The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Armed

  • Armed robber commits suicide to evade arrest

    Armed robber commits suicide to evade arrest

    A suspected armed traffic robber, Sodiq, jumped into the lagoon from the Eko Bridge to evade arrest, Police Commissioner Idowu Owohunwa said yesterday.

    He said the deceased’s accomplice, Toheeb Abolaji, was arrested with a Spyder Victor pistol, a strange firearm that the police were still studying to know how it got into the country.

    Owohunwa revealed this during the parade of 66 suspects arrested for various offences across the state.

    According to him, operatives recovered the pistol on Wednesday following complaints from the public on the activities of traffic robbers.

    Read Also: UPDATED: APGA, ADP, NRM presidential candidates, others lobby Tinubu for inclusion

    He said the suspect claimed he knew nothing about the gun and that it was his deceased colleague who brought it.

    “This is strange. It is a unique weapon. We are currently working to get to the root of this weapon. There were two suspects arrested and the other in an attempt to evade the police onslaught, jumped to his death.

    “The other suspect arrested is aiding the police investigation and we have recovered some of the cartridges.”

  • Armed men allegedly burn houses in Kaduna community

    KAJURU Local Government Area of Kaduna State was back in the news again yesterday. One of its villages – Angwan Barde, was allegedly set on fire by some armed men.

    A community leader, who pleaded for anonymity, told TheCable that the attackers wreaked havoc on Angwan on their way to a nearby community.

    Yesterday’s attack came barely 12 days after 40 people were killed and several houses burnt in Karamai, another community in Kajuru Local Government Area.

    “Gunmen are presently killing and burning of housing in Angwan Barde now. They are done attacking Ungwan Barde, they are now advancing towards the next village which is Sabon Gida,” the community leader said.

    He said the killings started with some attacks on farmers in the area on Saturday.

    “They started isolated attacks yesterday. Someone voted and went to his farm and he was killed. Five people went to search for him and they were also attacked one of them was killed and four came back alive. I am not in a position to give you casualty figures until the situation is calm, I don’t want to give wrong figures,” he said.

    According to TheCable, spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Yakubu Sabo, did not respond to calls and a text message sent to his mobile phone on the issue.

    The first attack on the Angwan Barde was on February 11, when suspected herdsmen invaded the village at midnight and killed 11 people.

    The attack led to reprisals and many people were killed. Governor Nasir el-Rufai put the death toll at 130.

  • Poltergeist, armed and dangerous

    Rendered simply, poltergeist is an invisible force that can make a racket and move things about without being seen. It is a word of German origin which could also pass for a ghost that is albeit, noisy.

    Is this another ghost story? Well, we may say so but surely of a different kind. Just as the poltergeist is not a common specie of ghost, so is this a different kind of ghost story.

    So let’s dig into it. Early this month, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun told the nation that 80,000 of the 371,000 officers and men on the payroll of the Nigeria Police Force are ghosts. She was briefing journalists on the latest findings of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA)

    This meant that about 25 per cent of the Force were ghosts, nay poltergeists.These are men (and women too) who have supposedly undergone some specialized trainings including handling of firearms. These people are legitimately armed to maintain peace and order across the country.

    You may wonder at what point they morphed into ghosts? During recruitment, during training, or post-training period when they are already full-dressed armed troopers?

    We ask because this may explain a lot of things concerning the conducts and behavior of the average policeman/woman out there. Why would a properly trained and self-respecting policeman choose to demean himself by dressing up for work just for the sole purpose of agglomerating squeezed pieces of the lowliest currency notes?

    Why do we have policemen as major clients of Indian hemp dens? Why do we have their guns often discharging stray bullets and hitting innocent people?

    Why do they almost always unsettle us and make so much racket instead of granting us peace of mind as they were trained to do? Could we conclude that they are truly poltergeists, the unsettling ghost?

    It is said that roughly N22 billion was lost monthly through this ghoulish scheme. To add up the numbers and get a total for one year would amount to troubling one’s soul for some number are better imagined than worked out. For how long had this been on?

    This type of money is enough to raise an entire army or two police forces. The hierarchy of the Police Service Commission (PSC) would lose their tongues or turn to ghosts if they swear they have no knowledge of this.

    In fact Hardball wagers that everyone who has a jowl in the entire Ministry of Finance should be arrest to explain how he acquired such valuable asset. But this may explain why none has ever been prosecuted in this land of multitudinous ghost workers – everyone must be in on it!

    If the police lived with 80,000 poltergeist s, the entire military and security corps would be peopled with drones and zombies.

     

  • 9ice escapes armed robbery attack

    9ice escapes armed robbery attack

    Gongo Aso crooner, Abolore Akande, aka 9ice has escaped armed robbers attack along Town Planning Way, Anthony, Lagos.

    An impeccable source said the attack happened on Sunday night, 6th November 2016 when the multiple awards winner was heading to a show.

    While coming from Coker road, an ash coloured vehicle conveying four armed men crossed 9ice Benz red car. But the artiste had insinuated that had they evil plans when he was driving behind the robbers’ car.

    However, he was able to turn back on the motion to Coker road from Town Planning way and escape.

    In his opinion, their intention was to rid him of the vehicle and possibly, other valuables.

    “I thank God for the narrow escape. I can’t even imagine what I experienced on Sunday night. The robbers intention was to collect the car,” 9ice said.

  • Troops kill armed bandits in Northwest

    Two armed bandits have been killed in a gun battle between troops of 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, armed bandits and cattle rustlers in the Northwest.

    Deputy Director of Public Relations of the Division, Colonel Usman Abdul, who revealed this in a statement in Kaduna yesterday, said the bandits were killed in various spots within the region.

    The Army also said it has apprehended a suspected bandit who is believed to be an errand boy, few of them escaped with injuries.

    His words: “In a follow up operations being conducted by 1 Division of the Nigerian Army against armed bandits, cattle rustling and other criminal activities, troops of 223 tank battalion on Friday, June 24, while on patrol along KUSA BAYAN DUTSE in Birnin-Magaji Local Government Area of Zamfara State, encountered pockets of armed bandits. Although, no casualty was recorded, few of them escaped with injuries.

    “Some of the items recovered include one Ak-47 riffle, one magazine, quantity 13 rounds of 7.62mm special and two motorcycles, which were burnt at the scene.

    “A suspected bandit, who is believed to be their errand boy, was apprehended at Gusami market and he is presently undergoing interrogation.

    “Similarly, on Saturday, June 25, the troops, while patrolling Maganawa village in Maru Local Government Area, also encountered some bandits. One of them was killed.

    “Some of the items recovered include a locally-made dane gun with some rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.

    “Similarly, troops of II battalion in Kaduna, while on patrol along DOGON DAWA-MAIDARO road engaged some armed bandits who attempted to kidnap an innocent person in his farm. The suspect, on sighting the troops fired but was gunned down.

    “Items recovered include one Ak-47 riffle, 22 rounds of 7.62mm special, two ammunition carrying magazines and two mobile phones.”

  • Police kill suspected armed robbers in Calabar

    •Mob burn another suspect

    The anti-crime patrol of the Federal Housing Police Station in Calabar yesterday gunned down a suspected armed robber after a shoot out yesterday morning.

    The unidentified robber, according to the police, was part of a five-man gang, which robbed a warehouse in the area.

    Police Public Relations Officer Hogan Bassey said: “At 2am, we received a distress call about eight miles that armed robbers were operating at a warehouse. So, we responded immediately and met them on operation. Sighting the police van, they fired shots and there was a shoot-out. The robbers were five and one of them was hit by a bullet. The other four escaped and the one that was shot ran some distance before he was caught. He had a locally made pistol and a bag containing four cartridge. He died eventually.”

    A Toyota 4runner Sports Utility Vehicle, which they had stolen early that morning from a lady was recovered.

    Also recovered was a Plasma TV set which they stole from the woman. Another locally made pistol, an iron cutter and two cut padlocks were also recovered from them.

    Similarly, a suspected member of the Skolombo Boys, a new gang of criminals terrorising the city was burnt to death by angry residents on Abua Street in Calabar South.

    It was gathered he was part of a group that went to rob in the area but residents mobilised and attacked them. The rest of the gang escaped but the boy was caught and burnt to death.

    Reacting to the development, Bassey begged residents not to take laws into their hands.

    “People should not take laws into their hands. They should apprehend such criminals and call the police immediately. We are battle ready.

    “Such criminals can give us useful information that would lead to a lasting solution to the problem. Two wrongs cannot make a right,” the PPRO said.

     

  • Armed Forces train 16,000 on skill acquisition

    The Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Olabisi Ibrahim, has said over 16,000 spouses and other dependants of members of the Armed Forces have benefited from a skill acquisition training programme.

    Speaking during the 2012 skill acquisition training for spouses and dependants of Armed Forces personnel at the 13 Brigade Headquarters in Calabar, Cross River State, Admiral Ibrahim said the initiative was in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal, which is to eradicate poverty and hunger.

    The Chief of Defence Staff, who was represented by Air Commodore Esther Odok of the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, said participants would be given two weeks intensive training on vocational skills such as heat transfer printing, photography/photo processing, information and communication technology/ business centre, catering/fast foods.

    Others include tailoring, hair dressing/beauty salon, soap making/cosmetics, beads and hat making, agricultural and allied services and embroidery.

    According to him, the choice of the vocations was informed by the need to attain maximum gain in a limited period of time and engender professional and entrepreneurial skills to ease the establishment of businesses.