Category: Crime Diary

The police have arrested a university undergraduate, Samuel Sopehinman, 30, and one Olaide Tajudeen, 31, for burglary and selling of stolen properties.

They were apprehended recently by operatives attached to the Ogun State annex office of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), following a petition by one Adeniran Adeyemi.

Operatives were said to have traced Tajudeen to his hideout at Ijoko town near Sango-Ota, Ogun state.

Recovered from the suspects were one black head gear, one cutlass, one chisel, two pendants gold, two gold chains, gold earrings and his confession led to the arrest of Sopehinman.

The stolen items were given to Sopehinman in turn sold it to one Alhaji who had been ordered to return all the stolen items he allegedly bought from the burglars.

Read Also: Suspected 25-yr-old burglar arrested

The suspect said he broke into the house through the ceiling at about 9:30pm and stole gold necklace with the pendants, earring, laptop valued at N560,000.

He said:” The flat I burgled is in the next street called Church street, Ijoko area of Sango, Ogun state. I am married with a child. My wife did not know that I am a burglar until I was arrested.

‘’I live in Ijoko while my wife lives in Ikirun, a town in Osun state. She relocated to Osun State when she lost her mother, while I stayed back in Ogun State to do my burglary work.

‘’I was an aluminum fabrication before I ventured into robbery. I did not have enough customers and patronage. I was pushed into burglary by extreme financial stagnation coupled with my desire to buy keke,( tricycle) on hire purchase with  the little deposit I made but, before I know it,  I was arrested in my first attempt.’’

In his confession, Sopehinman said:  “I am from Abeokuta. I had an accident which led to the amputation of my right leg. I had the accident on my way to the Lagos State University (LASU) this year where I am a 300 level Business Administration student.

‘’I have deferred my studies but I can go back if given a second chance. When I came back from hospital I started music downloading business at Ijoko. I became part of this crime because Tajudeen works as a ticketer of a transport union at the bus stop where I have a stall. He told me that he wanted to sell some items but he did not tell me that they were stolen. But because he was offering the items at cheap prices and I felt that I could get small money to help myself . I sold the jewelry to one Mallam but I did  not follow him to burgle. My father is a retired naval officer and he is not yet aware of my case. I regret being involved in this case.’’

A police search party on Thursday discovered the decomposing body of a sergeant kidnapped about three weeks ago in Rivers State.

Sergeant Lawrence Igbero, attached to the Police Mobile Force (PMF) Unit 56, was taken away by suspected kidnappers on the Ogoni Road, Rivers State.

It was gathered that the team, led by the unit Commander, Egbe Sunday, had combed the bush for the sergeant since his kidnap, but could not find him.

Read Also: One killed in Police, motorcyclists scuffle in Benue

The Nation learnt that the detectives later tracked his phone, which was being used by a man who claimed to have bought it.

“Through the ‘buyer’, the police tracked and arrested the ‘seller’. It was then they confessed to have killed the sergeant and dumped his body in the forest.

“It was discovered that the suspects were responsible for several other kidnappings and snatching of vehicles and motorcycles in Ogoni.

“The body of the sergeant was evacuated by the search party. He was identified because his uniform was still on the body,” said a source.

Police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni confirmed the incident. He said the body has been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy, adding that a suspect has been arrested.

The younger sister to the wife of Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, abducted last week, has been released, The Nation has learnt.

Elizabeth, younger sister to Mrs. Edith Okowa, was reportedly kidnapped by gunmen at Temple Clinic junction, along Anwai Road, near Government House in Asaba.

Read Also: PDP national youth leader ‘kidnapped’

The victim was said to have been released yesterday after over N150million was allegedly paid as ransom.

A source at the Government House, Asaba confirmed her release, but denied knowledge of payment of ransom.

Police Commissioner Adeyinka Adeleke denied knowledge of the release.

He said: “I’m just hearing it from you. I don’t have that information that she was abducted, let alone have information that she has been released.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday arraigned Idris Akande at an Ikeja Special Offences Court, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding the United States Internal Revenue Service of USD 770,000.00.

Akande is facing a three- count charge of conspiracy and fraud brought against him by the EFCC before Justice Owolabi Dabiri.

EFCC prosecutor M. K. Hussain told the court that Akande and Gbadebo Adebiyi, still at large, committed the offence sometime between 2013 and 2018 within the Lagos judicial jurisdiction.

Hussain said Akande fraudulently obtained $ 770,000.00 from the United States Internal Revenue Service by falsely misrepresenting himself to be an official of Bradley University, Illinois, USA.

He alleged that the defendant demanded tax refunds to be paid into Green Dot accounts fraudulently created by him.

Read Also: Four men ‘defrauds’ Jumia Int’l of N14.9m

The defendant was said to have also used his personal identification information to illegally access the university’s data base, which representations he knew to be false.

Akande was accused of retaining in his control, the aggregate sum of $40,000, being proceeds of criminal conduct perpetrated against the United States Internal Revenue Service as at the time of his arrest.

Responding to the charge, defence counsel Mr. A. Anaka prayed the court to remand the defendant in the EFCC custody and asked for a short adjournment to prepare his bail application and defence.

He argued that the defendant is a first time offender and has not been in prison before.

EFCC counsel Hussain told the court that he is under a strict caution not to allow the defendant to be remanded in EFCC custody and prayed for a trial date.

Justice Dabiri, after taking submissions of the parties, remanded the defendant in EFCC custody and adjourned the case till September 16 for hearing of bail application.

An electrician, Mr. Kazeem Owojori, his wife, Aminat, their children Aliyah, Faridaus, Taye, Kehinde and a family friend, Wasiliat, died in their sleep on Wednesday in Lagos.

The bodies were discovered about 7am at 19, Raneem Olawora Street, Mafoluku in Oshodi, Lagos Mainland.

Aminat’s mother slumped and died when she heard the news.

It was gathered that the family might have choked after inhaling a chemical substance that was still strongly felt at the time the door to their one-room apartment was forced open by neighbours.

Initially, there were suspicions that they might have suffered from food poisoning from the rice they ate before going to bed, a position that was dismissed after two of their neighbours disclosed that they also ate the rice.

The neighbours who ate the meal said to have been prepared by Aminat were identified as the landlord’s grandchild Farida and one Iyawo.

Some residents expressed fears that someone might have killed them. They cursed those responsible for the alleged murder.

Read Also: Family of four dies of alleged food poisoning

While Kazeem, Faridaus, Taye and Wasiliat were already dead at the time neighbours forced the door open, Aminat, Aliyah and Kehinde were said to be unconscious and were rushed to a private hospital.

But Aminat and her eldest daughter, Aliyah, passed on, leaving only Kehinde, the woman’s youngest child, as survivor.

It was learnt that their neighbours became suspicious when Mr. Owojori, alias Cool Money, did not turn up for the early morning prayer at the mosque called Subh.

Residents said the man was a devout Muslim who never missed prayers, adding that his wife was an early riser because she usually prepared her children for school before going to her shop.

But when neither the man nor his wife was seen, the neighbours reportedly called them without a response, prompting them to peep through the window.

The Nation gathered that the neighbours saw them all lying down, but they did not respond when their names were called.

Narrating how they discovered the bodies, a neighbour, Aina Adeleke, said: “Immediately we forced the door open, we found the seven of them lying down as if they were asleep. On closer look, we discovered that Cool Money was dead, Wasiliat had foaming substance in her mouth, while the bodies of Faridous and Taiwo (one of the twins) were very cold and stiff as if they had died several hours ago.

“As soon as we discovered that Mrs. Owojori, Kehinde and Aliyah were still breathing, we rushed them to hospital. Unfortunately, only Kehinde, one of the twins, survived. Aliyah and her mother died in hospital.

“I cannot say what happened to them, but we found out that they ate rice last night. Only God knows what happened to the family.”

At the time The Nation visited the house, the premises had been cordoned off by the police and sealed by health officials from Oshodi Local Government.

Spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent, said: “We will investigate the cause of the death.”