The Nation Newspaper

Tag: arrested

  • Community want killers of monarch, wife arrested

    Community want killers of monarch, wife arrested

    The Numana Community Development Organisation (NCDO) has condemned the murder of their paramount ruler, the Etum Nunama, Dr. Gambo Makama, his wife and two others.

    The organisation called on the Inspector General of Police (IG) Ibrahim Idris, the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies to unravel the killers.

    The monarch and his wife were on murdered on New Year eve. Their vehicle, house, and other valuables were also burnt.

    Their son was also shot but he survived the attack and was rushed to the hospital.

    A statement by the National Secretary of the Organisation, Mbachi Adams, reads: “We condemn the brutal murder of our paramount ruler, Etum Nunama, Dr. Gambo Makama, his wife and two others on December 31, 2017.

    “The monarch, who was the Chairman of the Traditional Council of Sanga Local Government, and his wife, were murdered by unidentified gunmen at his ancestral village – Tsauni Ayuba (Asik). Their vehicle, house and other valuables were also burnt.

    “Two others were also killed outside the same village, their bodies were recovered the following day.

    “Apart from these four, Makama’s son was also shot, though he survived and is receiving treatment in the hospital.

    “NCDO, the socio-cultural umbrella body of the Numana ethnic group in Nigeria, sees this murders as one too many, considering that in recent times, Sanga council, and in fact, the entire Southern Kaduna, has been serially attacked and many people killed by these merchants of death.

    “We are worried that, it seems, these agents of darkness have set their deadly eyes on our people and are determined to annihilate us.

    “We, therefore, call on the IG, the DSS and other security agencies to unravel the killers and prosecute them.

    “We also call on the Forward Operation Base (FOB) of 2 Battalion of the Army in Zango Kataf, and the Kaduna State Police Command, to take proactive measures to protect our people from these deadly killers

    “This call has become extremely important to avoid the patience of our people from being overstretched.”

    The organisation, however, urged resident to remain calm and not take laws into their hands.

  • 27-yr-old ‘Grand Commander of Kidnappers’, gang members arrested

    27-yr-old ‘Grand Commander of Kidnappers’, gang members arrested

    A 27-year-old man Halti Bello, described by the police as a deadly kidnapper has been arrested .

    Bello a.k.a Grand Commander of Kidnappers had been on the list of wanted criminals of the police for a long time.

    He was arrested at Oghara,Delta State by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, IRT.

    The police said his area of operation covered Kogi, Edo and Delta states.

    Recovered from him were three AK47 rifles, one English pistol, military uniforms and ammunitions .

    Inspector General Ibrahim Idris had ordered a massive clampdown following an increasing wave of kidnapping on highways in Kogi and Edo states and the recent abduction of a Portuguese expatriate attached to Dangote Group in Kogi State.

    The deployment soon paid off with the arrest of Bello who is believed to have masterminded numerous kidnappings and killings in the axis in the last 2years.

    Members of his gang who were arrested before him had named Bello as their overall commander.

    Bello’s fall soon led to the arrest of four of his key gang members namely: Aminu Adamu aka Kashi (35yrs), Abubakar Bello aka Babangida (23years), Bello Hassan aka Nasara (35yrs), and Bello Tukur aka Gwojor (27yrs).

    Bello led his interrogators to Awara bush in Kogi State where his operational weapons were recovered from where they were buried in the bush.

    All the suspects arrested confessed that they took part in many highway kidnappings in Kogi, Edo, Delta, Oyo and Ogun states including the recent kidnapping of the Portuguese expatriate and the killing of the two PMF personnel in Kogi State.

    A top police source told The Nation that efforts are “on-going to recover more of the gang’s weapons buried in different hideouts of the hoodlums.

  • Innoson Motors boss arrested by EFCC for allegedly jumping bail

    Innoson Motors boss arrested by EFCC for allegedly jumping bail

    THE Chairman/Managing Director of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company (IVM), Chief Innocent Chukwuma, was yesterday arrested by security operatives attached to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly jumping bail.

    It was gathered that the EFCC operatives and other heavily armed policemen arrived Chukwuma’s home at Savage Crescent, GRA, Enugu at about 7:30am and took him away.

    Security men at the residence had initially refused the EFCC operatives entry, a development that led to the firing of teargas by the policemen attached to the commission.

    The operatives, it was gathered, later succeeded in gaining access to the building after overpowering Chukwuma’s security men and then arrested him.

    But, a statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the industrialist was being interrogated after allegedly jumping bail.

    The statement said: “Chukwuma was picked up at about 11am at his Savage Crescent, GRA Enugu residence today Tuesday December 19, 2017.

    “His arrest followed his refusal to honour invitation by the commission having earlier  jumped an administrative  bail  granted him in a case being investigated by  the Capital Market and Insurance Fraud Unit of the commission’s Lagos office.

    “Chukwuma rather than honouring invitation by the EFCC, mobilised six truckloads of thugs pretending to be staff of his company to his residence, where they manhandled EFCC operatives.

    “It took reinforcement from the Enugu office of the EFCC to effect the arrest of the industrialist who is currently being grilled by a team of investigators.”

     

  • Why ex-Senate President Mark was arrested, quizzed

    Why ex-Senate President Mark was arrested, quizzed

    There were revelations yesterday on why former Senate President, Senator David Mark, was arrested and quizzed by the Economic and Financial Crimes commission (EFCC).

    A source in Mark’s camp told our correspondent that the EFCC wanted the former Senate President to account for the campaign cash sent to Benue State by the campaign team of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election.

    But the source said that EFCC was merely chasing shadows because Mark was never a part of ex-President Jonathan’s campaign team.

    “EFCC is chasing shadows, all the allegations border on sheer politics because 2019 poll is around the corner,” the source said yesterday.

    It added: “They asked Mark to account for campaign cash sent to Benue State when Oga (Mark) was not part of ex-President’s Jonathan’s campaign team.

    “In fact, the campaign team in Benue State was coordinated by ex-Governor Gabriel Suswam. The former Senate President was kept in the dark.

    “Oga was sidelined during Jonathan’s campaign and there is no way he can account for what he did not know about.”

    While Mark’s camp believes that his arrest by the EFCC had political undertone, a source said the former Senate President may issue a formal statement today (Saturday) on what transpired between him and the EFCC.

    It was learnt yesterday that the EFCC had raised a new team to grill the former Senate President on Monday on the alleged campaign cash suspected to have been sourced from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

    A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Barring any last-minute change of schedule, the ex-President of the Senate has been advised to return to the EFCC on Monday for a comprehensive grilling.

     

    “A team of detectives has been raised to interrogate him. After the session on Monday, the EFCC will then release the details on why Mark was invited.

    “So far, we don’t want to take any action which may jeopardise ongoing investigation of the ex-President of the Senate.”

    Offering an insight into what transpired between Mark and EFCC officials before he was granted administrative bail on Thursday, a source in Mark’s camp said: “One online medium is talking of money shared to Senators. But when Oga was confronted, he said he had no knowledge of the amount in question.

    “He asked the EFCC operatives to show any evidence linking him with the sharing of any cash. These operatives could not produce a sheet of the beneficiaries of the so-called funds.

    “Mark has not shown interest in any office in 2019 and they have started hounding him. It is really unfortunate.”

    Asked of the next step, the source added: “The ex-President of the Senate may issue an official statement on Saturday (today).”

    Meanwhile, the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu has promised to launch in-depth investigation into the cases of corruption reported by the ECOWAS Commission President, Marcel de Souza.

    A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC said Magu made the disclosure during a visit the ECOWAS President paid him.

    Magu said: “I am happy to see you here. I assure you that we will launch investigation into the activities in the Commission (ECOWAS), and we will soon sanitise it.

    “We have a strategy to unravel any fraudulent activity. We will partner with you to bring corrupt elements within the system to justice.”

    The President of the ECOWAS Commission however commended the EFCC for its resolve in tackling corruption in Nigeria.

    He said the agency “compares with similar bodies in the West for its efficiency and effectiveness.”

    He added: “We are here to appreciate the great job EFCC is doing in fighting corruption and to see how the agency can help us investigate some cases of internal corruption within the ECOWAS Commission.”

    While commending President Buhari for making the fight against corruption a cardinal focus of his government, Souza said that “there is no gainsaying that the efforts of the present administration in redeeming the image of Nigeria in the international community are yielding positive results.”

  • ASP, others arrested for locking up suspect in car boot

    An Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and members of his team are now in trouble in Lagos for alleged illegal duty.

    The policemen are facing interrogation following their alleged invasion of a hotel at Olodi Apapa, Lagos, and the arrest of one of the hotel’s security men who they locked up in the boot of their operational vehicle and took him to their station.

    The proprietor of the hotel, Mr Obimdi Ocho had, in a November 21, 2017 petitioned to the police authorities, claimed that the suspects ostensibly from the Zonal Intervention Unit, Ikorodu, stormed his property in a commando style, harassing his staff.

    He said the police team accused his security men of being in possession of arms illegally.

    Ocho said the gun in question was licensed and procured following incessant attacks on his premises by cultists.

    The hotel’s security man who was taken away by the police, Cyril Nwachukwu, alleged that his captors took his photographs with the gun in his hand and threatened to get the photos published unless he paid them N400,000.

    A member of the police team was also sent to collect another N60,000 after Nwachukwu’s release.

    Contacted for comment the zonal police public relations officer Dolapo Badmos said: “Yes, I can confirm that as a result of this petition the case is under investigation at Alagbon.”

  • Alleged driver of stolen vehicle arrested

    Alleged driver of stolen vehicle arrested

    A Lagos driver, Shaibu Ali Adejoh, who allegedly stole a Toyota Camry 2008 model car, belonging to his employer, has been arrested by the police in Kogi State.

    A source said the suspect, 29, who allegedly stole the car in Lagos, was nabbed at Ashigili in Dekina Local Government by men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

    The source said the car, painted in blue, was registered as Lagos KRD 412 EX.

    He said the suspect, who was on a salary of N45,000, perfected the plan to steal the car, having confirmed that the owner, Mrs. Mary Musa, would travel to overseas.

    The Nation learnt that the suspect was arrested, following a tip-off by the chief of his community, who after suspecting the source of his “sudden wealth”, notified security operatives.

    Parading the suspect with 15 others, police spokesman Williams Aya said the onslaught against criminals was on.

  • Ex-banker arrested aboard U.S.-bound plane for alleged N25.4m theft

    A former banker, who allegedly stole N25,466,330.00 from a new generation bank but was arrested in Lagos on a United States-bound plane, has been charged before an Igbosere Magistrate’s Court.

    James Oke, 28, and his alleged accomplice Moyosore Shofowora, 27, also a banker, were docked on Friday before Chief Magistrate B. A. Sonuga on two counts of conspiracy and stealing.

    Prosecuting Police Inspector Abbass Abayomi told the court that the defendants committed the alleged offence between September 22, 2016 and July 28, at the bank’s Ogba Branch.

    He alleged that they conspired and stole N25,466,330 from the bank.

    Oke and Shofowora pleaded not guilty.

    Their counsel, Mr O. Gani and Mr U. N. Ezeokeke sought bail in liberal term.

    But this was opposed by the prosecutor on the ground that the defendants were a flight risk.

    Abayomi said: “Your honour I’m opposing the bail. The bail of the defendants should be very stringent, because if you grant them bail on liberal terms they would abscond.

    “The first defendant was about leaving the country when he was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport. He boarded the plane, belted himself up and the plane was just about to take off when the police came onboard and arrested him. He then led the police to the second defendant’s home where he was also arrested.

    “The defendants, after successfully defrauding the bank, tendered their resignation letters to the bank and left.

    “The bank discovered the fraud afterwards and caught their accomplice who was still in the bank’s employment. The accomplice confessed and returned all the money he stole, after which he was sacked.

    “It was this third person, who isn’t charged along with them, that told the police that the first defendant was at the airport about to leave the country.”

    In a bench ruling, Magistrate Sonuga granted each defendant N5million bail, with two sureties in the like sum.

    The first surety must be a manager at Skye Bank, while the second must be a manager at Wema Bank and must own landed property.

    They must also surrender their international passports, deposit N1million into the account of the court’s registrar and have their addresses verified.

    The case continues on November 14.

  • Two arrested for ‘robbing with dogs’

    Two arrested for ‘robbing with dogs’

    The police in Lagos yesterday paraded an Alsatian dog and its owners, Olajide Odumade and Adeniyi Adisa, for alleged robbery.

    Acting Commissioner Imohimi Edgal said the suspects usually unleashed the dog on their victims to scare them away after dispossessing them of their valuables.

    According to him, they were arrested at Ladipo in Mushin, Lagos Mainland after allegedly robbing a woman of her valuables.

    He said the motorcycle they usually escaped with was also recovered by patrol policemen, who saw them unleashing the dog on the woman.

    “On September 5, two local criminals, who specialised in robbing people by sending a dog to attack their victims, were arrested. The suspects would command the Alsatian dog to attack a victim.

    “The dog in response to the command would pounce on the victim. Gripped with fear, the victim would hand over his/her valuables to them and they would flee,” Edgal said.

    The suspects denied the allegation, insisting that they were arrested following a false alarm.

    Odumade, who said he bought the dog for N12,000 two years ago, claimed that he went to buy threads from a woman, who suddenly started screaming that her phone was missing.

    He said the woman later saw the phone in her shop but he and his friend were rounded up by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad  (FSARS), who were nearby.

    Similarly, the police paraded Saidi Kuku, 43, Jennifer Njagwa, 22, Habiba Fatai, Lola, Michael Ogunfere, 37, and Segun Badmos, 27, for allegedly being in possession of cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

    Edgal said the suspects were arrested following a tip-off from residents of Shitta in Surulere, that a robbery gang was about to strike.

    He said although there was no robbery attack that night, the police discovered that the group led by Kuku, was also into illicit drug peddling.

     

  • MASSOB to Fed Govt: we’ll shake Nigeria if Kanu is arrested

    MASSOB to Fed Govt: we’ll shake Nigeria if Kanu is arrested

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday warned the Federal Government that re-arresting pro-Biafran Leader, Nnamdi Kanu, will lead to an unprecedented crisis in the nation’s history.

    Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was arrested and detained by the Federal Government for alleged treason in 2015.

    He was granted bail earlier this year with some conditions, including the restriction not to be seen in a crowd of more than 10 persons.

    The government also said he must not address a meia briefing or grant interviews.

    But Kanu has serially flouted the conditions.

    He also backed a one-day sit-at-home protest by = Southeast and Southsouth residents to press home their demand for secession of Biafra to be carved out from the area two regions.

    The sit-at-home protest was largely successful, especially in the five Igbo-dominated states in the Southeast.

    But it has heightened the already charged political tension across the country.

    Various groups, including the Arewa Youth Assembly, have urged security agencies to arrest Kanu for inciting statements calculated to overheat the polity.

    In a statement by its factional leader, Uchenna Madu, MASSOB warned that the country may not recover from the crisis the action will generate, if Kanu is re-arrested.

    The statement said: “MASSOB warns that any attempt or plan to re-arrest Kanu will be thoroughly and massively resisted. We can never tolerate it. It is an insult and embarrassment to our inalienable rights. We shall collapse Nigeria, if he is arrested.

    “Now that we know that our consistency and exposure of the hidden truths is dangerously frustrating, disorganising and killing their age-long agendas against the people of Biafra, we shall never relent or surrender.”

  • 300 arrested in Lagos Island raid

    Over 300 persons suspected to be cultists were yesterday arrested by the police on Lagos Island.

    Most of them, it was learnt, were arrested at Agarawu between 1am and 4am.

    The raid was part of the onging operations by security forces in different parts to ensure that ritual killers fleeing Ikorodu did not relocate elsewhere.

    A source said: “We raided some areas on Lagos Island and arrested over 300 persons that are suspected to be cultists. The raid was carried out after a meeting with stakeholders in the area and they provided us with intelligence reports about the blackspots that these criminal elements operate.

    “Armed with these reports, we swooped in unawares and after raiding the hideouts, we had over 300 suspects in our custody and we have sent them to the task force to screen them.

    “While those who are innocent will be released, those who are found culpable by the screening committee will be sent to court for the law to take its course.”

    According to the officer, a joint panel has been constituted to screen all those raided so that the police would not be accused of injustice.

    He said: “Our decision to raid the four blackspots in Ikorodu was borne out of the need to reduce crime rate in Lagos to 10 to 20 percent.

    “In raids like that, there is no way you can ensure 100 percent accuracy in picking suspects, although we tried our best.

    “The truth about the Ikorodu raid is that we had intelligence reports about the criminal hideouts and we moved in. There might have been some casualties but screening will take care of that.

    “A panel comprising the state police command, Rapid Response Squad (RRS)Directorate of State Service (DSS) and Lagos Neighbourhood Security Corps (LNSC) was constituted and whoever they certify to be innocent will be released while those suspected to be guilty will be taken to court.”