The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Bricklayer

  • God saved me, says shot bricklayer

    God saved me, says shot bricklayer

    Forty-year old Yinka Olatunji who was macheted and shot when the police and some hoodlums stormed Imowonla in Ikorodu, last Tuesday, has thanked God for his survival.

    Olatunji, a bricklayer, is afraid of a fresh attack if discharged from the hospital.

    He told The Nation: “I still keep wondering how I got into this condition. I am a bricklayer; that is what I do for a living. I don’t have any connection with land grabbing matter. I woke up as early as 6:30 am on Tuesday morning to go and complete the work I am doing on a site. Around 7am, I wanted to get started when I remembered I needed to call a labourer who can assist me. I was about to move outside when I heard noise and saw some guys with arms together with some policemen, they held guns and the guys shouted, ‘he is part of them’ they quickly ran towards me and I started shouting I am a bricklayer, I only came to work.

    “They surrounded me and started macheting me. I was helpless. The policemen were there watching the guys brutalising me. One of policemen later pitied me and told his colleagues that he is sure I am not part of the land grabbers as I have said I am a bricklayer. So they shouldn’t allow me to die in their hands. That was when the guys stopped and they drenched me with a bowl of soaked clothes they sighted and left me helpless. They shot in the air.

    “I was crawling when some women ran to help me before my people rushed me to the hospital. I have been here since Tuesday. The doctor already told me that I can be discharged but I decided to wait behind because I am afraid I can be attacked again. I have three kids who still need care. I am appealing to the Lagos State Government to rescue us in Imowonla. I can’t bear all this trouble. We are not safe.”

    The hospital’s Medical Director, Dr Ismail Akeem, said Olatunji had been discharged but he refused to go home, adding: “He pleaded to still be in our custody for his safety and security. He was brought on Tuesday morning badly injured. We confirmed injuries at his back, hands, thigh and head close to his skull. We had to quickly commence treatment because he was at the verge of death as he has lost lot of blood. Even while they brought him, we were careful because we still heard continuous gun shots.”

  • Bricklayer admits stealing motorcycle

    Bricklayer admits stealing motorcycle

    A 27-year old bricklayer, Yusuf Isiaka, has told an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court that he stole a parked motorcycle at an estate in Lekki, Lagos.

    Isiaka from Kajola in Akure, the Ondo State capital, was arraigned before Magistrate P. A. Adekomaya on a two-count charge of stealing and possession of property suspected to have been stolen.

    The offence contravenes Sections 285(1) and 327 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The police accused Isiaka of committing the offence in Goshen Estate, Lekki Phase 1, in Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    Prosecuting Corporal Friday Mameh said on June 19, Isiaka trailed Bakura Bura to where he parked his unregistered Honda Dio motorcycle in front of a house at Goshen Estate.

    The defendant allegedly returned the following day at about 2:30am and took the motorcycle. When he could not start the motorcycle, he dragged it along the road till he got to Ikate Roundabout, Lekki, where he was allegedly accosted and arrested by the estate’s security guards.

    Magistrate Adekomaya adjourned the case till July 5, for sentencing.

     

  • Bricklayer ‘stabs’ engineer to death

    A father of two, Samuel Onatayo has been stabbed to death by cultists.

    Onatayo, an engineer, was killed around 10:30am on his way to Vulcaniser Bus Stop in Agbelekale Meiran, Lagos.

    He was allegedly killed by one Precious Emefor, a 21-year-old, bricklaying apprentice.

    According to Sergeant Mariam Dauda, Emefor’s elder brother, Evans (now at large) who was injured by cult boys called the suspect to join him in a reprisal attack.

    Onatayo was allegedly stabbed with a knife by Emefor.

    Emefor was arraigned yesterday before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court for alleged conspiracy and unlawful killing.

    Sergeant Dauda applied that the defendant be remanded in prison pending advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

    Magistrate Nurudeen Layeni ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison and adjourned till December 19.

     

  • Bricklayer drowns in stream

    The body of a bricklayer was yesterday recovered from a stream in Magodo Phase II by officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).

    He was said to have gone to the stream for a bath after close of work at a construction site at Magodo waterside on Sunday evening.

    It was gathered that the deceased simply identified as Abdullahi got drowned on the stream.

    His fellow workers reportedly became worried after waiting for him for long and contacted emergency workers.

    The Nation gathered that the emergency workers’efforts to rescue him on Sunday night failed. They returned to the scene yesterday and fished out his body.

    It took a combined team of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) officials, police and local divers to recover the body about 4:30pm.

    LASEMA General Manager, Michael Akindele said the body has been deposited in a morgue.

    The police, he said, would investigate to ascertain the cause of death, appealing to developers to monitor their workers closely to forestall such incidence.

    “LASEMA received distress call at about 6:45pm on Sunday of a young artisan working at a construction site by Magodo waterside who drowned in a stream.

    “Our response team searched through the night and continued Monday till his body was recovered at about 4pm.

    “The body was handed over to State Embalmment and Mortuary Unit (SEMU) by LASEMA officials with police officers from Magodo police station. The police will carry out further investigation on the incident,” he said.

     

  • Bricklayer jailed 12 years for rape

    33- year-old bricklayer, Taoreed Oseni, has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by an Ikeja High Court in Lagos for raping an 18-year old bread hawker.

    Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya said the jail term would begin on August 2, 2012 when the defendant was remanded in prison custody.

    Oseni was said to have committed the offence on July 20, 2012 at an abandoned public toilet in Mafoluku Oshodi, Lagos.

    During the trial, the victim told the court that Taoreed informed her that her boyfriend was calling her and she asked him where he was.

    She said the convict tricked her and led her to a public toilet where her boyfriend was said to be waiting for her.

    On getting to the public toilet, the convict was said to have had carnal knowledge of her.

    She said she pleaded with the convict to spare her, but he hit her on the forehead with bottle.

    She said when Oseni did not listen to her plea, she succumbed, adding that the defendant raped her in the abandoned public toilet.

    The convict claimed that he committed the act because he was drunk.

    Justice Ogunsanya said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

  • Bricklayer machetes neighbour to death

    An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lagos has remanded a 29-year-old bricklayer, Ibrahim Tijani, in Prison for allegedly killing his neighbour, Bashorun Okanla.

    Chief Magistrate M.O Tanimola said the accused would remain in custody, pending legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    The accused, who resides at Okun in Ajah area of Lagos, is facing a charge of murder.

    Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Elizabeth Ekuma told the court that the late Okanla had complained about the fumes from Tijani’s generator which was filtering into his apartment.

    “An argument ensued between the duo which led Tijani to enter his room, and pick a cutlass which he used to attack the deceased on one of his legs and the left hand”, she said.

    Okanla, she said, died in hospital.

    ASP Ekuma said the offence was committed on February 8, around 2.30pm at Okun Ajah, Lagos.

    The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

    The magistrate adjourned the case till April 15, pending advice from DPP.

  • Bricklayer to die by hanging in Delta

    Justice G.E Gbemre of the Effurun High Court yesterday sentenced a bricklayer, Michael Taiye, to death.

    He was found guilty of a three-count charge of conspiracy to commit robbery, armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms.

    Taiye was arrested after he was injured in a gun battle with a police patrol team on January 11, 2006.

    Items recovered from him include a short double barrel gun with live cartridge and a white Volvo, which had earlier been snatched from its owner.

    The police also recovered three guns upon a search on the abandoned vehicle.

    It was reported that the convict and his gang refused to stop at a police checkpoint.

    In his confessional statement, Taiye admitted to committing the offence and also named Andrew, who escaped, as the gang leader and armourer.

    Justice Gbemre said: “There is always a day of reckoning and for the accused, today is the day.

    “The prosecution left no one in doubt as the essential ingredients of armed robbery against the accused were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

    “I thereby find the accused guilty of conspiracy, armed robbery and illegal possession of firearms.”

    He was subsequently sentenced to death on the count of conspiracy and armed robbery while he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for illegal possession of firearms.

    The convict’s counsel, Ayo Asala, said his client will appeal the judgment, adding that there were sufficient grounds for appeal.

    In a related development, an Asaba High Court has sentenced a 25-year-old man, Moses Chukwuemeka, to death by hanging for armed robbery.

    He was on trial on a count charge of armed robbery committed behind the Ibori Golf and Country Club, Asaba in 2009.

    He robbed a bike rider with a cutlass after pretending to be a passenger.

    Prosecution called four witnesses and the accused testified for himself without calling any witness.

    Also, Justice Marshall Mukoro of a Warri High Court has convicted and sentenced Efe Taire Jonathan (32) to death by hanging for armed robbery.

    The convict, who hails from Ovwian, Udu Local Government, and claimed to be a bus driver with three others now at large robbed Tommy Etejire of his Toyota RAV 4 on January 21, 2011 at Upper Erejuwa, Warri.

    He also attempted to sell the car to a popularly car dealer known as “Chief” at Agbor before he was arrested.

    The convict and his gang members also held the owner of the car hostage and demanded for N30 million but negotiated to N1.2 million which was paid by his family before he finally regained his freedom.

     

  • Bricklayer ‘kills’ labourer with shovel

    A bricklayer has been arrested by detectives attached to the Ogonbo Police Division: His offence: Allegedly killing with a shovel, a labourer who was working with him on a construction project.

    The incident occurred around 9am on May 7 at the construction site located at Osungotedo, Ogombo, a Lagos suburb, along the Epe/Lekki Expressway.

    The suspect, Alaba Jona and the deceased, Segun Peters, were said to be working on the site.

    Jona was the bricklayer in charge of the building, while the late Peters supplied mixed sand, cement and gravel.

    The Nation learnt that around 10am, the late Peters complained of tiredness and hunger and sought to be allowed to rest, but the complaint did not go down well with Jona, who forcefully collected his shovel.

    “He tried to continue mixing the sand and cement, but Peters collected the shovel from him, did the mixing and lifted the head pan filled with mixed sand and cement. He was about placing it on his head when Jona collected the shovel from him and hit him on his stomach. Peters’ stomach ripped open and he slumped. He died before help could arrive. Jona absconded from the site and was later arrested by policemen in a nearby village where he had gone to hide,” a source said.

    Police sources confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect had been caught.

    Peters’ remains were said to have been deposited at a morgue on the Island, while Jona was moved to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba.