worker, Tayo Salami, for allegedly stealing one expensive mobile telephone and gold necklace from a deceased woman.

The 45-year old worker, who was arrested by men of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) allegedly, stole the items when the body of the woman was given to him to dress and embalm at the funeral parlour of the unnamed morgue.

It was said that Tayo stole the phone and sold it to one of his friends at N10, 000 while his friend in turn sold it to one woman for N13,000. Although Tayo denied seeing any gold necklace, but the two buyers were arrested and later granted bail.

In his confession, Tayo said,” I am married with two children. I am from Odeda village, Odeda Local Government Area, Ogun state. I am a mortuary worker. I was formerly working in a General Hospital in Lagos Island as body embalmment officer on a monthly salary of N20, 000 in 2015.

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‘’When they wanted to sell the morgue to a private company we were about to be retrenched. I was being paid N30, 000 as casual worker. Those that were not staff were transferred to Epe, Isolo and Badgry areas but I chose to go to Ajah to work in a private mortuary there.

‘’That fateful day, they brought a corpse to me to dress and embalm. When I removed her clothes to work on her I saw phone on her lap and stole it.’’

Continuing, the suspect who later spoke through an interpreter said: “I did not see any gold necklace. It was only the phone that I saw. After collecting the phone I gave it to one Abu.

‘’Initially, I dashed him the phone but later he came on his own and gave me N9,000 and two days later he gave me an additional N1000 thereby bringing the total money he gave me for the phone to N10,000 cash but the market value or price of the phone should be around N40,000.

‘’I did not even spend the N10, 000. I kept it in my cupboard in the office. Abu later sold the phone N13, 500 to one woman who was later arrested. I have my own phone. I use small Nokia which I bought at N3,500. I am a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God”

Concerning the whereabouts of the phone’s SIM card, he said: ‘’The woman who bought it the phone from Abu said the screen broke. I gave the phone with the SIM card to Abu. I did not remove the SIM card before I gave the phone to Abu.”

By Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan

A fraudster, Soladoye Taofeek, was on Friday, sentenced to six months in prison for falsely representing himself to be an auto dealer in order to dispossess people of their hard-earned money.

Justice Ladiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan pronounced Taofeek guilty of cheating in a one-count amended charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office.

The charge reads: “That you, Soladoye Taofeek, in the year 2017 at Ibadan, Oyo State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court by means of fraudulent tricks that you are into auto buying and selling, obtained various sums of money from your victims (Jane and John Doe) and thereby committed an offence.”

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The offence, according to the charge sheet, is contrary to Section 421 of the Criminal Code Law CAP 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000 and punishable under the same section.

When read to him, Taofeek pleaded guilty to the charge.

His ‘guilty’ plea was in tandem with the terms of a plea bargain arrangement initiated by his lawyer and agreed to by the two parties.

After taking the plea, EFCC prosecution counsel, Ifeanyi Agwu, urged the court to convict him accordingly.

Besides serving a six months jail term, the fraudster was also ordered to restitute a sum of $3,000 to his victims.

He will equally forfeit to the Federal Government of Nigeria one IPhone X and one Silver Hp Laptop.

Our Reporter

The distraught family of a 78-year-old, Anyanwu Oliver Obioma, has cried out to security forces for help to locate his whereabouts.

Obioma, popularly called Anyaobi was abducted by suspected hoodlums at his country home in the early hours of October 3 in Umuevu, in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State.

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The incident happened few days after he returned to his home town from the south-western part of the country to his home town.

‘’The family has not been contacted by anyone or group, while continuous efforts are still being made to find him. He is fair complexioned, of about 6ft 5inch tall, easy going and friendly. We urge members of the public to kindly report any useful detail or report to the nearest police station or family,’’ Clement Ndubuisi, a family member said.

By Kunle Akinrinade

Unidentified operators of a wonder bank in the Ile Epo area of Agbado-Oke Odo area of Lagos State have allegedly absconded after defrauding unsuspecting depositors of over N25 million.

Distraught depositors claimed the fraudsters who disguised as investment bankers collected money from them with the promise of paying huge profits only to renege on his promises.

It was said that the victims were initially given foodstuff including bags of rice and vegetable oil after they deposited their money with the ‘bank’ tucked inside Adeleke shopping mall at Alirat Junction.

The fraudsters were said to have bolted without a trace few days to the payment of huge profits they promised their customers.

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The Nation learnt that clerical assistants at the ‘wonder bank’ were almost lynched by angry depositors who stormed the firm’s office last week.

Sources told The Nation that some of the angry customers took away furniture and other items they sighted at the office of the illegal finance firm.

One of the victims, identified simply as Adewale said he was promised a mouth-watering profit on a sum of 50, 000 he deposited, only for the firm’s operators to abscond without a trace.

‘’I was approached by one of the management staff of the firm who told me that I could get as huge as N150,000 on N50,000 deposit.

‘’Initially, I was given a bag of rice and vegetable oil after I deposited N50,000. I was shocked when my account was not credited with the profit promised few weeks later.

‘’I came here today and met other complainants who told me they had been coming here for some days now to collect their money only to be told the people in charge of the company had fled while the office remained shut.’’

By Kunle Akinrinade

A community leader in Odogbolu, Ogun State, Mr. Wasiu Bello has appealed to security agents to flush out hoodlums who allegedly have been terrorising residents of the community.

Bello, a retired civil servant who lost his sight in 2015 made the appeal during an emergency meeting of a community development association in the town.

He noted that the hoodlums had stormed the town under the pretext that they were looking for a former staff of a non-governmental organisation, T-Gold Venture which has been giving soft loans to farmers, traders and the less privileged, Adeniyi Saheed-Olufowobi.

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He said: “We have continued to play host to strange people in this town and each time they visited us, they claimed they were in the town to carry out an a dastard mission on the instruction of some unnamed loan defaulters and residents of the town now sleep with one eye open.’’

He said the hoodlums had also trailed Saheed-Olufowobi to his residence at Sagamu , Ogun State, and Akure, Ondo State, in a bid to forcibly collect and destroy documents relating to loan defaulters.

“ In March this year, when the hoodlums forced their into Olufowobi’s house, they subjected him , his wife and children to torture, thinking he kept the record of loan defaulters at home and they almost rape his 10-year-old daughter. The hoodlums also trailed him to Akure on March 26, but could not gain access to him.

‘’His assailants also poisoned his pond, resulting in the death of not less than two million cat fishes. This dastardly act forced Saheed-Olufowobi to vacate his gas station, as it became evident that the suspected criminals could set the gas station ablaze if care was not taken.

“I was informed that the incident was later reported at a police station in Sagamu, but to my discomfiture, the police have not brought the perpetrators of the evil act to book. I am appealing to all security operatives in the state to, save Saheed-Olufowobi’s life and those of his entire family members.’’

By Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

A policeman was feared dead after armed youths attacked four policemen at a checkpoint in Asaba metropolis, The Nation has learnt.

About four policemen were also said to have been hospitalized following life threatening injuries allegedly sustained during attack.

It was said that the incident caused panic at Mosaic Junction as armed policemen raided the area.

The hoodlums who were armed with cutlasses and other objects were said to have dispossessed policemen who were mounting checkpoint at the popular Moziac Junction along the Asaba/Onitsha road of the state capital.

Read Also: Delta: One dead in police clash with ‘cultists’

The incident occurred on Wednesday October 30, 2019 at about 9:20pm.

Eyewitness said that four service guns belonging to the police including two AK47 were carted away by the hoodlums numbering about 12.

It was gathered that one of the policemen was alleged to have died of the injury sustained during the incident.

An Asaba resident said, “We don’t know how it happened, but the hoodlums numbering eleven macheted some policemen with four sustaining life threatening injuries. The policemen were rushed to hospitals through the assistance of residents of the area.

“One of them was in coma at the time they were rushed to hospitals. We learnt that the officer died but you have to clarify from the police authorities.”

It will be recalled that hoodlums attacked a team of policemen who were on a stop-and-search duty in Asaba, in April this year carting away two service rifles in the encounter.

There has been an upsurge in crime rate in Asaba and other parts of the state.

Younger sister to the wife of the Delta State Governor,Mrs Edith Okowa, Elizabeth and a lawyer, Mr Chike Onyemenam (SAN)  were recently abducted.

Contacted, the Delta State Police Commissioner, Mr. Adeyinka Adeleke said: “I am on leave, call the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO)”

Several calls to the mobile phone of police spokesman, Onome Onowakpoyeya did not go through as her numbers were switched off.