The Nation Newspaper

Tag: attacking

  • One chance robbers nabbed for ‘attacking’ woman

    The police in Anambra State have arrested a three-man robbery gang for allegedly robbing a woman at Nkpor in Idemili North Local Government.

    The suspects were said to have conspired and snatched the victim’s bag inside a commercial tricycle along Limca Road.

    Confirming the arrest, police spokesman Haruna Mohammed said the suspects were apprehended by the detectives attached to Isiuwulu Division.

    He gave their names as Chukwuebuka Okafor, 23, of Nkpor, Friday Okpe, 24, of Ijubam in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State and Peter Ochai, 21, all of Benue State.

    Mohammed said: “The suspects conspired and snatched a bag belonging to Mercy Anekwe, female, containing N15,000.

    “Also in the bag are camon Xpro valued at N75,000,

    TECNO 66I valued at N7,800 and power bank valued at N3,500.

    “Exhibits recovered from the suspects include the complainant’s SIM card.”

    He added that the case was being investigated after which the suspects would be arraigned.

  • 46 held for ‘attacking govt convoys’

    Forty-six persons (including students and parents) were arrested for allegedly attacking government convoys while protesting fee hike at  Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State.

    Yesterday was the third day of the protest in Akure, the capital.

    Confirming the arrest, spokesman Femi Joseph said the suspects would be arraigned.

    Students alleged that the police shot teargas canisters at them near the Governor’s Office, Alagbaka, Akure.

    Information Commissioner Yemi Olowolabi alleged that the protest was hijacked by politicians.

  • Cleric under fire for attacking APC, Okorocha

    Cleric under fire for attacking APC, Okorocha

    •APC, PDP supporters clash over comments

    Archbishop Anthony Obinna of the Owerri Catholic Diocese has come under criticism for openly canvassing support for a political party during at a public function at the weekend.

    The Archbishop also drew the ire of the congregation when he digressed from his sermon at a burial mass at the St. Michael Catholic Church Ngwoma-Obube, Owerri North, and accused Governor Rochas Okorocha and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of reducing the state to a laughing stock.

    The cleric was also quoted by eyewitnesses to have ordered the people to ensure that the APC does not return to power in the state, adding that the party has failed the people.

    “The service was going on smoothly when the Archbishop suddenly asked those who have Permanent Voters Card (PVC) to signify. After that, he said all those that were yet to get theirs should do so, vote out the APC and bring in another party because the people are not happy with the bad roads in the state, though the government has created the Ministry of Happiness.

    “The Archbishop again asked the congregation if they will allow the APC to continue by allowing the governor to impose a governor on the state. At this point, a Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) walked up to the pulpit and was given the microphone.

    “He began shouting that the APC has killed the state and so the party will never come back to the state. But an APC chieftain also collected the microphone and said the people are happy with the APC and the governor.

    “A stampede ensued at the pulpit as party faithful started scrambling for the microphone.

    “Meanwhile, the governor’s wife, Nkechi Okorocha; wife of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, the governor’s Chief of Staff Uche Nwosu, and other top government functionaries were seated quietly at the front roll, while the Archbishop rained invective on the governor,” he said.

    Another member of the congregation, Simeon Okokwe, said the situation almost degenerated into a clash if not for the maturity displayed by government officials at the event.

    He blamed the Archbishop for turning a requiem mass to a political campaign, saying “he should have exploited better avenues to correct the government than his open show of partisanship”.

    In 2011, the cleric led the campaign against the re-election of then Governor Ikedi Ohakim, who was accused of beating up a Reverend Father.

    But the former governor was recently absolved of the allegation, nearly seven years after losing the election.

    The cleric also fell out with the APC-led government in 2015 when he allegedly endorsed the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    But supporters of the PDP accused the APC of attacking the Archbishop for merely criticising their party and the governor for the failure of his administration to meet the people’s aspirations.

    They described the action as “desperation taken too far”, and urged the people to vote out the party in 2019.

  • Woman arraigned for allegedly attacking stepson

    A woman, Khadija Yahaya, has been arraigned by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), for allegedly attacking her stepson with hot water.

    Yahaya, who allegedly dipped the hands of her two-year-old stepson, Abubakar Yahaya, into a boiling water, was slammed with a two-count charge and arraigned at a Federal High Court in Bwari, Abuja.

    A statement by Adekoye Vincent, for head, Press and Public Relations Unit, NAPTIP, said: “The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arraigned a 30-year-old housewife, Khadija Yahaya, for allegedly dipping the hands of a two-year old boy, Abubakar Yahaya, into boiling water, thereby causing him harm. The victim is her stepson.

    “The accused was slammed with a two-count charge and arraigned at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Bwari, Abuja, presided over by Justice A. O. Musa.

    “NAPTIP arrested the woman, said to be the second wife of her husband, Mr. Yahaya, following a tip-off by concerned Nigerians.”

    The accused pleaded not guilty. She was granted bail at N500,000 with a surety.

  • Applicant remanded for ‘attacking’ man with cutlass

    A 28-year-old applicant, Idris Mohammed, has been remanded in Keffi prison for allegedly attacking Ali Gambo with a cutlass and inflicting an injury on his back.

    The judge, Yakubu Ishaku, remanded Mohammed after he pleaded not guilty to a  two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and extortion.

    Ishaku adjourned the case till September 6 for hearing.

    The prosecutor, Mr. Frank Swem, told the court that on August 11, about 11:15 a.m., Gambo came to the Divisional Police Station at Masaka and reported the matter.

    He said the defendant on the day at Masaka market conspired with two others at large to commit the crime.

    The defendant and his accomplices, he said, attacked the complainant with a cutlass and collected N40,500 from him.

    The prosecutor said the act contravened sections 97 and 292 of the Penal Code.

    He opposed bail for the defendant, saying the complainant was badly injured and was receiving treatment.

  • ‘Stop attacking host communities’

    The Seriki Hausawa/Fulani in Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Alhaji Gemeel Idris, has cautioned Fulani herdsmen against attacks on their host communities.

    Idris spoke at Akungba-Akoko’s palace during a meeting with the regent, Prince Toyin Omosowon.

    The Hausa leader said the call became imperative, following reports of incessant attacks on host communities by herdsmen.

    He traced the relationship between the Hausa and Akungba-Akoko residents to over 100 years, stressing that there has been harmony through out the long years.

    The regent hailed the Hausa for their peaceful co-existence with the host community, urging them to always sustain the existing harmony.

    Princess Omosowon lamented the closure of the Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), saying it has paralysed the community’s economy.

  • Six Osun students appear in court for attacking teachers, colleagues

    Six students of St. Marks Anglican High School and Adenle Middle School in Osogbo, Osun State capital, have appeared before an Osogbo Magistrate’s Court, for allegedly attacking their teachers and colleagues with cutlasses and clubs.

    The police and men of the Department of State Service (DSS) were said to have gone to the schools on a tip off to arrest the students.

    The suspects were charged with breach of peace for disturbing school activities on December 7, 2015 at St. Marks Anglican High School, Osogbo.

    The accused persons whose age were said to be 18 years are: Adewunmi Olusegun, Ajibola Toheeb;  Ganiyu Sodiq; Adegbite Femi; Atoyebi Nurudeen and Adepoju Yusuf.

    The charge sheet reads: “That you (accused persons) and others now at large on 7th day of December, 2015 at St. Marks Anglican High School, Osogbo in the Osogbo Magisterial District did conspire together to commit misdemeanour to wit conduct likely to cause breach of the peace by disturbing the school activities.

    “That you (accused persons) and others now at large at the same date, time and place aforementioned did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace by disturbing the school activities with sticks and cutlasses.”

    The police prosecutor, Taiwo Adegoke, said the pupils had committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 517(d) and 249(d) of the Criminal Code Cap 34, Vol. II, Law of Osun State of Nigeria, 2003.

    However, the six accused persons pleaded not guilty to the two counts pressed against them.

    The defence counsel prayed that the court grant the pupils bail in a liberal term.

    The presiding magistrate,Mrs Adejumoke Olowolagba, granted the six accused persons bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties each in the sum.

    The judge, who ordered that one of the sureties must provide tax clearance certificate, adjourned the case till February 15,  2016 for mention.

    Meanwhile, the Osun State government has shut down six public schools in Osogbo, the Osun State capital over rise in the violent cult clashes by the students.

    In the last one week, series of violent clashes in some schools have been recorded with many teachers and students seriously affected.

    It was further gathered that  a member of Peace Corps posted to one of the schools was  axed on the head during the attack which occurred on Tuesday in one of the schools.

    It was also reported that a student identified as Toheeb ordered a female Home Economics teacher out of class.

    The student, whom a reliable source said had been coming to school with a dane gun, rebuffed the  members of Peace Corps asking him to behave.

    The source, who preferred anonymity, disclosed that some boys suspected to be members of his cult group, stormed the school and attacked both the police and other students.

    The source said: “When the police arrived, some people who were not in school uniform mobilised and launched attack on them. Two teachers, one female and male, were injured during the crisis.

    “Again on Monday when we arrived school, some policemen were sighted in the school and students and people in mufti mobilised against them. But some of them were arrested by the police. This forced the closure of the schools indefinitely.”

     

     

     

     

  • Bayelsa poll: PDP ‘agents’ attacking our members, APC raises alarm

    Bayelsa poll: PDP ‘agents’ attacking our members, APC raises alarm

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa State chapter, yesterday raised the alarm over continuous attack and intimidation of its members by persons allegedly working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led state government.

    The party said it would not sit by and watch members constantly harassed by suspected agents of the state government.

    APC through Sylva/Igiri Campaign Organisation (SICO), the campaign outfit of its governorship candidate for the December 5 poll, Chief Timipre Sylva, said the harassment was being carried out by a support group of Governor Seriake Dickson, the Bayelsa Volunteer Force (BVF).

    SICO in a statement by its Chairman, Non-Conventional Security Committee and lawmaker representing Brass Constituency 1 in the State House of Assembly, Mr Israel Sunny-Goli, claimed that it was inundated with calls of attack on residents and drivers who ply the Okaka road, near the secretariat of the BVF.

    SICO said: “We have it on good authority that the dastardly act being carried out by more than fifty armed boys followed the directive of the Secretary of the Volunteer Force and former Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government Council, Mr Bonny Ayah, popularly called Inikiyor.

    “The campaign organisation has uncovered plots by the leadership of the Bayelsa Volunteers Force to commence the house-to-house raid of known APC members to harm and intimidate them on behalf of their principal, Governor Seriake Dickson.

    “The APC is calling on the governor to call his boys to order and focus on issues bordering on the election rather than resorting to molestation and criminality.

    “We, therefore, urge the security agents in the state, particularly the Commissioner of Police and State Director of the State Security Services (DSS), to increase patrol on the now dreaded Okaka Road and entire Yenagoa to forestall the impending violent plot of the Bayelsa Volunteers.

    “APC members will not fold their arms and allow the government and its agents continue to attack our supporters. We want to encourage our party faithful, supporters and members to go about their normal duty and not relent in canvassing votes for the Sylva-Igiri ticket for the Governorship election ahead of the December 5, election.”

    Governor of Bayelsa  State, Mr Seriake  Dickson, said that persons suspected to be members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were destroying campaign materials of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Through his campaign team, the Restoration Campaign Organisation (RCO), Dickson said his party’s billboards, posters and fliers were vandalised.

    RCO in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Jonathan Obuebite, implored security agencies in the state to intervene and halt the trend.

    Obuebite, describing the development as disheartening and uncalled for, appealed to security agencies to avert possible political clash.

    He said: “Most of the billboard erected by the ruling party in the state have been defaced while many were outright damaged by people identified as APC faithful.

    “Over seventy per cent of our billboards in some communities in the state, to be precise, Kpansia, Agudama, Ovom and Igbogene have been defaced by the suspected members of the APC. This development lend credence to our position that APC is not ready for the contest, rather its members are looking for means to provoke us, so that there will be crisis in the state.

    “We are law-abiding people and we abhor violence in all forms. It is therefore disheartening that all our billboards are being defaced and destroyed without cause.

    “We appeal to the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies to come to our aid and protect us from this assault. We want to carry on our activities in a peaceful manner to maintain the peace that has been prevalent in this State.”

  • ‘Stop attacking Lai Mohammed for doing his job’  

    ‘Stop attacking Lai Mohammed for doing his job’  

    A group, the Kwara Concerned Citizens, has urged people to stop attacking the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for doing his job.

    The group, in a statement yesterday by Dr. Hezekiah Oyedepo, an Igbomina community leader and the Wakilin of Lafiaji, Umoru Sha’aba Lafiaji, said: “Our attention has been drawn to a statement by a group in our dear state, Kwara, condemning and even threatening the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, over the statement he issued on behalf of the party in the aftermath of the recent elections into the leadership positions of the National Assembly.

    “We are astonished that for carrying out his duties diligently, as he has always done, by articulating the position of his party, Lai Mohammed has become a target of attacks and threats from some perfidious persons in his state.

    “In order to put the issue in the proper perspective, we members of the Kwara Concerned Citizens have therefore decided to set the record straight by saying the opinion of that self-serving group does not reflect that of the majority of the good people of Kwara, while also acknowledging the courage, loyalty, decency and professionalism of Lai Mohammed in carrying out his duties as the voice of the APC.

    “In the first instance, the opinions expressed by Lai Mohammed in his statements are not his own, but that of his party. Secondly, since he articulates the position of his party at many levels – including intra and inter-party, national as well as international – he is expected, at all times, to put the interest of the party above his  personal interest.

    “We make bold to say that to our pride as his kinsmen and indeed to wide acclamation across the land, he has performed his duties creditably.

    “It is therefore unfair, illogical and downright simplistic to conclude that Lai Mohammed’s statement conveying the immediate reaction of his party to the elections in the National Assembly means he is opposed to the election of his kinsman, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as the President of the Senate.

    “What was he expected to do in the circumstances? Refuse to carry out his duty as the APC spokesman just because of the involvement of his kinsman in the Senate leadership election? Infuse his own feelings and opinion into his party’s statement so that he won’t be seen as opposing his kinsman? Or issue his own statement reflecting his personal opinion, as against that of his party?

    “To the best of our knowledge, Lai Mohammed’s statement conveying his party’s reaction was not restricted to the election of Dr. Saraki alone, but also concerns that of Yakubu Dogara as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. We are not aware that to date, any group in Bauchi State, the home state of Dogara, has attacked or threatened Lai Mohammed for not supporting his emergence as Speaker.

    “Lai Mohammed’s antecedents in the performance of his duties as party spokesman speak volumes about his courage, party loyalty and ability to rise beyond situations that will get less-imbued persons bogged down in a quagmire.

    “Despite his close relationship with the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, dating back to their days in school, Lai Mohammed never for once shied away from conveying his then opposition Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN’s) views on Yar’Adua’s administration. In most cases, such views were scathing. Yet, to his eternal credit, Yar’Adua never for once used that against him.

    “We of the Kwara Concerned Citizens are therefore alarmed that any individual or group will seek to extrapolate that because Lai Mohammed issued a statement reflecting his party’s stand on the National Assembly leadership’s elections, he is automatically against the emergence of his kinsman as Senate President and he must be pilloried.”

  • Pardew satisfied with attacking signings

    Pardew satisfied with attacking signings

    Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew praised the impact of the club’s new arrivals following a 4-0 victory over Sydney FC.

    The Premier League side moved swiftly in the transfer market to boost their options after a disappointing conclusion to the last campaign, with two of their latest recruits scoring on Tuesday.

    Forward Emmanuel Riviere, who signed from Monaco last week, was on target along with Siem de Jong, with the duo having been joined at St James’ Park by Remy Cabella and Daryl Janmaat.

    Midfielder Jack Colback has also joined on a free transfer from local rivals Sunderland, while Ayoze Perez has been drafted in from Tenerife.

    And Pardew is confident that his new signings will shine in the upcoming season.

    “It was nice to see the new boys all contribute in a really positive way,” Pardew said.

    “It’s obvious we have more offensive options now with the arrivals of Rivier, Siem and Ayoze.”

    Long-serving defender Steven Taylor added: “We have the pace up front to cause problems.

    “Even at this stage of the season, our fitness is showing through and we looked sharp. There’s a great work ethic to the team.”

    Newcastle begin their league campaign against defending champions Manchester City on August 17.