The Nation Newspaper

Category: Crime Diary

  • Three nabbed for allegedly raping minors

    Three men have been nabbed by the police in Lagos for allegedly raping underage girls.

    The suspects, Isaac Ubogu, 50, Taiwo Sheuases, 34 and Fatai Nafiu, 28, were arrested by the policemen attached to Ajao Estate and Bariga divisions.

    Ubogo was said to have allegedly defiled a three-year-old girl last Friday morning at 31, Awoniyi Elemo Street, Ajao Estate.

    Read Also: Two in police custody for raping minors in Delta

    It was gathered that the victim’s parents reported to the Family Support Unit (FSU) of the division after the man was allegedly caught-in-the act.

    The girl, it was learnt, was taken to hospital where it was established that she had been violated.

    Similarly, Sheuases, allegedly raped a teenager at Bariga market square last Tuesday night, while Nafiu was said to have taken advantage of a 15-year-old girl around 8pm last Saturday.

    Police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent, said the suspects would be charged to court.

  • Stray bullet kills graduate

    A graduate identified simply as Chijim has allegedly died after he was hit by a stray bullet fired by some policemen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    The deceased was said to be preparing for mobilisation for the mandatory National Youth Service when the incident happened penultimate Monday.

    Sources said he walking along the road when the unidentified policemen allegedly fired shots indiscriminately into the air.

    Read Also: Stray bullet kills APC leader at Oshodi

    One of the shots hit Chijim.

    He died on the spot.

    A source said the policemen claimed it was a case of accidental discharge.

    “Apparently aware of the reactions trailing their action, the policeman who fired the shot said it was an accidental discharge and ran away with other members of his team.

    “Family members of the deceased are crying out for justice as nothing has been done by the police authorities in the state to bring the culprits to book,’’ added the source who did not want her name mentioned.

    Police spokesman, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni however told The Nation reporter in Port Harcourt that he was not aware of the incident.

  • Three suspected notorious robbers nabbed

    The police have arrested three robbery suspects, Ayomide Babatunde, 30; Tunde Shabi, 37, and Femi Adeolu, 27, described as specialists  in taking their victims to ATM machines to withdraw money from their accounts.

    They were arrested by the Lagos annex office of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    The suspects are also  said to be ex-convicts.

    They  were arrested after they allegedly attacked some persons including a woman and transferred millions of naira from their victims’ bank accounts using their ATM cards and handsets.

    Besides,they are alleged to have snatched their victims’ cars which they drove to  Cotonou in Benin Republic to sell off.

    Ayomide who claims to be from Ekiti and a father of   three children said he could not go beyond secondary  school on account of the death of his father.

    “To be able to fend for myself, I became  an estate agent but I was arrested when I joined Aye confraternity due to unending bloody clashes with rival cult groups,” he told his interrogators.

    Read Also: Suspected robbers cart away valuables in Oyo schools

    “I was eventually charged to court and sent to prison.

    “In the prison I met Ola, Tunde and others. We formed a car snatching gang when I came out of the prison.

    “We had three pistols, one Beretta pistol and two locally made short guns. I bought the guns in Cotonou,Benin Republic, when I went there to sell the stolen cars. It was our receiver in Cotonou that helped us to buy the guns.

    “I have operated more than five times. Our first victim was a woman. In March 2018 we were trekking along Kola in Alagbado area of Lagos and saw one woman who wanted  to enter her house. We then followed her and robbed her. We collected her bag , phones and two ATM cards.

    “We first took her to ATM gallery and forced her to withdraw money for us. We also collected his pin number and transferred one million to the gang’s bank current accounts.

    “We drove off to Cotonou in her Toyota Highlander Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and gave the car to our standby receiver simply addressed as Oga Azeez  to sell for us.

    “When she wanted to shout we calmed her down. We also held her hostage for 12 hours to enable us do another transfer of one million naira.

    “We drove to Oju-Ore (Ota,Ogun State) along Idiroko road to while away time. “The purpose was to allow for 12 hours before another transfer could be done. We however succeeded in transferring another one million naira.

    “I gave five vehicles to Gani who is one of the receivers we have in Cotonou. We stopped at Atan, a  community  after the popular Winners Church and waited for another 12 hours before making another transfer of one million naira.

    ”When we searched the woman’s  bag we saw only N50,000 cash. We transferred the sum of N2million  to our members  who are still in Kirikiri prison.

    “I gave N600, 000 to the owner of the account we used in transferring the money. We gave N200, 000 to the person who went to withdraw the money in prison. We shared the remaining N1.2 million. I did not save a dime because of my life style; I slept in hotel with women almost on a daily basis

    “I sold the Toyota Highlander SUV for N600,000, Formatic Benz-N900,000; Toyota Camry car , N300,000; Toyota Camry( big daddy) car N500,000; Lexus SUV 350; N600,000; Toyota Muzzle N600,000; Toyota Corolla N400,000, among others.’’

  • Police arrest murder suspect nine months after

    Nine months after he allegedly conspired with others to kill a man, a murder suspect, Ibrahim Tafiyau has been arrested by operatives of the Niger state Police Command.

    Tafiyau, a native of Tutungo village of Paiko Local Government Area of Niger state had conspired to kill one Abdullahi Mohammadu of Izom in Gurara Local Government of the state.

    It was said that one Abdullahi Mohammadu on November 11, 2018 Ahmadu Abdullahi, reported to the police that his son Abdullahi Mohammadu left home on his Bajaj motorcycle and was attacked  by armed men along Izom-Suleja road and his motorbike snatched.

    According to the bereaved father, the armed men inflicted injuries on his son leading to his death.

    The police on December 5, 2018, arrested one Babangida Shaibu who was in possession of the said motorcycle and was charged to court.

    Read Also: Storm in Enugu over rape, murder of pregnant woman

    Investigations had been on since then and the suspect, Ibrahim was trailed and apprehended by a team of policemen attached to Gawu-Babangida Division .

    Confessing to the crime, Ibrahim said he and two others who are still at large killed the victim and made snatched his motorcycle.

    He said: “I thought that the case is over. Frankly speaking, I thought that this matter has died down since 2018; I do not even know that Police were still dragging the matter. I never knew that police was trailing me until I was arrested.

    “Me and my gang members actually killed the victim and dispossessed him of his motorcycle; we thought it was all over not knowing that the long arm of law will one day catch up with us one by one.”

    Police spokesman, Muhammad Abubakar said the matter had been charged to court adding that efforts were being made to arrest fleeing members of the gang.

  • LASG intercepts truck loaded with 123 persons, 48 motorbikes

    A truck loaded with 123 persons and 48 motorcycles coming from Jigawa State was intercepted in Agege area of Lagos State on Friday by operatives of the Special Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation and Special Offenses.

    The truck was impounded following the alarm raised by members of the public about the conduct of the occupants of the truck.

    It was said that the truck and its occupants had been moved to the office of the Taskforce in Oshodi for interrogation.

    Chairman of the Taskforce, Yinka Egbeyemi, said the vehicle was accosted in the wee hours on Friday, after a security alert from the public. He said his men swiftly responded to the information, which led to the seizure of the truck and its occupants at Agege area of Lagos.

    Read Also: Customs intercept N5bn tramadol, other illicit drugs in Lagos

    He said: “While my team was on operation, we got information from the public that some people had entered into Lagos in trailer loaded with over 300 people. We swiftly responded to the alert and trailed the truck from Berger area to Agege. We eventually intercepted the truck which carried no few than 123 men and 48 motorcycles.

    “We have interrogated most of the truck’s occupants; from the information we gathered, some of them said they were coming from Jigawa State, with 48 of them claiming to own seized motorcycles. The rest of them said they came to Lagos in search of greener pasture.”

    Egbeyemi disclosed that the Lagos Police Command had directed that a fact-finding panel be constituted to profile the detained occupants of the truck, but he added that nothing incriminating was found on them apart from the motorcycles.

    One of the occupants of the truck, Shuaibu Haruna, said he left Jigawa State to work in Lagos with his motorcycle. He claimed to have a wife and a son, but said he needed to double his income to cater for his family.

    Haruna said he intended to stay in Isolo area to which he had already paid N7,000 as accommodation fee.

  • Suspected 25-yr-old burglar arrested

    A suspected burglar, Babajide Sokeye a.k.a. prophet has been arrested by the police in Sango – Ota, Ogun State.

    The 25-year-old suspect was nabbed by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    Sokeye forcibly broke into the apartment of one of his neighbours, Kayode Ahmed, who had travelled out of town for some days.

    The suspect Babajide forced his way into Ahmed’s apartment through one of the windows in the building and moved valuables inside the three bedroom apartment including television stand, fan, gas cylinder, utensils, three cups of rice and pressing iron among others into his own room.

    Following a petition to the IRT by Ahmed, Sokeye was tracked trailed to his hideout in the neighbourhood and the stolen items were recovered from him.

    Read Also: Police rescue teenage burglar from mob attack

    Police sources confirmed that efforts were ongoing to apprehend other members of Sokeye’s gang.

    Confessing, Sokeye said: “ l am a cobbler. I am not married yet due to lack of money. I stay at Ojuore area of Ota, Ogun state. My father is late and I am the one taking care of my mother.

    “I found out that the occupants of the three bed room flat had traveled and would spend some days before they come back from their community. I went there to start looting their property but , to my greatest surprise, three guys(burglars) jumped out of the flat, beating me to it. They had been looting the apartment before I started my own.

    “I was annoyed.  I returned home to prepare myself well and collected house breaking tools . Luckily, when I came back that same day at about 9: 00pm I discovered that those guys had already removed the burglary proof. I then entered the house through the window. The three bedroom apartment is at Isale Wahidan Street, Ota.

    ‘’The owner travelled out of town with his family. He just padlocked the gate. My own house is on the next street, a self-contained room where I pay N80,000 per year. That night I passed and entered through the kitchen and started parking those things that I felt were most needed by me for the mean time.

  • Police arrest suspected fraudsters in Kaduna, Abuja

    Eleven suspected fraudsters have been apprehended in Kaduna State and Abuja.

    The suspects were nabbed by the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

    The suspects including a 28-year-old woman, Peace Eje were smoked out of their hideouts in Kabala area of Kaduna State and Jabi area of Abuja.

    The rest are: Frank Pius; Nduka Innocent; Okechukwu John; Nicholas Nwosu; Chikezie Uwandu; Amos Eze; Ikechukwu John; Michael Ali; Usman Ladan and Lawrence Adams.

    Their modus operandi is driving around in  taxis and stir up conversation about a bag filled with foreign currencies in the boot of their car.

    The cab driver would then accuse the supposed owner of the bag of trying to get him and other passengers into trouble by not informing him about the content in the bag stuffed with foreign currencies.

    Read Also: EFCC arrests notorious internet fraudster, Oyediran wanted by FBI

    The supposed owner of the bag would confess  that the money in the bag was stolen from an Alhaji who is very powerful and the owner was looking for a spiritualist that would help take away the charms in the money.

    The owner would also offer to share the money with everyone in the vehicle if they decided to help take the money for cleansing.

    If their target is a greedy person, he would pick interest in the story and from that point, he will be taken to a fake native doctor where he or she would be made to swear to an oath not to reveal their secret to anyone and from that point the victim would be swindle of all his money.

    The 45-year-old leader of the syndicate, Adams, who was arrested alongside 10 other members of his gang, said he was once a victim of fraudsters.

    The Akoko Edo born suspect and father of nine from two women said: “I reside in Abuja metropolis, but formerly I was into tomato business and I was buying from Zaria and was supplying to several parts of the country.

    “I was once a victim of fraud and I lost N850,000 to the syndicate and I was then persuaded to join the  syndicate  in the year 2007. When I joined (the syndicate) they taught me how to do the job.

    “I can’t count the number of people I have duped. We have several offices in Jabi and Zango close to Turkish Hospital at old Karmo.”

  • Suspected hoodlums rape 16-yr-old girl to death

    The decomposing body of a 16-year-old girl allegedly raped to death by suspected hoodlums in Isale Ijeun area of Idi Ape in Abeokuta, Ogun State, has been found in a bush in the neighbourhood.

    Aishat Shodeinde was allegedly abducted on Friday, August16, while returning home by some unidentified men who proceeded to gang-rape her to death in the bush.

    Aishat was, until her tragic death, an SS3 student at an unnamed secondary school.

    She was simultaneously undergoing training as an auxiliary nurse in a hospital in the neighbourhood.

    Sources said she had repeatedly turned down love advances from one of the suspected hoodlums.

    A search party was launched to find her  soon after her relations realized that she had been unusually  away from home for too long.

    Read Also Police arrest pastor over alleged rape in Oyo

    Her corpse was found near a rock by members of  the So Safe Corps when they raided a joint operated by hemp smokers near the bush.

    The matter was reported to a police division at Itoku area of Abeokuta but nothing was done to apprehend the culprits.

    A source said: “We learnt the girl was accosted by the hoodlums while she was returning home and they forcibly took her to the bush and gang-raped her to death. “The  police divisional headquarters at Oke Itoku was duly informed about the incident but their search for Aishat’s whereabouts did not yield fruits.

    “It was the operatives of So Safe Corps who raided a hemp smoking joint that recovered her body after they perceived odour from the bush near the joint.’’

    A source said that four suspects had been arrested in connection with the incident.

    Police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi did not respond to enquiries sent to his mobile phone at press time.

    He also did not pick his phone when he was called.

  • Rape suspect held

    A 35-year-old rape suspect, identified as Musa Ibrahim, has been detained in the police custody in Kano for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl.

    The incident occurred at Rijiyan Zaki area of the Kano metropolis.

    The suspected rapist, a family friend, allegedly lured the girl with packs of Indomie noodles.

    It was learnt that the victim was familiar with Ibrahim, making it possible for him to lure her to a corner of a building where he defiled her.

    Read Also: Fatoyinbo released after second day’s grilling over alleged rape

    Police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna, who confirmed the incident, said: ‘’ Immediately the case was reported to the police, the Commissioner, Ahmed Iliyasu, ordered a discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the incident.

    ‘’The suspect has been arrested and detained, while investigation has begun.

    “The victim has been taken to hospital to ascertain the extent of injury.’’

    The CP said at the conclusion of investigations, the suspect would be arraigned.

  • Car snatchers arrested with 150 phones

    The police in Anambra State have arrested three suspected car snatchers in the state and Delta, spokesman Haruna Mohammed said in a statement in Awka on Thursday.

    He said over 150 phones suspected to have been stolen from the victims were recovered from the suspects.

    He said the suspects were nabbed by “Operation Puff Adder” personnel in conjunction with the detectives attached to Aguata Division of the command following intelligence report.

    Mohammed said the suspects were part of the gang allegedly involved in robbery/carjacking on Anambra and Asaba axes.

    He gave their names as Anyingor Arinze of Otueke, Asaba, Delta State; Chinedu Nweke of Mbekwe Estate, Ogidi and Ebuka Christian Eziamaka of Ire village, Obosi, both in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

    Read Also: 22-year-old woman killed in Ondo

    The police spokesman listed the stolen vehicles to include one Toyota Corolla 2004 and Lexus 300 car.

    He said: “Exhibits found in their possession include one Gionee phone belonging to one of the victims whose vehicle was snatched.

    “Others are 12 Itel phones of different models, 26 Infinix phones of different models, 32 Tecno phones of different models, 16 Samsung phones of different models, three Gionee phones of different models and 60 other smaller phones of different models, all suspected to have been snatched from victims.”

    Mohammed said the suspects would be prosecuted after investigations.

    “The command enjoins people whose phones were either snatched or stolen through similar modus to report at the Special Anti-robbery Squad, Awkuzu with proof of ownership in order to claim their handsets and give evidence to aid police investigation,” he added.