The Nation Newspaper

Category: Crime Diary

  • Driver ‘kills self’ at mechanic’s workshop 

    A 43-year-old commercial driver, Kabiru Bello, has allegedly committed suicide at a mechanic’s workshop in Somolu, Lagos.

    The incident, it was gathered, occurred last Saturday.

    Bello, a resident of 77, Owode Ibeshe in Ikorodu, Lagos allegedly drank an insecticide suspected to be sniper at the workshop located at Ladylack bus stop, Somolu, around 1pm.

    It was learnt that Bello was inside his bus with number plate AKD724XM when he allegedly drank the substance.

    People at the workshop were said to have taken him to Adesola Clinic in Somolu where he was confirmed dead.

    Police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said detectives visited the scene and discovered an empty bottle suspected to contain sniper, adding that his body was deposited in the mortuary.

    Read Also: Bank Manager commits suicide 

    Policemen attached to Ilemba Hausa Division in Ojo, Lagos at the weekend recovered two single barrel guns from fleeing robbers said to have fleeced a young man of his laptop.

    The Nation gathered that the police received a distress call around 9:30pm on Saturday that suspected robbers attacked Mr. Wale Lawal and dispossessed him of his belongings.

    Elkana said policemen were deployed to trail them, adding that the suspects abandoned their operational black Honda vehicle with number plate Lagos KJA705BU.

    “On the spot search of the vehicle led to the recovery of two locally made single barrel guns with 12 live cartridges, one laptop and one phone. The vehicle was moved to the station for further investigation,” he said.

  • Bank Manager commits suicide 

    Friends and family of a bank manager, identified as Ibeakanma Onyechere, have been left devastated following news of his alleged suicide on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Onyechere, a relationship manager with a popular commercial bank, allegedly drank sniper, a dangerous insecticide, at his home last week.

    The father of one might have exhibited traces of depression following his last Facebook post, “the light is gradually dimming out”, which he wrote on July 24, as well as a WhatsApp status update his relatives said they saw days before he died.

    According to a report on the social media, Onyechere left a note for his wife, Cecilia, where he professed his love for her and their daughter, urging her not to cry for him.

    The note read: “The best, that’s what l used to call you. Finally this is the end of my journey here on earth. The evil I have been battling with has succeeded in quenching the flame. You married a wrong man. You’re a good woman and you deserve the best. You need to be happy. You need to soar.

    “Please take care of our princess, Chinenyenwa. Tell her that I love her so much. Be peaceable with everyone, though not gonna be easy. Tell my family not to harbour any resentment against you. You’re a blessing to us. That’s the wish of a dying man. Don’t cry for me, but pray for me. I love you and Chinenye so much. Goodbye my beloved.”

    Although the police said they have no report on the alleged suicide, Onyechere’s relatives and friends have taken to Facebook to express their shock over his death.

    Read Also: Experts call for increased mental health education over suicide cases

    Many wondered why there was no action from those close to him when he wrote the suggestive message.

    But his brother, Adindu Ibeakanma, who reacted to the July 24 post, warned him to be careful and desist from playing with sensitive issues.

    “What kind of post is this? We don’t play with certain things. Please let us know the light that is dimming. And please be very careful Onyi,” he warned.

    His sister, Rosy Ibeakanma, wrote: “De (Brother) Onyi I saw your status that your time is ticking away so fast I did not know you were saying goodbye. RIP dear brother till we meet to part no more.”

    His friend, Frank Ugwamba, wrote: “My brother and my beloved friend, your death is still a dream to me and I sincerely do not want to wake up to its reality. I am sorry my brother, I didn’t see this post early enough, I would have stopped whatever it was that was coming to you. I am deeply sorry.”

    Emeka Chukwu said: “He put up this kind of terrible and horrific post on July 24, only two people commented. The moment the light finally went off in a pathetic and terrible way, everybody started commenting.

    “What is this world turning into?

    Why can’t we take some posts very serious especially when it is coming from our loved ones, friends and family members.

    “Had it been someone very close to him took his or her time to visit this brother Ibeakanma and question him on what he meant by putting up such a horrific post, his death by God’s grace could have been averted.

    “Who knows what he was battling with that made him to commit such a heinous act. I think nobody was there for him. I think his church, if any, has failed to work on his spirituality.

    “I think we need to take every post like this very serious if truly we want to be true ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t know Mr. Ibeakanma Onyechere, he was not my Facebook friend. I feel bad for his lovely wife and daughter. May his soul rest in peace.”

    Police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the command was not aware of the suicide, as no report was made at the Victoria Island Division or any police station in the state.

  • Missing corps member’s whereabouts unknown

    Where is 25-year-old Cynthia Amarachi, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving in Osun State?

    What happened to her on March 15, after she left the state en route to Lagos for a weekend with her parents?

    These are the questions her mother, siblings and friends have been asking following her mysterious disappearance.

    Their agonies further worsened after visiting hospitals and mortuaries to find out whether she was involved in an accident.

    Her mother, a primary school teacher, Mrs. Constance Nwawike, said they have reported the incident to the police in Lagos and Osun states without success.

    She said at a point, the police tracked one of her phones to Ogun-Oyo forest where some suspects were arrested, but later freed, adding that her other phone was traced to Kano State.

    The woman, who said Amarachi, the only graduate they suffered to train, was a level headed and reserved woman, noted that they only knew about her disappearance about a week after March 15 when she was contacted by officials of the NYSC in Osun State that Amarachi was yet to return from Lagos.

    “Before then, we had been worried as we could not reach her on the phone.

    Read Also: Prominent Nigerians at receiving end of kidnapping

    ”On that fateful day, March 15, I called my daughter’s number, but it was switched off. I thought it was network problem. I did not call again.  On Monday, I called the number again, but no response. I continued for three days without a response. I then informed my husband.  All of us became worried.

    “Her younger sister even complained that she (Amarachi) didn’t call to wish her happy birthday. It has not been an easy period for us. We have visited churches and we were told she is still alive. I am just begging anyone who is holding her to please release her for us,” she said amid tears.

    Mrs. Nwawike said Amarachi’s friend, who notified the NYSC about her trip, said she boarded a commercial vehicle at Iwo Road en route to Lagos and they exchanged pleasantries, promising to inform them once she arrived her parents’ Ikorodu home.

    “But when they got no response and called several times without a response, her colleagues reportedly went on the social media to trace her parents, which eventually paid off,” she said.

    The woman said she received a call from her daughter’s service centre a week later that they were looking for her.

    “The state coordinator also called and reported that they did not see her after she travelled home. Shocked at the unfolding drama, I told them that she did not return to our home in Ikorodu. I made further enquiry, the coordinator said her friend, also a corps member, told them that she travelled to meet us in Lagos and since then, she had been calling her number without reply.

    “I asked the man (NYSC state coordinator) to give me the corps member’s number. I talked to her and she said she had been trying to reach me.  I reported the case at Ikorodu Police Station. They said I should go to Ibadan because the lady made it known that she took Ibadan-Iwo Road and when she got a vehicle going to Ikorodu, they had a conversation. She told her that she had boarded a bus going to Ikorodu and her friend said she wished her safe trip. Since then, she had not seen or heard from her. I went to the school where she was serving in Osun State and the head teacher told me the same thing.

    “Since then, I have tried my best. We had gone as far as reporting to the anti-kidnapping squad and they told us that they had tracked her number to Kano. They later told me that they made some arrests and I asked how far, but the policemen keep ‘posting me’. Last week I called them, but they said that they would call me back, but they didn’t call me back.

    “I also reported the case at the Osun State Police Command. They invited me for an interview, but when I got there, they said I should connect them with the anti-kidnapping unit investigating the matter in Lagos, which I did, only for the police in Osun to say that they have been trying the number of their colleagues at the anti- kidnapping unit without success,” Mrs. Nwawike said.

  • Gunmen kidnap provost in Benue

    Gunmen have abducted the Provost of College of Education, Katsina Ala, Mr Tsavwua Gborigyo.

    He was kidnapped last Friday.

    The victim was said to be travelling on the Kwande- Vandeikya Road when the hoodlums waylaid his car and forcefully took him to an unknown place.

    At press time, the management of the college said the kidnappers were yet to open discussion with the family.

    Police spokesperson Kate Anene confirmed the report.

    She said investigation has begun.

  • Police vow to arrest culprits as robbers invade UI

    The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Shina Olukolu, has said the command has intensified efforts to arrest the hoodlums who invaded Abdulsalam Hall of the University of Ibadan (UI).

    He spoke yesterday about the attack which occurred early in the morning.

    The attack happened one month after robbers invaded Obafemi Awolowo female hostel in the university.

    A Deputy Communication of Police (DCP) in charge of Operations, Mr. Kehinde Alonge and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Sango Police Station, Joyce Mayaki, yesterday led other senior police officers to the scene of the robbery to access the situation and order manhunt and investigation into the crime.

    Olukolu, who spoke through police spokesman Olugbenga Fadeyi, a Superintendent of Police  (SP), confirmed that one student was injured in the attack.

    Read Also: JUST IN: Robbers attack UI New Hall hostel

    Robbers attacked Obafemi Awolowo Hall on July 11 and injured female students.

    The state police chief said officers of the command have begun manhunt to bring the robbers to book.

    He said about five hoodlums invaded the hall, with weapons such as knives and cutlasses to attack the students.

    Olukolu said the injured have been treated at the Jaja Clinic.

    He said the robbers, who attacked only the female wing of the hall, reportedly tied the security guard.

    Two male students, who tried to obstruct their mission, received machete cuts. The hoodlums escaped through the nearby bush, carting away phones and other valuables.

    The Director of Public Communications, Mr.  Olatunji Oladejo, while reaffirming that only one student was injured, said the security unit of the university had intensified efforts to prevent a recurrence.

    The Chairman, Council Committee on Security,  Prof. Ademola Aremu, said the university is reviewing the security design.

    Aremu, who visited the hall in company of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, said the police are working hard to arrest the invaders.

  • Civil Defence operative ‘kills’ varsity student

    There was anger in Bayelsa State at the weekend following the killing of a 100-level student of the Niger Delta University (NDU), Amassoma, Southern Ijaw, allegedly by an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    It was gathered that the incident, which occurred at about 10:30pm on Saturday, threw the student community into mourning.

    Sources said the incident was avoidable and blamed it on the alleged unprofessional conduct of the NSCDC operative.

    Read Also: Police kill alleged armed robber in Kano

    The Nation learnt that the security personnel, attached to a politician, allegedly cocked his gun to fire some shots, announcing the arrival of his principal at the area, but discovered that the bullets hooked in the magazine chamber.

    He was said to have attempted to free the magazine chamber without pointing the nozzle of his rifle downwards or upwards.

    While the nozzle pointed at passersby, the gun fired and killed the student identified as Obinna, at Efeke Ama area of the university community.

    Obinna was said to be a student at the Petrochemical department, Faculty of Engineering, before his death.

    It was gathered that the victim was pronounced dead at the Tantua Hospital, while the NSCDC operative was handed over to the police in Ammassoma.

  • Man allegedly rapes girl, 10

    A 28-year-old man, simply identified as Juwon, has allegedly raped a 10-year-old girl.

    The incident allegedly occurred at Alafia, Itele, Ota, Ogun State.

    The victim was said to live with her grandmother.

    It was gathered that on the day of the incident, she (grandmother) implored the suspect to hand over the keys to their room to her granddaughter when it was time for lunch.

    Unknown to the grandmother, the man had an ulterior motive. He allegedly took the girl to his room and raped her.

    Read Also: Man rapes daughter to confirm her virginity

    The Nation learnt that the grandmother, upon arrival, discovered bloodstains on the victim’s dress and inquired what had happened. The girl told her that the suspect defiled her when she was not around.

    The visibly-shaken girl, who was said to have had bruises in her private parts, alleged: “Brother Juwon took me to his room and removed my panties. He then penetrated me. When my grandmother returned, she noticed my blood-stained dress and I told her what happened.”

    When questioned why he raped the minor, the suspect did not respond.

    The grandmother said Juwon should be made to face the wrath of the law.

    The matter was later reported to the Ogun State Community Social Orientation and Safety Corps.

    The Commander, Ejigun Unit, Mr. Talabi Ojo, said the suspect was apprehended and taken to their headquarters in Ota before moving him to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Obada, in Abeokuta.

  • Families cry out over alleged attack by land grabbers, murderers

    The Ominiha and Shosoyan families of Ibeshe in Ikorodu, Lagos State, have appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu to rescue them from hoodlums.

    They alleged that the hoodlums were led by a suspected notorious land grabber, Kamurudeen Lamina, alias Sir K.

    The families accused policemen at Zone II headquarters, Onikan, Lagos and the Monitoring Unit, Ikorodu of aiding Lamina, a suspected serial murderer alleged to have unleashed terror on Ikorodu, Ogijo and other Lagos-Ogun border communities since 2005.

    They appealed to Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun to rescue them by ensuring that land grabbers hiding at the border towns and unleashing mayhem on residents are dislodged.

    Read Also: ‘We live in perpetual fear of land grabbers’

    The families, who spoke through their lawyer, Adefolaju Oloko, said their outcry followed Lamina’s alleged forceful and illegal encroachment on their 138.70 acres of land at the instance of a family that has no claim to the land.

    They said their worries were not unconnected to killings and maiming of innocent people for over a decade by land grabbers, which has forced many victims to desert their homes.

    Lamina, however, denied the allegations.

    He said he was neither a murderer nor a land grabber as being alleged.

    Said he: “I am not a land-grabber, but a property developer, car dealer and hotelier. I am not into land grabbing. People meet me always to help them develop their land. The problem is that people are jealous of my progress. They want to kill me and take over the properties I am managing.”

  • Court sentences two to death by hanging in Ekiti

    AN Ado-Ekiti High Court has sentenced two men, Adewa Sunday, 34, and Adedayo Amos, 33, to death by hanging for robbery and illegal possession of firearms.

    Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, held that the prosecution had proved its case of robbery and illegal possession of firearms.

    He said the evidence tendered proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.

    Prosecuting counsel Gbemiga Adaramola said the convicts robbed Mrs. Abosede Oyeyemi Malomo at Ilogbo-Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government on June 4, 2015.

    He said they attacked the victim with guns, cutlasses and other weapons, thereby injuring her.

    Read Also: Ekiti govt urged to tackle insecurity

    The victim was said to be reading at night when they broke into her apartment and robbery her at gunpoint.

    During the operation, one of the convicts was said to have mistakenly called the name of his colleague, which served as a lead for the police to carry out their investigations.

    Hearing began on March 27, 2017 and two count charges bordering on robbery and illegal possession of firearms were slammed on the convicts.

    During hearing, the prosecuting counsel called two witnesses and also tendered a cut to size pistol, iPad and the victim’s statement on oath as exhibits.

    Counsel to the defendants, Adeyinka Opaleke, didn’t call any witness.

     

  • Indian ‘swallows rat poison after arrest for N116m fraud’

    AN Indian, Lokesh Parwani, who allegedly attempted to commit suicide after he was arrested for an alleged N116 million fraud, on Thursday appeared at an Igbosere Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

    The Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (Force CIID), Annex, Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos arraigned Parwani, the personnel manager of an Indian-owned firm in Lagos, on a three-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and attempted suicide.

    Police counsel Morufu Animashaun alleged that Parwani and his accomplices, now on the run, conspired and defrauded his employer of the money on July 19, at Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    He said the defendant’s employer reported the fraud to the police, who, after investigation, confronted Parwani with the allegations on July 26.

    The police arrested Parwani, but he allegedly attempted to take his life by quickly eating ‘Super Kill Action Ready Bait Cake’, a rat poison.

    The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 411, 280(1) and 235 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 and punishable under sections 287 and 407 of the same law.

    Read Also: Indian hemp suspect held

    The defendant pleaded not guilty.

    Following his plea, Animashaun prayed the court to remand Parwani at prison custody pending trial.

    But the defendant’s lawyers, Gani Oyerevuegbe and Mustapha Danisi, opposed him.

    They said Parwani had no criminal record and applied for his bail “in the most liberal terms.”

    “We will ensure his appearance in court for trial,” they added.

    In a bench ruling, Chief Magistrate K. K. Awoyinka granted the defendant N1million bail with two sureties in the like sum, one of who must be a civil servant not below Grade Level 10 in the Lagos State civil service.

    Both sureties must be residents of Lagos State, must provide evidence of three years tax payment, “payable to the state government.

    “Each surety must furnish the court with account statements with a standing balance of N1.5 million and two recent passport photographs. The defendant should deposit his international passport with the chief registrar,” Mrs. Awoyinka said.

    She ordered the prosecution to verify compliance with the bail terms.

    Awoyinka remanded Parwani in prison custody pending fulfilment of the bail terms and adjourned till September 2.