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Tag: jail

  • Drama as Okada rider escapes life jail

    Drama as Okada rider escapes life jail

    There was joy at an Ikorodu Magistrate’s Court in Lagos yesterday when a 19-year-old commercial motorcyclist Solomon Alu got a second chance to fight for his freedom. He had initially pleaded guilty to a seven-count charge of manslaughter.

    Alu, from Ebonyi State, was accused of, among others, reckless driving, driving against traffic, not wearing a helmet, causing the death of one Phillip Alu and injuring Mrs. Ogunfuye Funmilayo when his motorbike was involved in an accident around Benson Bus-Stop, Ikorodu, on July 1.

    During his trial, the court was astonished when Alu, head bowed, shoulders sagging and in tears, pleaded guilty to each of the seven-count charge. The offence contravened Sections 19 and 20 of the Road Traffic Laws of Lagos State. To the court’s surprise, was representing himself because he had no lawyer.

    In a voice, he muttered “guilty” to every count read to him. Even when he appeared to be struggling to understand some of the charges and they were re-read to him, his answer was still: “guilty”.

    After listening to him, Magistrate Makanju-Oshodi retired to her chambers. Under the Criminal Code, the maximum sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment.

    “I have nobody,” Alu told The Nation, when he was asked why he didn’t have a lawyer. “I have nobody. I am 19 years’ old”.

    On why his family was not in court with him, he sobbed: “My elder brother is 22 years’ old. He is in Anambra taking care of our mother. She is ill. I’ve told him not to tell her I’ve been arrested.”

    On the magistrate’s return, two lawyers, a man and woman, walked in. “Are you the accused?” the man asked. Alu nodded.

    “We’re here to take your case for free,” the lawyer said.

    With the lawyer’s appearance, the magistrate allowed Alu to retake his plea. This time on his lawyers’ advice, he pleaded not guilty.

    The magistrate granted him N200, 000 bail, with two sureties in the like sum. She said the sureties should provide evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government as part of the bail conditions.

    The case was adjourned till August 6.

  • Man, 34, bags nine months jail

    A 34-year-old man, Ebenezer Olusola, is to spend the next nine months in prison for selling Indian hemp.

    Olusola was convicted by a Federal High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital after he confessed to selling the hard drug to interested consumers.

    Delivering judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Isaq Sani, who read the “confessional statement” of the convict to the open court, ordered that Olusola was found guilty of the charge against him.

    “I have gone through all the evidences before this court as presented by the prosecution, which included the statement of the convict in writing.

    “In the said statement, you, (Ebenezer Olusola) admitted that you started selling Indian hemp to the public since January, 2015 to earn N1,000 daily.

    “Olusola also agreed to this court that he was guilty of the offence by pleading guilty. These and many other evidences have proven you guilty of the offence and you are hereby convicted thereof,” Justice Sani ordered.

    He, therefore, sentenced the convict to nine months in prison without option of fine, commencing from February 25 this year which was his date of arrest.

    Earlier, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) prosecutor, Mr Charles Ugwuja told the court that the convict, on February 25 at Odo-Ori, Igede-Ekiti, in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State dealt in 200 grammes of carnabis sativa otherwise known as Indian hemp.

  • Smoke in public, go to jail

    Smoke in public, go to jail

    Cigarette smokers in Ekiti State are in for hard times, with the inauguration of a committee to enforce the law against smoking in public places. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports.

    •Ekiti goes tough on smokers

     

    The noose of the law has been tightened on cigarette smokers in Ekiti State with the inauguration of Ekiti State Smoke-Free Law Enforcement Committee.

    A three-month prison sentence awaits anyone caught smoking in public places as the war against illegal use of tobacco gathers steam in the Fountain of Knowledge.

    Security agencies like the Police, Civil Defence Corps, Environmental Health Officers have been empowered by law to arrest culprits and ensure that they are brought to justice.

    The law established the fact that offences shall be summarily tried.

    The move was aimed at giving legal teeth to the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Law passed by the House of Assembly on 26th September, 2012 and assented to by the former Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on 31st December, 2012.

    The enforcement committee which has members drawn from government, non-governmental organizations, security agencies and private sectors has since swung into action to ensure arrest and prosecution of offenders.

    The advocacy was driven by a non-governmental organization based in Ado-Ekiti, the New Initiative for Social Development (NISD), which was established in 1998 and driven by a commitment and vision of a peaceful world where all people have equal rights and opportunities.

    NISD has over the years collaborated with various development partners in its core themes of Violence Against Women, Good Governance, Child Development, Health and Sanitation, Capacity Building, Provision of Free Legal Services to Women, Budget Monitoring and Provision of Qualitative Care and Support Services for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, among others.

    The organization had in July 2013 in partnership with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) embarked on a project to strengthen implementation and enforcement of Ekiti State Law on Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places and mobilizing support for the passage of the National Tobacco Control Bill.

    These were borne out of its concern on the deadly effects of smoking in public places and the fact that tobacco use is a major preventable cause of premature death and disease presently causing nearly 6 million deaths globally each year.

    The concern was further raised by the discovery of the fact that tobacco is expected to cause 8 million deaths annually by 2030 with 80 per cent of these premature deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.

    Statistics also revealed that 600,000 people die globally each year from the effects of Second-hand Smoke (SHS) which is the tobacco smoke that is inhaled involuntarily and passively by someone who is not smoking.

    Non-smokers exposed to SHS exposed have a 25-30 per cent higher risk of coronary heart disease than do non-smokers who are not exposed to SHS.

    It is believed that exposure to SHS occurs mainly in work places, homes, public places and private vehicles.

    According to the results of the first Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) released on 11th July, 2013, 2.7 million Nigerians were exposed to SHS in public places; 5.2 million at home; 36 per cent of adults when visiting cafes/coffee shops and tea houses and 8 in 10 adults were exposed when visiting restaurants.

    Also, 16.7 per cent of adults were exposed to SHS when visiting government buildings, 9.4 per cent using public transportation and 5.3 per cent when visiting healthcare facilities.

    It is against this backdrop that the fight against smoking in public places is being stepped up in Ekiti State to protect public health and prevent deaths of smokers and non-smokers alike.

    Delivering his address at the occasion, the Executive Director of NISD, Mr. Abiodun Oyeleye, explained that the tobacco epidemic has adverse impact on public health of developing countries including Nigeria.

    He said: “Tobacco use is a major cause of premature death and disability, mostly affecting our economically-productive population in both urban and rural communities.

    “In Nigeria, tobacco use will soon surpass all other risk factors combined as major etiological agents of premature death and disability unless strong policies are put in place to dissuade from starting its use, while encouraging users to quit.

    Smokers croped“Tobacco fumes inhaled by non-smokers wreak more havoc on the human system than an active smoker.

    “The fumes alone contain at least over 7,000 chemicals of which at least 69 of them are toxic such as carbon monoxide, arsenic, polonium, butane, benzene, acetone, ammonia, methane, and so on.

    “Even brief exposure to tobacco fumes is harmful. Just 30 minutes of exposure increases the risk of heart disease. Exposure in persons with asthma can trigger a life- threatening event.”

    He explained that awareness has been created among various stakeholders such as religious and political leaders, hoteliers associations, drivers’ unions, youths, women, senior government officials, ministries, departments and agencies.

    According to Section 3 of the Law, public places where smoking is now prohibited in Ekiti State include any part of an enclosed or partially enclosed public places or workplace, a government school or a registered independent school, facilities where health care services are provided; sports, athletics or recreational facilities, state government buildings and any other places prescribed by the government of Nigeria, and there shall be no access to tobacco products within the 500 meters radius of such facilities.

    Also included  are offices and workplaces including corridors, lounges, eating areas, reception areas, lifts, escalators, foyers, stairways, toilets, sundries, court buildings, factories, cinema halls, theatres, video houses, such other halls or places of performance, discotheques, or any other entertainment facilities during which it is open to the public.

    Others are hospitals, clinics and other health institutions, restaurants, hotels, bars of eating places, children homes, residential houses and such other premises where children are cared for, places of worship, prisons, police stations and cells, airports, airfields and aircrafts, passengers’ ships, commuter boats, trains, passengers’ vehicles, ferries, railway stations, ports, motor parks, public transport terminals and all kinds of public transportation.

    Smoking is also outlawed in educational facilities, libraries and schools, markets, shopping malls, retail and wholesale establishments, amusement oars, stadia, sports and recreational facilities, public buildings and gardens, private vehicles with non-smoking occupants or persons below the age of eighteen.

    Punishment for contravention of the Law is found in Section 6 with any person who contravenes any of the provisions of the Law other than Section 3 liable on conviction to a fine of ten thousand Naira (N10,000.00) or to an imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.

    A fine of twenty five thousand Naira (N25,000.00) or to an imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both awaits any offender who contravenes any of the provision of Section 3 of the Law.

    The Law further prescribes a punishment of N250,000.00 for the violation of sub-section (1) or (2) stated above if it be a corporate offender.

    The inauguration of Ekiti State Smoke-Free Enforcement Committee was performed on behalf of the state government by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Dr. Bolanle Fakunle.

    Dr. Fakunle, who is a medical practitioner is the Chairperson of the Committee saddled with the arduous task of putting a stop to smoking in public places in the state.

    Members of the Committee are Mr. Lawrence Ojo, Permanent Secretary/Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice; Mr. P.A. Bankole of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. M.T.Olowolafe, president of the Environmental Task Force in all the 16 Local Government Areas and Mrs. O.O. Kayode Ojo, Director of Administration and Supply, Ministry of Environment.

    The rest are Mr. Kunle Olofintuyi of the National Orientation Agency, Mr. Taiwo Omoniyi of Ekiti State Hoteliers Association, Mr. Tope Babalola of the Ministry of Information, Youth and Sports, Mr. Tunde Balogun, the Director of Environmental Health and Sanitation, Mr. Oyeleye of NISD and representative of the Ekiti State Police Command.

    Delivering her keynote address, Dr. Fakunle said her ministry and NISD are collaborating with relevant MDAs and organizations to ensure compliance with the law.

    She restated the commitment of the state government to ensure that the law is complied with to guarantee a safer environment and promote public health.

    Dr. Fakunle said: “The harmful effect of smoking extends far beyond the smoker to second-hand smoke.

    “Non-smokers are exposed to second-hand smoke at work or in other public places thereby increasing their risk of developing heart disease by 25-30 per cent and lung cancer by 20-30 per cent.

    “Also second-hand smoke causes health problems in both adults and children such as coughing, overproduction of phlegm, reduce lung function and respiratory infection including pneumonia and bronchitis.

    “The passage of the law on prohibition of smoking in public places in Ekiti State is not actually directed at stopping people from cigarette smoking but to prevent people from smoking cigarettes in public places because of the detrimental effects on non-smokers’ health.

    “Participants are to note that smoking of cigarettes in some parts of the world is done in designated places.

    “It is imperative to note that Ekiti State is committed to protecting and ensuring quality environment, which is adequate for good health and well-being for present and future generations.

    “I therefore seize this medium to encourage the committee members to see the task before them as a crucial assignment that must be handled with serious dedication towards achieving the desired goal.”

    With the anti-smoking law in public places enforcement committee in place, smokers in Ekiti State are now expected to restrict the act indoors to avoid going to jail.

    Smokers who are in transit in Ekiti State should also take note because to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

  • Court orders YDP leaders to retract claims or go to jail

    Court orders YDP leaders to retract claims or go to jail

    A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday established a case of contempt against leaders of the Young Democratic Party (YDP) for misrepresenting an earlier judgment of the court.

    Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a ruling yesterday, ordered YDP’s leaders to, within 24 hours, call a news conference to put the records straight, failing which they will be jailed for contempt.

    The party’s leaders had, shortly after the court’s judgment of March 4 directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue YDP with a certificate of registration, addressed a news conference, where they claimed the court ordered INEC to include the party’s candidates in ballot papers for the elections.

    Angered by the misrepresentation of the court’s judgment, Justice Mohammed on March 12 summoned the party’s leaders to explain why they chose to distort the court’s judgment.

    Yesterday, after listening to the party’s lawyer,  Kelvin Nwofo (SAN), and INEC’s lawyer Wole Balogun, Justice Mohammed  held that a case of contempt had been established against the party officials from the two affidavits filed by them.

    He, however, held that because the court was not out to  join issues with anybody and that in view of the plea for mercy by the party’s lawyer, he would “reluctantly temper justice with mercy”.

    He said: “It is clear that the court did not order INEC to include them in the ballot papers or to shift the 2015 elections.

    “The case of contempt is clearly established in the circumstances of this case. And  learned senior counsel for the plaintiff, having pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and to forgive the plaintiff’s officials, this court is not out to join issues with anyone, least of all the officials of the plaintiff, Young Democratic Party.

    “It is on that premise that I will reluctantly temper justice with mercy in this matter subject to the following conditions:

    “(I) The officials of the plaintiff shall, within 24 hours, call a national press conference and debunk or retract the misrepresentation made against the order of this court delivered on March 4, 2015; and

    “(II) The officials of the plaintiff shall file an affidavit in court for compliance with paragraph (I) of this order.

    “In case of failure to comply with the court’s directive, this court will commit to prison, the affected officials of the plaintiff (YDP) on the next return date since evidence of contempt has been established.”

    The judge adjourned March 31 for report of compliance.

  • Jonathan afraid Buhari will jail him – Obasanjo

    Jonathan afraid Buhari will jail him – Obasanjo

    •He plans to win by hook and by crook
    •Vouches for APC candidate’s ability to deliver
    •Counsels him to allay fears of those scared about his anti-corruption stance
    •Service Chiefs should have resigned

    The verdict came long and hard yesterday from former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the postponement of the elections, why they were shifted, and the two principal actors in the polity: President Goodluck Jonathan and his main challenger, General Muhammadu Buhari.

    Gen. Obasanjo,  just back home from a five nation trip, faulted the postponement of the elections on the ground that the military would be engaging the Boko Haram terror group in battle.

    He declared point-blank that the service chiefs ought to have “gone home to rest” for promoting that course of action. He faulted this and said it was actually to buy time for President Jonathan.

    According to him, President Jonathan habours a “sinister grand plan to win the March 28 Presidential election by hook and by crook,” and fears that Gen Buhari will jail him in the event that the APC candidate triumphs at the poll.

    He spoke to reporters at his Hilltop Estate, Abeokuta, residence.

    He  advised President  Jonathan  against going the way of former  President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote’d Voire who kept  tinkering  with elections dates in his country until he was humiliated out of office, and to be wary of those prodding him on because when the heat turns full blast,  he would be left “naked and isolated.”

    Obasanjo said the election postponement was  a sad commentary  on the nation’s democracy as was the  role played by  the security chiefs in the matter.

    He wondered why Nigeria could not go ahead with the February elections when countries like Iraq and Colombia conducted successful polls in the midst of wars and turmoil.

    The former Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP was confident that Buhari would be able to “preside over an efficient and effective economic team” and  “stabilise” the country once he wins the election.

    But he asked him to first “allay the fears of some people who feel threatened” his by tough anti – corruption stance.

    Such fear, he said, was partly responsible for the shift in poll instigated by those allegedly telling the President that “Buhari is a hard man who would fight corruption and he (Jonathan) will end in jail.”

    His words: “While I was away, I refused to make any categorical statement on this issue because I wanted to come back home and learn at firsthand what actually transpired and what was going on, and it turned out to be a forced decision on the INEC because it was alleged that the Security Chiefsý were unable to provide security, and as a result the Chairman of INEC had to postpone, in accordance with the dictates of the so called Security Chiefs.

    “I thought, for me, that was bad precedent for democracy in Nigeria. It meant it doesn’t matter what preparation or lack of preparation any electoral body could make in Nigeria. The final decision whether election will take place on the day scheduled for it lies in the domain of security. It is a sad day for democracy in Nigeria.

    “I will say this: we must all feel concerned before democracy is killed. The observable and what would appear to be happening is that the president has a grand plan, a grand plan to ensure that by hook or by crook, he wins the election or if it all fails, he scuttles it and creates chaos, confusion and unpleasantness in the whole country.

    “It is the duty and function and responsibility of the security officers to provide security. The President is the Chief Security Officer of the country and he is the Commander- in -Chief and if security is required anywhere, anytime, it is his duty to provide it. Failure to provide it is dereliction of duty. Pure and simple.

    “Whether the President is following his own grand plan or his aides and associates are working a script, ýthey are playing a script which must have got his endorsement, if not initiated by him.

    “What again, it looks to me that the President is trying to play Gbagbo (Laurent). Gbagbo is the former President of Cote d’Ivoire and Gbagbo made sure he postponed the election in his country until he was sure he would win and then allowed the election to take place. He got an inconclusive election in the first ballot.

    “And I believe this is the sort of thing Nigeria may fall into. If I am right in what I observed as the grand plan and then in the run-off, Gbagbo lost with 8% behind Quattara and then refused to hand over. All reasonable persuasion and pleading was rebuffed by him and he unleashed horror in that country until nemesis caught up with him.

    “I believe that we may be seeing a repeat of Gbagbo or what I called the Gbagbo saga here in Nigeria, I hope not.”

    On the role of the security chiefs, Obasanjo said it was out of place for them to say ‘we are not in a position to provide security for you’ because it is their job.

    “When they have failed, they can as well go home. Their job is to maintain law and order and provide security at any time and at any place. They said they cannot do it, they have failed,” he said.

    “I want to believe that this was forced on them, I want to believe that but whether it was forced on them or it was their initiative, it was bad, very bad. I hope we will neverý have a repeat performance of this in this country again.

    “The unfortunate thing is this: they are over exposing themselves or they are being over exposed by whoever brought about that way of doing things, and for me, a momentous decision like that cannot be taken and implemented by the security chiefs.

    “It was even made worse when the President in the media chat on the 11th of this month claimed not to have knowledge or not to have authorized it. I get worried, very worried, that if the President of Nigeria is not in-charge of security, maintenance of law and order and such a decision can be taken behind him, assuming that is true, then the President must be reigning but not ruling.

    “And who then are the shadow figures that are ruling us? It means that one day we will find out that  this country would be plunged into chaos, into commotion and into confusion and the President would say, ‘I do not know about it’, of course President(Jonathan) can run but he cannot run past God.

    “He has constitutional responsibility and to claim he doesn’t know is not an excuse. So, I do hope that those Service Chiefs who we are proud of the services people like me and others like me have rendered and proud of what they are doing, will not shame themselves and shame us.

    “This is because what this amounts to is what, in the military circle, is called very an unmilitary conduct and conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.

    “For me, you can give any excuse or you can give any rationalization or you can rationalize anything. Look Boko Haram problem has been with us since 2009 and now if we say what we have not been able to achieve since 2009 would be achieved in six weeks, all I would say is that God is a God of miracle.

    “God can do anything but knowing what we know, look countries like Syria had election, they have full scale war all over the country. A country like Iraq had election, they had full scale war and they are still having war.

    “Countries like Afghanistan had election, they even had election where the incumbent served his term and moved out. Even Colombia where the rebel group (FARC) has been active for more than 50 years has been having elections regularly and FARC is still very active.

    “So, to say that what we have not been able to achieve in five years, we will achieve in six weeks, let us wait and see. When people want to make excuses, they should look for excuses that are tenable.

    “I believe the President’s fear is not leaving office per se, because he and I have had occasions to talk about this both seriously and jovially. ýI believe President would want an opportunity to disengage peacefully and have a nice, decent and a glorious exit, I believe the President’s fear is, particularly, motivated by those who he see as Gen Buhari as his likely successor.

    “I believe those people would have been telling him that Buhari is a hard man, he would fight corruption and you may end up in jail if not in grave. I believe people must have told him all sorts of things and he is not the only one, there are other people who may be afraid of Buhari. But why?

    “I woud say that Buhari has learnt his lessons. If he hasn’t learnt lessons, then he would be probably the most unlearning human being. If he has learnt lessons, he would know that you do not fight corruption by putting people in jail for 200 years.

    “And this has been done by my own predecessor in office, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. He recovered over $750 million from Abacha’s estate without putting anybody in jail, without hurting or harming anybody. When I took over, we recovered over $1.25 billion from the same Abacha estate without hurting anybody, without harming anybody.

    “In fact, what would be rather unfortunate is the fact that our lawyer who is still alive and able, who was chasing this money all over the world, said to us that there’s still about $1 billion to be recovered from Abacha estate but the unfortunate thing is that my successor did not do anything about it even though it was in my handing over note.

    “I don’t think the President is afraid of being out. There’s life after Aso Villa. It depends, of course to a large extent, on how he descendsý; how his descent takes place; and how his exit takes place. Because out there in the international world, there’s so much need for the wisdom and experience of people who have done it before. They also want people who are creditable and credible.”

    Obasanjo insisted that corruption, impunity and recklessness must not remain a part of our national life as any leader should be seen fighting those evils.

    He said that given Buhari’s track record, he would be able to tackle corruption headlong at this critical period of the nation, if elected into office.

    Obasanjo said: “whoever comes in at anytime in future will fight corruption, and we must even encourage successful fight of corruption. We must. Recklessness and impunity must not continue to be our part of life.

    “Whether recklessness and impunity in the management of our economic affairs, in the running of our finances and even in political affairs, they must not be allowed to remain part of us.

    “Buhari  has tried to do it before. I believe he will give firm leadership which is what is good for a country like this. When he was there, it was the military and military is both the executive and the legislature.

    “In a democracy, that is not possible. I believe he knows the military, the damage that has been done to the military. It has been rendered almost impotent by a number of things that have happened and I believe he will do something about it.

    “And if he doesn’t do it, I would say shame on him if he gets there because that is some of the things he knows. I believe he can preside over an efficient and effective economy. He has the knowledge, he has the experience, he may not be a bowl of fire as an economist but he presided over it.”

    On INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega, the former president said: “I believe that after Jega had been boxed to a corner, he had no choice but to accept the fait ýaccompli and postponed the election, and I believe, as I have said before, it is unfortunate because in the pastý, this same Jega had cancelled the date of election when he found it that it was not suitable.

    “So, it is the duty, responsibility and function and within the jurisdiction of INEC to determine whether the situation allows it or does not allow them to go on with the election. Nobody should twist their arms, blackmail them or force them.

    “And if they do that, that is their legal job, if anything is done to remove Jega, it will actually heighten the disbelief of the people about wanting to have a fair, free, transparent and credible election and even if the President wins genuinely, many people may not believe it. He would have undermined the credibility of the result of the election.

    “But he has said he will not remove him, he said it is a rumour and let it remain the realm of rumour and let’s hope for the best.

    He appealed to President Jonathan not to “listen to those who are creating phobia, phobia of Buhari, phobia of enquiry and all that. President Jonathan has done well to the best of his ability and he has made history as the first elected Nigerian from a minority tribe and nobody can take that away from him.

    “He can even make a second history, if it turns out that way. If he contests a fair, free and transparent election and loses, take a dignified exit. He will be on the mountain top and he would be acclaimed as a true patriot and a true democrat. What stops him from doing this?”

    And to Buhari, he said: “if he happens to win, one of his first responsibilities is to allay the fears of those who see Buhari as a bully, as a threat, particularly in the area of human rights, in the area of rule of law, and in the area of obedience of our constitution.”

     

  • Season of jail breaks

    •In this period of widespread insecurity, there must be zero tolerance for jail breaks

    The startling progression of insecurity in the country is unfurling another routine pattern of criminality: the relentless and disconcerting level of jail breaks.

    The most recent is the troubling news that not less than 270 of the 323 inmates of the Minna Medium Prison, Niger State, escaped after an attack by six gunmen.

    Before this horrific incident was a similar attack on the Federal Prison, Afao-Ekiti Road in Ado- Ekiti, during which another 320 of the 446 inmates escaped.

    Not far from memory is also the report in early November that gunmen, armed with grenades and heavy fire arms, attacked the Nigeria Federal Prison in Koton-Karfe, Kogi State, freeing over 140 inmates in the process.

    Sadly too, yet another prison attack, in Bauchi State, remains a conundrum that still defies noticeable solution till date.

    The Minna incident introduced an especially frightening dimension, with the revelation that the freeing of two notorious robbers- Ayo (a.k.a Eze ego), a dismissed Mobile Police (MOPOL) officer, and Osama, convicted in Kebbi and Edo states, and respectively serving jail terms in the prison, were the motive behind the condemnable attack.

    Apart from a prison official that was seriously wounded by the rampaging gunmen, they also reportedly carted away arms and bullet proof vests meant for prison warders. The sad occurrence will not be mitigated by subsequent purported re-arrest of about 20 of the escapees barely two hours after the operation.

    We ask: What makes the nation’s prisons so vulnerable to attacks?

    Dr Peter Ezinwa Ekpendo, Comptroller-General (CG) of prisons, reportedly recommended the reprimand of the comptroller of the prison and at least 58 wardens in the Minna prisons. But beyond this, there is the need to find out how attackers in Ado-Ekiti and elsewhere succeeded in using dynamites to break prison entrance; and why, for some time, successive attacks on prisons usually happened on Sunday nights.

    Is this a coincidence or sheer failure of intelligence? Why are our prisons so vulnerable to attacks without any immediate solution?  Why are modern surveillance appliances not the forte of Nigerian antiquated prisons at this contemporary technological period?

    The prisons across the federation are witnessing unbelievable security laxity that needs to be urgently addressed. We know that prison officials are badly paid; and the near-relic infrastructure are in near-collapsed shape; thereby putting prison officials under tremendous strain; and undue pressure to bow to temptations of inducement from rich and powerful inmates, capitalizing on these stark inadequacies.

    Though this sad reality should not serve as excuse to tolerate possible collusion by prison officials in jail breaks, it just shows the disturbing reality that Nigerian prisons to have become a mirror of the tumbling disarticulation of the Nigerian system, which is a sad commentary on its own.

    The nation cannot afford to sit with hands akimbo and allow convicted felons,  yet to serve out their sentences, take over the streets at this period of monumental insecurity, especially in the north eastern part of the country; and not in any part of the country.

    The government must do all within its power to apprehend criminal inmates still at large; and who could still cause serious trouble for an already troubled society.

    We call for collective efforts of all security agencies to bring back to justice all absconding inmates wherever they might be hiding in the country.

    Also, the issue of possible internal complicity should be looked into to unravel the brains behind this dangerous criminal pattern of setting inmates free, as such practice is detrimental to the nation’s national security.

    Still, does a government regrettably yet to see the need for long overdue prison reforms have the capacity to achieve this desirable goal?

    This is a question that should be quickly addressed because the incessant jail breaks must stop, if this administration wants the people to take it serious.

     

  • Jail break: perpetrators will not know peace -Fayose

    Jail break: perpetrators will not know peace -Fayose

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has condemned the attack on the Federal Prisons, Ado-Ekiti by gunmen saying those who perpetrated the attack will not know peace.

     

    The governor stated this on Monday while swearing-in of the new Head of Service, Mr. Gbenga Faseluka and five Permanent Secretaries.

     

    The new permanent secretaries are Mr. Ademiloye Fasiku, Mr. Ayodeji Ajiboye, Mrs. Olabisi Akindele, Mr. Lawrence Babatope and Mr. Sunday Komolafe.

     

    The immediate past Head of Service, Mr. Bunmi Famosaya, was sworn in as Special Adviser in the Office of the Governor.

     

    Speaking at the event, Fayose described the gunmen who blew up the prisons as “evil people” regretting the escape of many prisoners in the attack.”

     

    “We regret the jailbreak perpetrated by the evil people which led to the escape of many inmates.

     

    “I want you to know that I have the grace of God on me and whoever plans against us shall be destroyed. My prayer is that they will not know peace,” Fayose stated.

     

    Meanwhile, the state police command is collaborating with the authorities of the prisons to arrest inmates who escaped during the attack.

     

    The state police spokesman Victor Babayemi told reporters that the Commissioner of Police Taiwo  Lakanu personally  led officers and men to the scene of the incident on learning about the attack.

     

    Babayemi disclosed that the vicinity of the prisons has been cordoned off while security in and around the place has been tightened.

     

    He disclosed that some of the escapees have been re-arrested while others still at large are being trailed.

     

    Babayemi urged residents not to panic saying the situation has been put under control.

  • How Akwa Ibom, Cross River indigenes were rescued from jail

    How Akwa Ibom, Cross River indigenes were rescued from jail

    They were arrested separately. But, the police came up with a theory to lump them together as partners in crime. Friday Saturday and Amen Daniel spent eight years in jail awaiting trial before they were rescued, reports PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU

    They came to Lagos to eke out a living. They are from two neigbouring states in the Southsouth, which used to be one. Amen Daniel is from Ikon village in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State. Friday Saturday hails from Calabar in Cross River State.

    But, to hang them, the police said they were both from Akwa Ibom.

    Saturday was arrested at Oyingbo Market in 2006. He was selling puff-puff. Because he could not afford the alleged N5,000 “bribe” demanded by the police to secure his freedom, the only N700 he had was taken by his oppressors.

    He was taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba where he was tortured, wounded with electric iron and shot in his legs twice— just to coerce him to admit he was an armed robber. He was not offered medical care; other suspects held in detention with Saturday poured candle wax into the gunshot wounds as first aid.

    After several weeks in police detention without being able to provide the N100, 000 allegedly demanded for his bail, Saturday was charged alongside Daniel, 30, whom he only knew on the day of their arraignment at a Yaba Magistrates’ Court.

    Like Saturday, Daniel, who had his share of police brutality, was arrested in broad daylight on Lekki-Epe Expressway on his way to his mechanic’s workshop after assisting a client whose car broke down.

    He, and three others had assisted the client push his car into a filling station and on his way back to his shop at about 12pm, he was stopped by a plain-clothed officer who forced him into a vehicle.

    Unable to provide the N30,000 demanded by the policemen in Ajah, Daniel said he was threatened with being framed for armed robbery and would rot in prison.

    Daniel was transferred from Ajah Police Station to SCID, Panti. Other suspects, who were arrested almost the same time as he, were released after their relatives paid “ransoms”.

    Knowing that armed robbery is a capital offence which can only be tried at the High Court, the police took the victims to a Magistrates’ Court, secured remand order and dumped them in Ikoyi Prisons.

    Like several other awaiting trial inmates, the victims were forgotten in custody. They prayed day and night, hoping that fate would smile on them since they had no money to hire the services of a lawyer.

    Fortunately, luck shone on them after a lawyer, Charles Okungbowa, visited the prison and probed into the cause of their incarceration.

    Their trial was conducted before Justice Adeniyi Adebajo (rtd), and it took about four years before conclusion— no thanks to several adjournments at the instance of the prosecution.

    After about four years of litigation, Justice Adebajo dismissed the charge of conspiracy and armed robbery against Daniel and Saturday.

    Narrating his ordeal before Justice Adebajo, Saturday said: “I was selling puff puff at Oyingbo Market around 12pm and police came there at a point I was about to sell to a customer. As I put down my show glass to sell to a customer inside a vehicle, they drove close and arrested me.

    “They searched me and saw the N700 in my pocket and a newspaper I folded in my back pocket. There was nothing more and so they collected the N700 and told me to enter the car.

    “I was asking them what I have done and that they should wait for me to carry my show glass but they dragged me inside the car and told me to give them N5000 before they will free me.

    “I told them I do not have any other money except the N700 they have taken from me and they said I will see myself at the station. When we got to the station, they asked me to write my statement and I told them I am not educated and do not even know what to write since they arrested me while I was doing my business.

    “I did not write any statement. They wrote it themselves and they accused me of armed robbery at Ajah. Meanwhile, I have never been to Ajah. They told me to call my people to bring N100, 000 to bail me. My brother came with N30, 000; they collected it and said the money was small that he should bring more.

    “He told them he does not have money and they were beating me everyday to accept I am an armed robber. They even shot me on my leg and it was the other suspects in the cell that used candle wax to treat the injuries they inflicted on me.

    “They told me that is how they treat any wound inflicted on them by the police. That they light candle and put the wax inside the injury to kill the germs. I was tortured on daily basis while at Panti until they finally took me to Yaba Magistrates’ Court for arraignment.

    “I never knew Amen Daniel until the morning of our arraignment. It was the police who brought him and told me that he was my co-suspect, that we committed the armed robbery together. I told them I do not know him and have never seen him but they told me to shut up and took us to court.

    “I just thank God that eight years after, I am alive and have regained my freedom. I am begging the government to investigate the police. The way they treat poor people is not good. I was 19 years when I was arrested, now I am 26 years and I have spent eight years in prison, for committing no offence.

    “If not for this lawyer who came to the prison and asked us what happened, after we explained to him and told him we do not have money, he promised to help us and since then, he has been the one helping us. I pray that God will bless him for the good thing he did for me,” said Saturday.

    Delivering judgment, the judge berated the police. He said it was spurious that the police did not provide any evidence whatsoever linking the defendants to their purported crimes.

    Justice Ebenezer Adebajo held that “the only evidence of robbery before this court was the taking of N700 from the second defendant (Saturday) by men of the Nigeria Police who are usually armed when going on patrols or raiding…

    “I am of the opinion that in the course of the defendants’ incarceration at the police stations, they suffered gunshot wounds and the first defendant was further tortured. No statement that purports to be confessional would stand in the light of police brutality… I find the defendants not guilty of the charge. The charge is hereby dismissed and the defendants discharged and acquitted.”

    Although the defendants have been released by the court, the pain inflicted on them through torture, loss of loved ones and wasted years have not been wiped away.

    Even the filing of Fundamental Human Rights (FHR) infringement charges against their oppressors, which is the only available option, may not hold water, especially because the police have flagrantly disobeyed such orders from court without being held for contempt.

    A lawyer, Ahmed  Adetola-Kazeem, said lawyers are frustrated in pursuing and ensuring the victims get their money as a result of the solidarity between the judges and the law enforcement agencies.

    He noted that the agencies also file appeals, which they do not pursue, as tactic to avoid paying judgment debt, just as he insisted that the laws are accurate but not enforced.

    He said: “Most times the sums awarded as damages or compensation by the courts, especially the state high courts, are very meager and hardly worth pursuing giving the rigours involved. The meagre award is largely in my opinion due to the solidarity between the judges and the government. The judges who do this are mostly those who were formally in the ministries of justice.

    “Where the judges were also bold to award damages, they are unwilling to enforce the judgments, for the fear of been victimised by their various state governments or the law enforcement agencies.

    “Another reason why it is difficult to recover the damages is that, the agencies will most times not pay the damages in their volition or on receipt of demand letter from counsel to the victims. They instead rush to file appeal, which is rarely pursued, but filed as a tactic to frustrate the judgment creditor.

    “They equally file application for stay of execution at the high court, which is often granted. All these adds to the frustration of the indigent victim, who doesn’t have the financial muscle to go all the way to recover the damages.

    “In my case, I have had to do the cases pro bono from inception and it becomes discouraging after a while because of the delay and frustration tactics employed by the judgment debtors, the situation is worsened when you realise the paltry sum awarded by the court.

    “We have the garnishee proceedings where the judgment creditor urged the court to order the garnishee( most times, the bank(s) keeping the money of the judgment debtor) to pay him the judgment debt.

    “Where the garnishee, who has the debtors money in its possession, refuses to pay the money, a contempt proceeding can be instituted against the responsible officer of the bank. Contempt proceeding can also be brought against the Judgment debtors where they brazenly disobey the orders of the court.

    “So, in summary, the problem is not in the laws, but in the willingness of the courts to ensure its orders are obeyed.”

    Okungbowa said he decided to help the duo because he felt they were denied justice and fairness by the police, the Magistrates’ Court and the Ministry of Justice since their arrests on December 6 for Daniel and December 14 for Saturday, both in 2006.

    “I met the defendants in Ikoyi Prisons sometime in 2010 during a visit to see some of my clients. My clients were the ones who introduced the duo and asked me to see how I could help them since they had suffered hopelessness to access justice and regain their freedom of liberty being deprived them by the long prison remand, which ordinarily should not have been more than one or two months as the case may be.

    “When I came in contact with them, they were still awaiting trial and neither the police nor the state Ministry of Justice had filed a charge against them at the appropriate courts of competent jurisdiction.

    “The unprofessional, illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional manner they were arrested and the circumstances/torture of beating, hanging, burnt with hot pressing iron and being shot with gun on their legs that they were subjected to by the officers and men of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba in their detention cell propelled me as a lawyer and activist to take up their case pro bono and defend them successfully.”

    Okungbowa said he felt bad that the police still go about arresting and detaining innocent people.

    “I feel very bad and concerned. It is condemnable, reprehensible and a stop must be put to it. Everybody in the society must come together in fighting it to a standstill and not offering lip services in public, only to go behind and use the police to harass or intimidate others.

    “Also prompt investigation of any allegation of misused powers by the police should be carried out with appropriate punishment meted on any defaulter. Another measure is to hold their superiors, departments or formation, accountable and responsible too, who do not properly supervise them and take any of their wrong doings seriously.

    “Finally, the human rights units in the police force are not working as it should be and is manned by the same police officers and men. This should stop and if we are serious with the unit, it should be headed by a lawyer and comprise other members of the civil society.

    “Also seminars and workshops on civil and constitutional right lectures, topics or courses should be organised as refresher and retraining for the police,” he said.

     

  • Driver sentenced for violating traffic law

    An Ojokoro Senior Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Tuesday sentenced a commercial bus driver, Kazeem Adedotun, to 50 hours of community service.

    But he was asked to pay a N50,000 fine in the alternative, for violating traffic laws.

    Adedotun, 32, was sentenced following his guilty plea to the four-count charge offence before Magistrate A. O. Layinka.

    “Having admitted the facts of the four-count charge offence, the accused, Kazeem Adedotun, is found guilty, as charged.

    “You are hereby sentenced to 50 hours of community service or pay a fine of N50, 000,” she said.

    Layinka said that Adedotun must present to the court a certificate of road worthiness and a fire extinguisher, before his vehicle would be released to him.

    The prosecutor, Insp. Lugard Ahonle, had told the court that Adedotun committed the offences on Feb. 23 on the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway at 2.00 p.m.

    “Adedotun, who was driving a Ford commercial bus with registration number KJA 889 XD, picked passengers at unauthorised bus-stops, had no road worthiness certificate and hackney carriage paper,” he said.

    The offences, according to him, contravened Sections 26, 33, 45 and 56 of the Road Traffic Act.(NAN).

  • ‘Marry more than four wives and go to jail’

    Any Muslim in Niger State who marries more than four wives stands the risk of a three-year imprisonment with a fine.

    He shall also be made to choose only four of the women and the marriage to other women dissolved.

    These were the highlights of the executive bill seeking for the establishment of Sharia Penal Code passed yesterday by the House of Assembly.

    The government sponsored the bill, following its inability to prosecute the octogenarian mega polygamist Islamic cleric, Bello Muhammadu Masaba, who married 98 wives for lack of existing laws.

    Section 407 of the law, which took effect from February 26, provides three years imprisonment with fine for anyone convicted of marrying more than four wives.

    Besides the jail term, the law says that convicts shall choose only four of the women as allowed by the law while marriage to the other women will be dissolved.

    The law also prescribes 21 years for any person convicted of rape.

    The passage of the bill followed the adoption of the report of the Committee on Judicial Matters.

    Chairman of the committee Isah Kawu said stakeholders were invited for input while a public hearing was also conducted.

    The Speaker, Adamu Usman, praised his colleagues, especially the committee, for a thorough work.

    Usman said the bill was in conformity with Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, adding that the bill was also in line with the Quran.

    He said what the legislature did in the passage of the bill was to “codify the punishment for rape cases”, adding that the law also specified penalties for those who drugged their victims before raping them.

    Usman urged parents to always monitor their children, stressing that people should report rape cases to law enforcement agents.

    Asked if the controversial marriage by the octogenarian would now be tried under the new law, the Speaker said: “Our criminal laws do not have retroactive effect. It will be unconstitutional to prosecute anybody before now, as the law now takes effect from February 26.”