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  • Credit for Alamieyeseigha’s pardon belongs to Yar’Adua, not Jonathan

    Hon. Stephen Adika Ereboh is a former Majority Leader of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly. In this interview with our South-south Bureau Chief, BISI OLANIYI, the astute businessman and governorship aspirant denies the allegation in some quarters that he deliberately set out to marry the daughter of former Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, in order to gain power and influence. He also relives his ordeal during the money laundering allegation against Alamieyeseigha, which eventually culminated in his impeachment while Ereboh held sway as majority leader.

    How were your growing up days? I was born and bred in Lagos. I attended Christ the King School, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos. I started my secondary education at Araromi Grammar School, now Sari-Iganmu High School, Lagos, before my father, Meshack Ereboh, now late, was moved to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. I continued my secondary education at Ennitonna High School, Port Harcourt before proceeding to the Rivers State University of Science and Technology {RSUST), now Rivers State University (RSU), Port Harcourt, for my bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

    The first time I went to Amassoma was when we lost our grandmother. I was in secondary school then. We travelled by boat and it was very exciting. In those days in Maroko, Lagos, we used to cross the river by boat during Christmas while visiting relatives. So, travelling to Amassoma by boat was not a new experience for me.

    Now with road to Amassoma, it saves time and it attracts infrastructure and social amenities. As God would have it, the pioneer civilian Governor of Bayelsa State, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, established Niger Delta University (NDU) on Wilberforce Island, with the take-off campus in Amassoma, the hometown of Chief Alamieyeseigha, thereby bringing about development. Amassoma is now a cosmopolitan community, not a rural setting or village. Many non-indigenes now own property in the university town.

    Will it be right to say that you grew up with a silver spoon?

    I was born into a comfortable and stable family. My father was the Dredging Operations Superintendent with Westminster Dredging Company in Lagos. We (the children) attended good schools.

    What of your mother?

    My mother, Mrs. Akisi Ereboh (nee Dikibo), now late, was a full-time housewife, taking care of the home front, because my father never wanted my mother to work.

    You are married to a lawyer, Esther Aihimegbe Ereboh, who works with the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF). Is there any chance you will emulate your father by asking your wife to stop work and become a full-time housewife?

    I will not criticise what my father did. My father believed strongly that if both of them were out working, the home front would suffer. I know of highly respected families today, with well-educated couples, who decide to come to a compromise that both husband and wife will not work, with the wife agreeing to stay fully at home to take care of the children, but with the husbands paying their wives special monthly allowances, the equivalent of their salaries, besides the usual upkeep allowances.

    My uncle, the late Chief A. K. Dikibo (a former National Vice Chairman, South-south of the Peoples Democratic Party), did not allow his wife, a professional, to work but to take care of the home front, even while they were in England and Lagos, before they later returned to Port Harcourt. Today, the wife is a lecturer in a university in South Africa.

    My wife and I will sit down and agree/reach a compromise, because our kids are growing up. What my father did by not allowing my mother to work, I am a product of it, and I fully enjoyed it. Getting back to the house from school in Lagos, you must submit your notebooks to my mother, who would check the dates to be sure you were in class and to make sure all the assignments were done. To my mother, every school work must be dated for her confirmation of attendance and staying in class to be taught by the teachers.

    You must also never bring things that never belonged to you to the house. No child would try it in our house. My mother had time to adequately discipline the children at home, while my father would be at work in order to provide for the family. If a child returned home dirty, he or she must explain and also forcibly learn how to wash the clothes with cane from my mother. So, we were always very careful to avoid being punished or caned by my mother, who was always at home. There was no way for the children to play pranks.

    A former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, was using a private jet to drop his wife, Justice Mary Odili (now Justice of the Supreme Court) in Abuja for sittings of the court and to immediately fly her back to Port Harcourt after sittings to take care of the home front. Sir Peter Odili confirmed it in his book. It takes two persons (husband and wife) cooperating to build a family. The products of the family will be a selling point to the society and the children will be more responsible and contribute more meaningfully to societal development.

    You attended RSUST, now RSU, Port Harcourt, between 1992 and 1997, where you graduated with B.Sc. degree in Business Administration (Marketing Option). In 2000, still at RSUST, you obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA). Did you experience sorting, because it is alleged that RSUST/RSU is notorious for sorting through sex, cash or gifts?

    I will only speak of my time at RSUST, because we are worthy in character and learning. I did not experience sorting. What happened after I graduated, I cannot vouch for. Won’t you be shocked to hear that now, even in private universities in Nigeria, sorting takes place? I know of many compromised private universities in Nigeria, but I will not mention names. It is that bad. But some universities still stand out and they will never allow sorting, with indicted lecturers and students regularly being expelled or suspended to serve as a deterrent to others and sanitise the system.

    In 2003, you were elected into the Bayelsa State House of Assembly to represent Southern Ijaw Constituency 1, and you were subsequently elected as the Majority Leader. How was the experience?

    It was an awesome experience before the ugly incident (the arrest in London of the then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and his eventual removal on December 9, 2005). Because at that time, I was faced with the onerous task of being the go-between between the executive and the legislature.

    In 2005, there was political crisis in Bayelsa State with the arrest of the then governor, Chief Diepreye Alamisyeseigha, in London for money laundering, and his eventual removal on December 9, 2005. How did you navigate it, considering the fact that the late Chief Alamieyeseigha was your father-in-law?

    It is not an experience I will like to talk about.

    Is it true, as being insinuated, that the then Governor Alamieyeseigha disguised and dressed as a woman to escape in London and surprisingly appeared in Bayelsa State, which angered the then President OlusegunObasanjo?

    The then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha did not dress like a woman to return to Nigeria from London.

    Then as Majority Leader of Bayelsa State House of Assembly when the 2005 crisis erupted, how did you feel, especially with Chief Alamieyeseigha as your father-in-law?

    The late Chief Alamieyeseigha was not just my father-in-law, he was my big brother, because we are indigenes of Amassoma. I made my position clear, even when I visited him in London and I came back, that his arrest was illegal.

    Did you also sign the impeachment notice of Alamieyeseigha in the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)?

    God forbid. I did not sign the impeachment notice. I was not a party to it. I challenge anybody to prove me wrong. I was not with the other Bayelsa State’s lawmakers when the then governor was impeached. The Bayelsa State House of Assembly complex was cordoned off by fully-armed security personnel and prepared for the lawmakers who were involved in the act. Six of us (lawmakers) were not allowed into the Assembly complex by the unfriendly security personnel, while 18 other lawmakers had a field day. I was suspended for more than six months in the second Assembly after my statement that the London arrest of the then Governor Alamieyeseigha was illegal and that his eventual impeachment was unconstitutional. During the suspension, all my statutory allowances were denied me. When I later returned to the House of Assembly, I was a member of the House of Assembly and no longer the Majority Leader. It was an ugly experience.

    It was much later that I got to know the architects of the acts (arrest in London of the then Governor Alamieyeseigha and his impeachment). I will not mention names, but they know themselves. They simply ganged up against Chief Alamieyeseigha.

    At the risk of losing my life, I stood my ground. Nemesis is now catching up with them. What goes around comes around. We must always remember that power comes from God. Always look at the spiritual side of life. It is also not good to be willing tools in the hands of some very-powerful and highly-influential persons.

    Will it be right to say that your refusal to support the removal of the then governor made it impossible for you to be re-elected/allowed to return to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in 2007?

    I wanted to go back and be part of the third Assembly, but the pre-condition was that all the lawmakers who were not part of the impeachment of Chief Alamieyeseigha should not be allowed to return to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly. At that time, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan (who later became Vice-President and President of Nigeria) was the governor of Bayelsa State. They had a meeting in the governor’s office, which was attended by Senator David Brigidi (now late) and other Bayelsa leaders of PDP.

    Have you forgotten that the then President Goodluck Jonathan eventually pardoned Chief Alamieyeseigha?

    I do not know about pardon, because Chief Alamieyeseigha, after the crisis, said the pardon was pre-arranged by the former President Umaru Yar’Adua. He said Yar’Adua actually pardoned him.

    It was insinuated that you got married to the stepdaughter of the then Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha for power, money and influence, especially to ensure your election into the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in 2003. Is it true?

    It is complete falsehood. I mooted the idea of taking part in the 2003 House of Assembly election in year 2000. The current Bayelsa State Commissioner for Education, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, a former Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, is one of my witnesses. Hon. Jonathan Obuebite and I were doing our MBA together at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), now Rivers State University (RSU), Port Harcourt, and we were always teasing each other that after the MBA, we would go to Bayelsa, with the creation of the state from the old Rivers state on October 1, 1996. Both of us were not married then.

    My late uncle, Chief A. K. Dikibo, was the National Vice Chairman, South-South of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at that time. Chief Dikibo took over when Chief Marshall Harry died. I then started nursing the ambition to contest as a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, and I started campaigning. I met my former (first) wife through my younger cousin, Janet, who, unfortunately, is late. My former wife is now married to someone else. So, I do not want to talk about her. She is now somebody’s wife and I must respect the marriage and the new couple.

    While campaigning and I met my former wife, whose name I will not mention, I told her I would not marry her, so that tomorrow, some people would not say it was because of election that I opted to marry her. The matter eventually became a family problem. I was summoned by her mother, Chief Margaret Alamieyeseigha, who asked whether I wanted to live my life to please the world. She said that whatever people would say should not bother me and should not be my business. She asked me to stick to the relationship.

    It was through the efforts and intervention of my uncle, the late Chief A.K. Dikibo and Chief Margaret Alamieyeseigha that we eventually got married, as they were very supportive to my cause, because Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha never wanted us to get married. Let me not talk. If I open up, it will hurt a lot of people. Many of them are now married.

    What went wrong with your first marriage, so that the younger ones can learn from it?

    My first marriage was broken beyond redemption, because of irreconcilable differences. I later discovered a lot of things after my first marriage. Do not force me to open up, because she is now married to another man, and I do not want the marriage to be affected. We were separated by the court. The marriage was dissolved in 2007. I still have copies of the court’s proceedings, which I will not make public. Please, respect my opinion.

    I was working with DHL Worldwide in Port Harcourt when I met my former wife. The insinuation of marrying her because of money, influence and power, because her stepfather, Chief Alamieyeseigha, was Bayelsa state governor, is not correct. I did not do jamboree with my money. I started the estate in Yenagoa being appreciated today from two plots of land. God opened my way when Julius Berger Construction Company had issue with Camp Porbeni in Yenagoa and officials of the construction giant were looking for a place to move in. They moved into my property in Yenagoa and the company paid handsomely. We started expanding the estate. As at that time, it was N270,000 per plot. I approached the community chief and he was willing to sell the large expanse of land to the expressway.

    The late Chief Alamieyeseigha did not give me one extra kobo for marrying his stepdaughter. All the then 24 members of Bayelsa State House of Assembly were treated equally by the then governor (Alamieyeseigha). Lawmakers also had the opportunity of attending conferences, with money approved for the trips, and I made sure I managed my funds very well, ploughing back the remnants into sand and cement.

    You are now happily married to Barr. Esther Aihimegbe Ereboh, and you are blessed with two children despite the initial insinuation that you could not father a child, having allegedly used your manhood for ritual. How did you meet your new wife and what was the attraction?

    (Laughs) I met my wife while she was studying Law at the Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma in Edo State, and in her final year. She is a very beautiful lady that any man would be attracted to. She is also very intelligent and a much calmer person, with good parental upbringing. We met at a function in Bayelsa State.

    How did you propose to her?

    I told her straight that I wanted to marry her. She said I barely knew her, but I asked her not to worry, that my mind was made up. We dated for about two years and we consummated our marriage in her Ekpoma hometown in Edo State in October, 2010. As at the time we wedded, she had already been called to the Bar. I am happy. I have peace.

    You earlier worked for A. Michelleti Nigeria Limited, a construction giant and DHL Worldwide, a leading courier company, both in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. You are also an astute businessman, based in Abuja and an articulate politician. How many Bayelsans, especially the youths, have you empowered, as you are aspiring to be governor?

    God exposed me to the construction industry with my experience in A. Michelleti Nigeria Limited for nine years making me to look like a builder. I worked for DHL Worldwide for three years. When I became a member of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, I deployed every kobo I had, with bank facilities, in building property. As at the time I was leaving the House of Assembly, I ventured fully into real estate business.

    As a lawmaker, I gave 250 persons from my Southern Ijaw Constituency 1, consisting of Amassoma, Otuan and Amatolo, on full scholarships in secondary schools, besides the over 20 persons that I directly supported in the Niger Delta University (NDU). And I still have others that I am training, with one of them being a final year student at Igbinedion University in Okada, Edo State.

    I also embarked on many outstanding development projects in the three communities making up the constituency. I am still empowering many Bayelsans, but I avoid blowing my trumpet. If I start to give the details, this interview will take the whole day. I do not have difficulty in assisting people.

    You intend to be the Governor of Bayelsa State on the platform of the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and to participate in the governorship election on November 16, 2019. Are you not bothered that PDP in Bayelsa is in crisis? Besides, how can you defeat formidable aspirants like Chief Timi Alaibe, Keniebi Okoko, Reuben Okoya, Senator Emmanuel Paulker, Dr. Godknows Igali, Joshua Macaiver, Peremobowei Ebebi, BekesEtifa, Fred Agbedi and Franklin Osaisai, among others, in the primaries?

    What makes the other governorship aspirants better than me? Some of them are seasonal contestants, who have been jumping from one political party to another since 1999. They cannot be described as more experienced or more formidable. Any aspirant can drop names, but let us wait and see who is actually on the ground in Bayelsa State.

    I am in the race and I should be identified as Hon. Steve Ereboh, without dropping anybody’s name. Just imagine some of them seeking the endorsement of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Governor Henry Seriake Dickson and other incumbent governors of neighbouring states. I have no names to drop. I have served my state very well and I have a scorecard to brandish to my people.

    I cannot equate myself with anybody. I am in the governorship race to serve my people again in a higher capacity. I am not competing with anybody. The electorate will decide. I can assure you that I will win the primary election of PDP and later defeat the candidates of other political parties during the general election.

    I have a manifesto/blueprint for the commensurate development of Bayelsa State. I am not in the race to negotiate to be commissioner or special adviser to the governor. I am not looking for settlement. Everybody has records of service, which will be considered by the delegates during primaries and the electorate during the general election.

  • The Nation marks 13th anniversary with praises, prayers

    Management and staff of Nigeria’s best newspaper, The Nation, on Wednesday gathered for praises and prayers to celebrate the paper’s 13th anniversary.

    The gathering, which held at the quadrangle of the newspaper’s headquarters in Lagos between 2 p.m and 4 p.m, was, for many, a time to reminiscence about the early days of your darling newspaper, appreciate its present and project into a future of endless opportunities.

    Reading Psalms 103:1-5, 90, 44:3; Proverbs 3:5-7 and 1Corinthians 3, those present glorified God for sparing the lives of the workers throughout the past financial year.

    They praised God for making the newspaper the readers’ delight and for the wisdom bestowed on the management and board of directors to pilot the company effectively.

    The Executive Director in charge of Finance Sunday Adeleke said the newspaper had fared well in its 13 years of existence, adding that it had been well across the country.

    He said: “We are just 13 years and we are everywhere. We can only thank God for His mercy. Professionally, the Lord has helped us. We win awards every year. No award passes us by, even internally. Our workers have also been appointed in key political selections across the country.

    “The Nation, as a company, has not been left out. When they look at media houses and they are saying which media houses will they pick competent people from to hold strategic positions in the country and states, The Nation has always been favoured. And we thank God for it.

    Read Also: Sanwo-Olu picks Omotoso, 24 others for commissioner, adviser

    “We also thank God for the successes ahead of us. God assisted us in the past to overcome our challenges and has helped us to always pay salaries when due and …we will not owe salaries, amen.

    “That is why we will always come to give honour to the Lord and we will continue to do our best because someday we will leave here and will be proud to look back and say I was indeed in that company. By that time, the company would have gone global. My prayer today is that as we continue to give in our best in service to this company, God will bless and increase our fortunes in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

    In his sermon, Pastor Festus Eriye reiterated the need to be faithful and diligent in service to others.

    He stressed that God rewards faithful servants.

    Eriye, who is the Editor of The Nation (Sunday), said the company had many reasons to be grateful to God, especially because no death was recorded in the past year.

    He said: “For the past one year, we have not had any cause to bury anyone in The Nation and we thank God for that. It is of the Lord’s mercy that we are not consumed. We should thank God because whatever we have achieved in The Nation is not because we are fantastic but God favoured us.

    “Reflecting on when we started, I know about four newspapers that sprang up at that same time and have all collapsed. Any organisation, person that has the habit of thanking God will always thrive because God will always release more blessings their way.

    “We always gather here once a year to thank God. That is one of the reasons The Nation keeps enlarging. In 13 years, God has taken us from our little beginning to a great place. I remember then when a popular journalist in one of the media houses said we would not last up to six months. But look at us today. It’s been tough, but we are still here.

    “Every anniversary is the end of something and the beginning of another. Everyday brings a new thing and a new challenge. We are alive and we thank God. Our newspapers are on the street; we thank God we are paying salaries as at when due. Our vans are moving; we thank God.

    “But as an organisation, we should not just be satisfied that we are paying salaries. We should want to do more than we are doing now. We need to stop admiring our past triumphs. Let us keep dreaming as a company and as individuals. If we are committed in this company, there is nothing we cannot achieve.”

    Also at the gathering were the Deputy Chairman of the Editorial Board, Mr Tunji Adegboyega, Advert Manager Robinson Osirike, Online Editor Sunday Oguntola and Production Editor (Advance), Madam Cecilia Uwadi.

  • DPP’s report indicts house help for killing 89-year-old woman, daughter

    The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has indicted a house help, Joseph Ogbu, for the June 19 murder of his 89-year-old employer, Mrs. Adejoke John, and her 36-year-old daughter, Oreoluwa.

    The indictment is part of the legal advice on the case issued by the DPP, T. K. Shitta-Bey, on July 12, following a July 5 police request.

    The DPP’s office dispatched the legal advice on July 17 to the police and the “presiding magistrate, Magistrate Court 8, Ebute-Meta, Lagos” where Ogbu was arraigned on June 27.

    In the report, seen by The Nation on Wednesday Shitta-Bey said facts in the duplicate case file presented to her office by the police, sufficiently established a case of murder and armed robbery.

    She recommended that Ogbu be tried for both offences, adding that her office would file the processes for his arraignment and trial at the high court.

    Read Also: Househelp’s trial for ‘killing’ employer, daughter, adjourned for 86 days

    The report read: “After a careful consideration of the facts available in the duplicate case file, this office is of the considered opinion that there are sufficient facts establishing a prima facie case of murder and armed robbery contrary to sections 223 and 297(2)(b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 against Joseph Ogbu.”

    Magistrate O. A. Olagbende of an Ebute-Meta Magistrates’ Court remanded Ogbu, 22, in Ikoyi Prison on June 27, following his arraignment by the police on a temporary three-count charge of murder and stealing.

    He was suspected of murdering his boss, Mrs. Adejoke John and her daughter, Oreoluwa, on June 19, just two days after he was employed.

    The State Criminal Investigation Department (SCIID), Yaba, Lagos alleged that Ogbu stabbed Oreoluwa to death after she turned down his demand for N4,000 on the second day of his employment.

    He, afterwards, strangled Mrs. John.

    Police counsel O. W. Ologun said the defendant committed the offences on June 19, at about 10pm, at his employer’s 4, Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos, home.

    He said the defendant also stole his employer’s Toyota Camry car, Gionee, Itel and Nokia phones, a power bank, a pair of scissors, two cutlasses, an LG Plasma TV set and a handbag containing clothes and towels.

  • Fish farmer’s trial for ‘chopping off boy’s hand’ stalled

    An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday adjourned till October 2, the trial of a 67-year-old fish farmer, Jeremiah Obrifor, who allegedly chopped off the right hand of an 11-year-old boy, Goodluck Amaechi.

    The court fixed the date following the absence of Chief Magistrate A. O. Adedayo, who is on annual leave.

    The Nation learnt yesterday that Obrifor and Amaechi’s family are exploring an out of court settlement.

    The State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba brought Obrifor before the court on June 15, on a four-count charge of attempted murder, grievous harm and unlawful assault.

    Read Also: Court sentences 25-year-old man to death for killing friend over N20 loan

    Prosecuting Inspector Chinalu Uwadione told the court that the defendant committed the offences at about 8:40pm on June 7, at 14, Issa Ibrahim Street, Okokomaiko, Lagos.

    He alleged that the defendant chopped off Amaechi’s right hand with a machete, for allegedly attempting to steal fish from his (Obrifor’s) pond.

    The offences, according to the prosecutor, contravened sections 173, 230, 245 and 246 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    The defendant pleaded not guilty and was granted N1million bail.

  • SUBEB secretary, parents praise placement test

    The Board Secretary, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mrs Foluso Ajimoti and some parents of pupils who sat for the Unified Examination for admission into secondary schools across the State have praised its organisers for a hitch-free examination.

    Mrs Ajimoti  said the smooth conduct showed that the State Government made adequate preparations for the examination.

    Ajimoti who addressed journalists after a tour of some of the examination centres in Mainland, Somolu and Kosofe areas said that the huge number of pupils who sat for this year’s edition of the annual examination shows the wide acceptability of government-owned schools.

    She disclosed that 160,000 primary six pupils from both public and private schools sat for the examination in 348 examination centres across the six Education Districts in all the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas of the State.

    According to her, the state government also made special provision for physically challenged pupils.

    “Going by my assessment of the schools visited thus far, it is evident that the pupils were well attended to in a conducive examination environment, there were enough examination papers and this is an improvement on what we have experienced in the past,” the Board Secretary stated.

  • House help’s ‘trial’ for ‘killing’ employer, daughter, adjourned for 86 days  

    An Ebute-Meta Magistrates Court in Lagos State said on Tuesday that it had yet to receive the Directorate of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP’s) advice on the murder charge filed by the police against a house help, Joseph Ogbu.

    Magistrate O. A. Olagbende adjourned further proceedings till October 24, or for 86 days.

    She gave the long adjournment because the court will be on vacation between August and September.

    Olagbende noted that the adjournment should have been for 30 days.

    She, however, observed that depending on the DPP’s report, the Lagos State Government could take over the case and transfer it to the high court during the adjournment period.

    The court remanded Ogbu, 22, in Ikoyi Prison on June 27, following his arraignment by the police on a temporary three-count charge of murder and stealing.

    He was accused of killing his 89-year-old employer, Adejoke John, and her 36-year-old daughter, Oreoluwa John, on June 19, barely two days after he was employed.

    The State Criminal Investigation Department (SCIID), Yaba, Lagos alleged that Ogbu stabbed Oreoluwa to death after she turned down his demand for N4,000 on the second day of his employment.

    He, afterwards, strangled Mrs. Adejoke John.

    Read Also: Woman inserts pepper in housemaid’s private part over N26,000 theft

    Police counsel O. W. Ologun said the defendant committed the offences on June 19, at about 10pm, at his employer’s 4, Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, Lagos home.

    He alleged that the defendant stole his employer’s Toyota Camry car, Gionee, Itel and Nokia phones, a power bank, a pair of scissors, two cutlasses, an LG Plasma TV and a handbag containing clothes and towels.

    According to him, murder contravenes Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, while stealing offends Section 287 of the same law.

    Ogbu was not represented by a lawyer.

    An Investigative Police Officer (IPO), who did not identify himself by name, also narrated how Ogbu allegedly killed the women.

    He said: “On June 18, the deceased employed him as her house help. The next day, he accosted her that he needed N4,000. The deceased’s daughter said ‘when did you come that you are already demanding money?’ That was when he had an issue with the daughter and he stabbed her several times in the stomach and she fell and died. The mother was inside her room hearing them. The daughter was saying ‘Mummy! Mummy! Joseph has killed me! Joseph has killed me!’ As she (the mother) tried to come out, he grabbed the 89-year-old woman and strangled her. That was around 9pm. He was there until around 2am. He then took the key of the deceased’s car, opened the gate and drove out. He had earlier removed the plasma TV from the wall in the parlour and put it in the car along with other items.”

    He said the defendant was caught by security men on the street as he tried to drive off.

  • Task force employs 10 Awawa boys

    Ten members of a cult, Awawa Boys, are now working with Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Task Force), Chairman Olayinka Egbeyemi said on Tuesday.

    Egbeyemi, a Chief Superindendent of Police (CSP), told the visiting Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu that he had reduced the gang’s activities in Agege, where it is based.

    He added: “After raids and the arrest of members, they invited me, seeking amnesty.”

    Egbeyemi said he met with the boys in mufti, and they told him that joblessness pushed them into crimes. They said that if the government gave them jobs, they would shun crimes, he added.

    Egbeyemi went on: “The Awawa boys are willing to work, what they need is employment. Once this is done, their criminal activities will end.”

    Read Also: ‘Awawa boys’ leader, two others arrested

    He, however, said the boys were still all over the state perpetrating crimes.

    Egbeyemi urged the government to create a reformatory home to engage them, as they are willing to work.

    If the boys are employed, they will shun crimes, he said, stressing: “They need to be rehabilitated.”

    Egbeyemi said the task force tackled cultists, kidnappers, miscreants, hoodlums and even robbers.

    He said the agency had crushed 7,000 motorcycles so far, adding that about 4,200 others were in its store.

    Egbeyemi said the agency needed more operational vehicles, including Black Maria, to tackle insecurity in Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi.

  • Sanwo-Olu to RRS, others: make Lagos unsafe for criminals

    Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday urged security agencies to key into his administration’s plan to secure the metropolis.

    He spoke when he visited the Safety Arena at Oshodi, which houses the agencies.

    The governor said: “We are going round our security formations, our agencies that interface with the public.”

    Among the agencies are: Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement) Unit (Task Force), Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), Fire Service, Legionnaires and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    Sanwo-Olu also visited Lagos State Environmental Management Agency (LASEMA) Response Unit (LRU) at Cappa and Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and Revenue House at Alausa, Ikeja.

    Addressing RRS officials, he enjoined them to make Lagos unsafe for criminals.

    “Lagos must not be a safe haven for criminals, you must maintain constant security surveillance across the state and flush out hoodlums from their hideouts,” the governor said.

    Addressing the personnel at Safety Arena, Sanwo-Olu said government alone could not provide the conducive environment and security needed.

    Read Also: Fire guts over 20 vehicles, shops in Lagos market

    “This is why all of you are here at the Safety Arena to help support us to achieve that purpose.

    “We are all here to serve Lagosians in one form or the other. You are here to serve the entire citizens of Lagos State and in doing that we must live up to our responsibilities at all times. Do your work with professionalism, humility, be civil and do it with a human face.”

    He warned them against extorting money from the public, saying: “I will not want to hear issues concerning extorting money from people because you are carrying out your responsibility; it is a crime because you will be abusing the authority of the government given to you by so doing.

    “Let Lagosians feel the positive impact of what you are doing, let the citizens feel us and know that corrective governance is what we are all about.”

    Sanwo-Olu promised to address the agencies’ problems.

    “We will repair few vehicles, buy few vehicles, provide few offices and properly equip offices. We will do all in our power to make your working environment conducive and of course take care of your welfare.

    “We know you are here doing a good job, continue to do the good job, but let Lagosians feel the positive effect of what you are doing. We will continue to live up to your expectations from us, we will continue to discharge our responsibilities to you as when due, but we also want the same from all of you as well,” the governor said.

    He was accompanied by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Folashade Jaji, Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, Chief of Staff, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Gboyega Soyannwo and Lagos Security Trust Fund (LSTF) Executive Secretary Mr. Abdul-Rasaq Balogun.

  • Sanwo-Olu advised to build on past legacies

    Lagos State Health Service Commission (LSHSC) Chairman Bayo Aderuye, has called for the development of the health sector to meet global standard.

    He spoke on Sunday during the 33rd thanksgiving anniversary of the Christian Fellowship Chaplaincy of LSHSC held at Ifako Ijaiye General Hospital.

    Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s wife, Dr Ibijoke, urged LSHSC workers to serve as ambassadors for the scheme.

    She hailed the chaplaincy for touching patients’ lives.

    Read Also: Meet Sanwo-Olu’s Commissioner-designates

    The chaplaincy’s Chairman, Aiyepola Ajibola, appealed to the government for land on the hospital premises to build a chapel.

    Pastor Johnson Kalejaiye, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) called for prayer for the country to overcome its challenges.

    Speaking on the theme: “Covenant thanksgiving”, Kalejaiye enjoined LSHSC workers to thank God every time.

  • Fire destroys 20 vehicles, 10 shops at Owode Onirin market 

    Fire swept through Owode Onirin, the auto parts market near Ikorodu, on Monday night, destroying over 20 vehicles, 10 shops and belongings worth millions of naira.

    Destroyed were buses, bonnets, vehicle engines and cash kept in some shops.

    The Nation learnt that the inferno, which destroyed Line M of the market, started around 9:30pm.

    Some residents said they saw flames and heard sounds, which forced them to run for safety.

    They said they later got water to put out the fire.

    A business owner in the market, Mr. Wasiu Bello, alleged that the fire was caused by the carelessness of a food seller, who left a burning coal in her shop.

    Read Also: Ijegun residents demand security patrol, fire station

    Bello lost his shop and belongings to the inferno. He alleged that the fire started from the food seller’s shop.

    He said he lost some vehicles to the fire, a bonnet worth N1.2 million that had  been sold, but yet to be taken away by the buyer.

    Another victim, Olamilekan Semiu, alleged that the night guards had not been performing their duties efficiently. “If they are efficient, they ought to have noticed the fire before it became wild,” he added.

    Semiu urged the community’s leaders to take steps to prevent a recurrence.

    “New guards should be employed and a security house built close to the line to ensure observation of the vicinity. We will enact a rule that no food seller will be allowed to own shops in the market, because nothing else could have wreaked this havoc if not for their fire,” he said.

    An eyewitness accused the Lagos State Fire Service of late response to the emergency call.

    “They put out the fire at about 11:30pm after using a full water tank,” he said.