The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fisherman

  • Fisherman ‘kills’ colleague over N3,000

    Fisherman ‘kills’ colleague over N3,000

    A lagos High Court heard yesterday how a fisherman, Taiye Agbaje,  killed a fellow fisherman, Monday Umukoro, over a N3 000 debt.

    A witness,  Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Simeon Kunamon,  told Justice Adedayo Akintoye that the incident happened on August 13, 2014 at Epe,  Lagos

    According to the witness, the defendant had on the fateful day asked the deceased to accompany him to see someone.

    The witness, led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Bola Gbadamosi, said  they went in a canoe and on their way  back to the village, the defendant hit the deceased on the head with the paddle and he fell inside the water.

    Kunamon said the defendant ran to the village to inform people that the deceased drowned because of the sea’s high current.

    He said the body was  recovered three days after on August 16.

    The witness said the deceased was buried without an autopsy, because the body had decomposed.

    Kunamon said :  “No doctor agreed to conduct an autopsy on the deceased because his body had  decomposed.”

    He said the Marine Police reported the case to State Criminal Investigation Department at Panti,  Yaba, adding that they also  took him and his team with a gun boat to the scene.

    According to him “after investigation was carried out, I discovered that the deceased had a deep cut on his head. There was a mark of violence on his head, inflicted on him by the defendant”.

     

     

  • Herbalist, fisherman found with rifles

    Herbalist, fisherman found with rifles

    •They are pirates, say police

    A Badagry-based herbalist, Mustapha Sunmola, 58, and his fisherman nephew, Seth Akpot, 40, have been arrested by the police in Lagos for  possession of three AK47 rifles, several magazines with live ammunition.

    They were arrested on June 20, by operatives of the Inspector General of Police’ (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and Tactical Intelligence Unit (TIU), at Iworo/Ajido in Badagry.

    According to the police, they got a tip off the suspects were pirates and had hijacked vessels carrying petroleum products.

    The police claimed they were sponsored by Alphonse, a wealthy businessman in Benin Republic, who allegedly bought the guns for them.

    But the suspects denied being in Alphonse’s gang, insisting he only gave them the firearms to keep for him in exchange for cash.

    Sunmola, who denied preparing charms for pirates and armed robbers, said his nephew brought the guns to his house in May for safekeeping.

    The herbalist, who initially denied knowing the bag he was asked to keep contained guns, confessed when his nephew answered otherwise.

    Sunmola said: “We are from Badagry. Akpot is my sister’s son. He was the one who brought the gun. He told me it is what they used to work with in the ship. He told me to keep it,  saying he and his friends would come back for it.

    “The gun was in my house for three weeks before police arrested me. He was the one who brought police to my shrine. I did not collect any money to keep the guns and I am not a member of any gang. I am a herbalist. I inherited the job from my grandfather. I do not do charms for criminals. I only prepare herbs for people looking for babies and those battling ailment.”

    Akpot, who said he took delivery of the guns from Alphonse at brick water, said the alleged illegal oil bunkerer and pirate promised to give him money to keep them.

    He claimed he knew Alphonse last year, adding that he usually supplied fish to him.

    Akpot said: “I knew him through Baba Beji. Baba Beji was my friend and customer. He usually bought fish from me. But when he relocated, he introduced me to Alphonse and I used to supply fish to him.

    “He bought fish between N25,000 and N40,000 at least three times a month from me. He is a rich man in Benin Republic. I know he’s into oil bunkering and he used to send Cotonou boats to Lagos anchorage to load products in jerrycans.

    “The day he gave me the guns, he told me to meet him in the water. He was in his speedboat and I was in my wooden boat. He told me  there were guns and that I should keep them well for him. He said he was going to give me big money but did not tell me the amount.

    “He said he wanted to help me because I am a good person. So, I took the guns to my mother’s brother, a herbalist because I didn’t know where to keep them. I am not a pirate. I am not a member of the gang.”

  • Day of honour for the ‘fisherman’ turned DESOPADEC chief

    Day of honour for the ‘fisherman’ turned DESOPADEC chief

    The ceremony was supposed to be just a ‘Thanksgiving’ to God for the appointment of Chief Favour O. Izoukumor as the Commissioner representing the Ijaw ethnic group on the board of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).  It turned out to be a carnival of sort; thousands of Ijaw men, women, youth and various groups besieged the playground of the Delta Careers College venue of the reception to honour the man oil producing communities place their hope for development.

    Indications that the ‘few hundred’ guests envisaged by theh Fiye-owei of Ogbe-Ijoh kingdom, Chief Izoukumor and his wife, Beatrice, would be overshot first emerged at the church service held at the Christ Embassy, Effurun. Apart from the Deputy Governor of the state, Deacon Kingsley Otuaro, a lawyer, and other top political officeholders, over 20 traditional rulers attended the service.

    Before the end of the service at about 1pm, over 5,000 brightly dressed Ijaw men and women were waiting at the venue of the reception. They came from far and wide; upland and hinterland Ijaw and other communities in state.

    The guest list read like ‘who-is-who’ in the politics of the state; the deputy governor, Deputy Speaker, State Assembly, Hon Friday Osanebi; Hon Julius Pondi, the member representing Burutu Constituency in the House of Representatives and pioneer chairman of DESOPADEC, Chief Wellington Okirika were in attendance. Also was Executive Director, Planning and Research of the commission, Mr Victor Oritsetimeyin Woods as well as commissioners representing the other ethnic nations.

    The guest list also included members of the State House of Assembly – Hon Dan Yingi, Timi Tonye, among others; councilors from the various council assemblies and the traditional rulers, who came in dozens.

    The monarchs included those of kingdoms as Ogulagha (Torububor Agbounu), Seimbiri (Pere Charles Ayemi-Botu), Egbema (Bini Pere II), Gbaramatu (Chief PT Heavens), Diebiri, Kabowei, Ogboromo, Iduwini, and the Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh, the home of Izoukumor, HRM Couple Oromoni.

    There were also Chief Boro Opudu, Chairman Waterways and Land Security, Dr Isaac Tolar, Frank Omare, former commissioner, Mr Lucky Ezebri and Chief Efe Akpofure (SAN).

    At the thanksgiving church service, the celebrant revealed his rise as a fisherman in a remote community in Ogbe-Ijoh to owning and operating a vast and thriving maritime business before his appointment as a DESOPADEC Commissioner in September. He said it was due to the grace of God in his life and the motivation of the President of his church, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome (Ph.D) and Pastor Siji Dara and other men of the church.

    “When you have the motivation of a very high standing man of God like our President and founder of our great church to look up to, you cannot but strive for perfection in every area of your life. His life challenged me to further my education and get better in whatever I do. Today, my appointment as the Commissioner representing the Ijaw ethnic group in DESOPADEC is due to the motivation and my quest to do better. I am influenced of my brother, political mentor and leader, Barrister Kingsley Otuaro,” the University of Benin Political Science graduate stated.

    He restated his total commitment to the vision and objectives of the governor of the state to use the commission as a tool to drive development in the rural communities. He promised not to fail the traditional rulers and others who were instrumental to his appointment, stressing, “It will no longer be business as usual.”

    Speaking in an exclusive chat with Niger Delta Report Izoukumor advised youths not to be discouraged by their backgrounds and present condition. He urged them to strive to improve themselves through further educational pursuits and to endeavor to add a little extra effort in whatever they do to become the best.

    For his part, the Deputy Governor of the state, Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro, urged youths of the state to take a cue from the meteoric rise of the celebrants to make something good out of their lives. He cautioned them against restiveness and other vices that could hinder their future.

    Otuaro assured that in spite of the dwindling price of oil in the international market, the state government would remain focused in implementing its prosperity programmes.

    He thanked God for the appointment of the celebrant, Chief Izoukumor, charged him to use his position to empower women with micro-credit facilities so they can set up businesses of their own.

  • Lagos fisherman freed of alleged robbery

    Lagos High court in Ikeja has discharged and acquitted a 25-year-old boat operator and fisherman, Emmanuel Egbayelo, of armed robbery.

    He had been arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and alleged armed robbery. He was discharged last Thursday after spending four years in custody.

    The court presided by Justice Lateefat Okunnu held that the prosecution failed to prove the allegations preferred against him.

    “The prosecution has not done enough to prove the armed robbery incident and enough has not been done to prove the defendant’s guilt.  It is the view of the court that the allegations against the defendant are mere suspicions and suspicion has no place in law,” the judge ruled.

    Justice Okunnu further held that  the evidence given by the first prosecution witness was in English language and was not interpreted to the defendant hence, she disregarded it.

    The judge also dismissed the testimonies of the second and third prosecution witnesses on the grounds that they were not relevant directly to the crime for which the suspect was charged.

    “The evidence before the court does not prove the charge; there is no evidence of committing the act. Conspiracy cannot be proved by mere inference and  as such the charge fails. It is hereby dismissed and the defendant is hereby acquitted and discharged,”she stated.

    According to the police, the suspect was arrested on March 22, 2010 around 4am while operating a boat on the Kikiriki waterside.

    One of the prosecution witnesses,  Sergeant Festus Okoebor from the Marine Police Command, told the court that Egbayelo was arrested  while on patrol with two of his colleagues.

    According to him, the suspect was arrested in a boat about 3.30am with items, such as a revolver, a locally made double barrel gun, four laptops, seven handsets, two hair clippers, one hack saw and one wrist watch.

    Though by the time the police team sighted the boat, there were between 10 and 12 men in the boat, only Egbayelo was caught while the others escaped.

    The court heard that  Egbayelo was taken to the office of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Ikeja where his case was assigned to an officer,  Felix Igbasan and others to investigate.

    Igbasan, who was the first prosecution witness, told the court that after cautioning the suspesct, he obtained his statement and told him to sign because he could not write.

    He said during his investigations, the defendant led him to No. 31, Virgil Dike Street, Okota, Lagos, the scene of the crime, adding that one Inspector Frankling  Adeleke and Inspector Babakunle were with him.

    He further told the court that the victims of the robbery, one Chiamara Emmanuel and one Oguabi Raymond, showed the police how the robbers had broken into their house. He said the recovered items were returned to the victims.

    But Egbayelo told the court during trial that  he was only a boat operator and that it was one Odudu, who he had only met a couple of weeks before, that called him on phone around midnight on that day to help him carry some bags of rice  at Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) where he worked.

    He said on getting to the scene, he met Odudu and other persons not known to him and that he protested that he would not take them in his boat but Odudu persuaded him to take them with a promise  to give him N2,000 instead of the normal N1,500.

  • The shoes of the fisherman

    Oh boy, oh boy!!! We have noted several times in this column of life becoming a poor version of literature. But we are happy to report that it is not always a one-way traffic. There are times when it is the turn of life to imitate literature. Thus does the whirligig of time brings its own sweet revenge, as William Shakespeare would put it.

    Has anybody on these shores ever watched the 1968 film of the above title? Or better still has anybody read the  1963 novel of the same name by the Australian novelist, Moris West? It is a gripping read. The film version which begins with an apocalyptic scene of atomic destruction has the great actor, Anthony Quinn in toweringly magisterial form.

    The Shoes of the Fisherman chronicles the incredible rise to global prominence and papal stardom of Kiril Lakota, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lvov. After twenty years as a prisoner in a Siberian labour camp, he is suddenly and dramatically released like a terminal virus on the world by his former jailer who had become the premier of the Soviet Union. There begun an incredible series of events. Lakota was sent to Rome where he was immediately raised to the cardinalate by the elderly Pope Pius X111. Lakota is unsure of himself and very much aware of his own modest talents begged to be given “a simple mission with simple people”. The pope was adamant, insisting that he should immediately proceed to take his cardinal vow.

    Thereafter, the frail pontiff suddenly collapses and dies. In the race to choose the new pope, Cardinal Lakota began participating as an obscure and barely distinguished elector. This led to a deadlock in which the two leading candidates or papabili simply eliminated each other in a progressive politics of exhaustion. After seven dead heats, it was one of the two, Cardinal Rinaldi,  who broke the deadlock by suggesting that Cardinal Lakota should be elected pope as a compromise candidate. This suggestion received popular acclamation after the cardinals interviewed Lakota and were bowled over by his touching humility and amazing simplicity. Lakota becomes Pope Kiril.

    Sounds very familiar? Well. Snooper cannot claim credits when life imitates literature. In any case, has it not been said that the meek shall inherit the earth? Talent is not a talisman. The greatest genius may well be the person who is able to hide his genius. In Nigeria from Tafawa-Balewa, Shehu Shagari, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and now Jonathan anybody who shows active interest in the presidency will never be allowed to get there. He will be lucky if his head is not used to smash the coconut of fortunes for others. Don’t ask how the novel ends. Go and read it.