The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Edo State Police Command

  • Woman hired assassins to kill ex-lover in Edo

    Woman hired assassins to kill ex-lover in Edo

    Men of the Edo State Police Command are on the trail of a lady who allegedly hired assassins to kill her ex-lover, Mr. Okundolor Omoruyi.

    Omoruyi, aged 39, was killed in May at Utagban quarters in Egor local government area few weeks after he arrived Nigeria from Italy.

    The lady whose identity was yet to be ascertained was said to have contracted the killers because she was jilted by the late Omoruyi.

    State Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, who paraded two suspects arrested in connection to the killing said another 18 years old girl was killed by the gang for recognizing one of them.

    He said a lady contracted the suspects to kill the Italian returnee.

    Gwandu assured that other suspects in the killing would soon be arrested.

    One of the suspect who gave his name as Odion Igbinogun gave the names of other fleeing suspects as Power and Moses.

    Odion said it was Power that pulled the trigger killing Omoruyi saying he was only asked to accompany them on the mission.

    He said the deal to kill Omoruyi was sealed at a bar but he could not recognized the lady that gave out the job.

    According to him, “My friend put me into this problem. He said I should follow them somewhere. When we got to a shop, he said I should collect the apron from the seller. I didn’t know how much was in the apron.

    “I later saw my friend brought out a gun and kill the girl. They later said we should go to another place where we killed the man.”

     

  • Herdsmen menace: Police, hunters to comb forest in Edo

    Herdsmen menace: Police, hunters to comb forest in Edo

    Edo State Police Command in collaboration with vigilantes and local hunters have concluded plans to commence tactical surveillance of forest suspected to be hideouts of notorious herdsmen and other criminals in the state.

    The exercise, according to the state Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, was aimed at smoking out all manner of criminals from the urban and rural communities in the state to enable farmers go to farms.

    The Police Commissioner urged them to provide information on forest and bushes suspected to be haven for notorious fulani herdsmen and other criminal elements in their domains.

    He warned local vigilante groups in the state against recruiting criminals or ex-cultists as part of their team.

    Gwandu who spoke at a stakeholders meeting with traditional rulers, hunters and vigilante groups said his command would not tolerate any vigilante group caught working with those he termed misguided elements.

    He said the criminals would hide under vigilante to commit crimes in the state.

    Gwandu told the traditional rulers that plans were on the way to flush out criminal herdsmen from various forest in the state.

    The state police boss assured the gathering that any corrupt police officers found culpable would dismissed from the force.

    “Edo police command under my watch would not tolerate corruption coming from any angle. I didn’t ask anybody to extort money from one  and you don’t  have to be corrupt while doing your job.

    “Government is showing serious concern about the activities of herdsmen in the state through joint forces combing the forest to flush out criminal elements in herdsmen.”

    Leaders of hunters, vigilant groups and representatives of traditional rulers expressed their readiness to sustain the partnership as security in their various communities is paramount.

    Amongst those who spoke at the gathering are the representative of Otaru of Auchi Alhaji Usman Abuda, Chief Raymond Okpai and Chief Sunday Omonua of Ekpoma Kingdom.

     

  • Police nabs suspected killer of Egbeta Chief Imam

    Police nabs suspected killer of Egbeta Chief Imam

    Men of the Edo State Police Command have arrested suspected killer of the Chief Imam of Egbeta Mosque in Ovia North East local government area, Mallam Saka Afolabi.

    Afolabi was killed on March 4th in the presence of his three children by three gunmen while on his way to his farm.

    The name of the arrested suspected killer was given as Ajetena Adebayo Moruf

    Parading the suspect yesterday, State Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, said the police traversed five states before the suspect was arrested.

    Gwandu said two other suspects were still at large.

    He urged other assassins in the state to repent as the police would do anything to nab them.

    According to him, “The principal suspect in the killing of Chief Imam of Egbeta Mosque has been arrested. The three of them killed the imam. Others are on the run. The sons of the deceased witnessed the killing. It is very unfortunate.

    “After the incident, the suspect went into hiding. We went to more than five states before we nabbed him. We were able to track him to Shagamu in Ogun State.”

    Son of the deceased, Afolabi Wahid, said his late father and some farmers had been having dispute with the suspect since 2014.

    Wahid claimed that he saw the suspect and two others with guns on a motor-cycle while he was going to farm but he didn’t know they were on a mission to kill his father.

    He said his three brothers who were with their father at the time of the killing ran away.

    The suspect however denied being involved in the killing of the Chief Imam.

    Ajetena urged the police to check his call logs to determine where he was on the day of the killing.

    His words, “It is a set up. I am going to be vindicated because there is God. I was not in Shagamu on that day. The deceased was one of my farmers. The issues we are having are in Court. It is an issue that the late Ooni has intervene in the matter. I have about 300 farmers and 20 individuals are causing crisis.

    “I stay in Shagamu and not in the camp. I have been in Shagamu since on the 28th of February. I was not in Egbeta at all. There are people that can testify that I was in Shagamu. I received calls throughout day. The police can check with the network providers. The first call I received was at 6:11 am. The police can verify where I made calls from.”

     

  • Pastor nabbed for attempting to bomb church 

    Pastor nabbed for attempting to bomb church 

    A Benin based pastor who gave his name as Abel Eku has been arrested for attempting to bomb the headquarters of his church, the Christ Chosen Church of God.

    Pastor Abel who claimed to have served the church for 25 years planted explosives inside the auditorium of the church headquarters on January 22, the day the church was to hold an international conference.

    The explosives were detected and policemen were invited who detonated the explosives.

    Men of the Edo State Police Command arrested Pastor Abel on March 7 and he confessed to have manufactured the explosives and planted them himself.

    Speaking to newsmen during a parade at police headquarters, Pastor Abel said he planted the bomb because he was bitter about his dismissal from the church over marital issues.

    Pastor Abel said he did it out of annoyance but later regretted his action which made him to call the church officials about the location of the bomb.

    He said the bomb was not meant to kill but to scare his church members and elders.

    According to him, “It was out of annoyance that I planted the bomb. I was dismissed from the church after serving for 25 years. After planting the bomb, I was not happy with myself. I had a change of heart and called the people about it. It was to scare people. I have to call people to check and diffuse it.

    “I am 57 years old. I had marital issues with my wife. We came to the church to resolve it and it was not resolved. It led to my dismissal. I was very bitter about the dismissal. I don’t have the intention of killing people. My action is very bad.”

    On how he was made a pastor in the church, Pastor Abel said his parents offered him to the church as a first fruit because of inability to have children.

    “I was given to the church as a first issue. My parents were married for many years without any issue, so they vowed at the alter that any first child God gave to them would be given to the church. That was how they gave me to the church.”

     

  • Breaking news: Police kill two robbers in Edo

    Breaking news: Police kill two robbers in Edo

    Two armed robbers were Friday evening shot dead by men of the Edo State Police Command after a failed attempt to rob a man.

     

    The dead robbers were part of a four-man robbery gang that trailed a man from Ughelli in Delta State to a new generation bank in Benin City.

     

    Police sources said the robbers trailed their victim in a grey colour Toyota Corolla car and cornered him while he was leaving the bank with the sum of N500,000 with which he want to use to purchase a car.

     

    The source said the robbers shot their victim in the leg after collecting the money and shot sporadically into the air.

     

    They were however given a hot pursuit by men of Operation Thunder Storm, who were on a patrol in the area,

     

    Two of the armed robbers were shot dead during an encounter at the Evbomore area of Ugbowo, off Ugbowo-Lagos Road, while another member of the gang was arrested.

     

    The stolen money was also recovered.

     

    At press time, the police had cordoned the area and were still searching for the fourth member of the gang.

     

    The victim of the attack was said to have been rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for medical attention.

     

    When contacted, spokesman of the Edo State Police command, DSP Moses Nkombe declined comment, saying he would have to seek clearance from his boss, the Commissioner of Police before he could speak.

  • Community head, others arrested over Edo communal clash

    Community head, others arrested over Edo communal clash

    Odionwere (village head) of Azagba community, Pa Samuel Arasomwan aged 84 and Pa David Igbinosun aged 78 including nine others have been arrested by men of the Edo State Police Command over communal clash that led to the destruction of properties.

    They were nabbed after the police raided the community in Uhunmwonde local government area of the state.

    Several assorted guns and ammunition were recovered from the community during the raid.

    Pa Igbinosun said the one of the double barrel guns paraded belongs to a tenant in his house.

    Two Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs) sustained bullets wound during a shootout with some hoodlums in the community.

    State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Haliru Gwandu said the onslaught was aimed at mopping up arms and ammunition used to terrorise innocent residents of the community.

    Gwandu stated that the Chief Priest (Ohen) of the community, Nosakhare Ogieriakhi, and some elders of Azagba community have been invited for questioning over the clash in the community.

    A youth in the community who identified himself as Godfrey Owie accused the Chief Priest of using armed policemen and thugs to attack the community over land sale in the Azagba.

    But the Chief Priest denied the allegation and blamed the former CDA chairman of invading the community with thugs that vandalized his Palace because he asked him to give account of his ten years stewardship.

    Other suspects arrested included Omoyelele Ajiro, Osazee Akhimien, Anighara Collins, Edugie Edwin, Monday Ovie, Osarekhue Osadolor, Daniel John, Augustine Okoh and Onaghise Pius.

    The suspects denied involvement in the communal fracas.

  • Edo polls: I was not arrested with any arms – Ex-militant

    Edo polls: I was not arrested with any arms – Ex-militant

    An ex-militant, General Pere Ojune, who was reportedly arrested in a hotel in Benin City has said that he was not arrested with any firearms.

    General Pere said he was invited by the police after he was told that his younger brother, Ade, was arrested for being in possession with firearms.

    Pere said he believed that his subsequent detention by the police was because he recently defected to the People’s Democratic Party.

    The ex-militant leader said he is an Ijaw from Ovia South West and not an imported militants from any neighboring states to cause mayhem during the elections.

    He spoke yesterday while being paraded at the Edo State Police Command saying that it was his younger brother.

    His words, “It was on Thursday that I saw my younger brother Ade on handcuff and he told me he was arrested at Upper Sakpoba road that they caught him with one double barrel and one cut to size gun.

    “He said he told the police that I am the only one that can come and rescue him and that was why he brought the police to my place. I had earlier warned them not to be involved in any illegal deal.

    “The police said I must come and see the CP myself. I came here with my car and he asked me how I knew this man and I told them he is my brother. They said I should wait and see the CP that was how they kept me inside the cell till today I have not done anything, I am a repentant militant now working with everybody to ensure peace in our society” he stated.

    Ade on his part said it was one man identified as CSP that promised to give him N10, 000 and a parcel of land that gave him the gun to deliver in a hotel.

    He said he using a bicycle to convey the firearms when the police arrested him and he took them to his elder brother who he believed could free him.

  • Edo 2016: Police arrest ex- militant leaders with arms

    Edo 2016: Police arrest ex- militant leaders with arms

    …To be arraign in court on Wednesday

     

    Edo state Police command has arrested three Ex- Militant Leaders around Benin-city with two AK47.

    The three Ex- Militant leaders are currently cooling their heads at the state criminal investigation department inside the state Police headquarters and they will be Arraign in Court on Wednesday.

    Leader of group, Gen. Peres Ejuni from Ofunama, decamped to People’s Democratic Party last week Thursday at home ville hotel, Benin.

    The Police, Department of state Security services and the Edo state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has earlier raised issues of Security concern and importation of Militants into the state.

    Speaking to journalists Monday in Benin, the Commissioner for Justice and Attorney general of Edo state, Barrister Henry Idahagbon on the rumor that the Militants were arrested in his hotel on Friday, he said the purpose of this fabrication is to obfuscate the arrest of one their imported ‘Generals’ Gen. Peres Ejuni who was arrested with two Ak47 assault Rifles and is currently with the police.

    Idahagbon said all efforts made by the PDP candidate; Pastor Osagie Ize-iyamu and his godfather, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion to get the general released from custody have proved abortive.

    The state Attorney general said the police have remained resolute and ready to arraign him before the court on Wednesday.

    “My attention was drawn through innumerable calls to a mischievous publication on the Facebook page of one Ogbeide Ifaluyi Isibor to the effect that the DSS arrested 61 militants in my motel. Some days ago the same fellow also caused to be published that I was buying PVCs within the premises of the ministry of Justice.

    “The PDP having failed woefully to persuade Edo people to return to Egypt has resorted to spinning false stories and marketing same online. We are daily been assailed by different fabricated stories. If the deputy governor wasn’t engaged in a shouting match with the governor, the commissioner for information, Hon Kassim Afegbua will be endorsing one of their two candidates.

    “For the avoidance, the story is false and a figment of the warped imagination of the writer, no amount of false propaganda against my person or other members of the APC will stop the impending annihilation of the party in Edo state and the reduction to tunnels of the over bloated political ego of their candidate.”

    Contact to the state police command in Benin confirmed the arrest.

     

  • Police kill suspected armed robber in Benin

    Police kill suspected armed robber in Benin

    ‎Operatives of the Edo State Police Command on Friday shot dead a suspected armed robber at Oluku bypass, in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of the state.

    ‎The suspect was said to have been killed during a shootout between some policemen and an armed robbery syndicate specialised in highway robbery.

    It was learnt that the deceased and other members of the gang had barricaded the bypass and held a group of travellers captive at about 3am.

    However, the police were said to have received a distress call‎ over the armed robbery operation and proceeded to the scene in an armored vehicle.

    The suspected robbers were said to have immediately open‎ed fire on the vehicle but later fled into the bush with injuries when the police responded with gunshots.

    Five travellers were said to have been rescued by the police.

    A source said that some security operatives later conducted a search ‎around the scene of the incident where the body of the deceased robber was recovered.

    ‎The Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, while confirming the incident, said that it was part of a mop-up plan to flush out criminals from the state, ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.

    Ezike said, “It is part of our mop-up operation. As the election is in view, we need to keep‎ crime down so that the criminals do not useful in perpetrating violence.

  • Police denies carrying out ‘politically motivated arrest’

    Police denies carrying out ‘politically motivated arrest’

    The Edo State Police Command has denied allegations that it has been carrying out ‘politically motivated arrest’.

    State Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, Chief Felix Imosili, had accused the police of increasing political tension by allegedly reluctant to arrest persons involved in pulling down the party’s campaign banners and posters in parts of the state.

    Chief Imosili said PDP leaders were frequently called police stations to bail persons whose arrest he said were politically motivated.

    Imosili stated that the Police stopping of the PDP campaign at Igueben local government because the governor was coming to the area for APC campaign was capable of creating political tension.

    In his reaction, State Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, said those arrested by the police included some members of the National Youth Service Corps caught carrying out voter registration at the residence of a politician in Fugar, Estako Central local government.

    Ezike said the politician was arrested and charged to court.

    He disclosed that some persons were caught with INEC’s voter register and they were released after clarification from INEC officials that document could be downloaded from the Internet.

    The police commissioner said the PDP campaign rally at Ekpon in Igueben was cancelled because Speaker Justin Okonoboh first applied to holding political gathering in the area.