The Nation Newspaper

Tag: mob

  • Mob protests high electricity tariff

    Mob protests high electricity tariff

    SOME aggrieved Ikorodu, Lagos residents last Friday stormed a branch of Ikeja Electric (IE); a power distribution firm, protesting high electricity bills.

    The protesting Asojon Community carried placards complaining about the “killing” bills.

    Some of the inscriptions read: “This is not just crazy bill, it is mere wickedness”, “No to estimated bills, this is forced debt”, “IE is another slave master, stop rolling debt on us”.

    The community’s chairman, Chaplain Victor Kene-Okafor, said the residents were paying more because of the new tariff introduced last February 1.

    “I used to pay between N3000 and N4000 but the bill the marketer brought presently read N9000. When I asked her, she said they are charging new tariff,” Kene-Okafor said.

    A resident, Mr Stephen Wanogho, asked IE to provide them with meters and stop giving them estimated bills.

    He said: “We want prepaid meters so that they can effectively charge us and they can stop giving us crazy bills”.

    Another resident, Mr Jegbefume Henry, said: “We are not saying that we will not pay electricity bills, we are only asking to be charged fairly. My wife was charged N12,000 for only a shop”.

     

  • Mob attacks three men for stealing 17 goats

    A three-man gang, which allegedly specialises in stealing goats and other domestic animals, escaped lynching in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, on Saturday, when a mob intercepted it.

    Seventeen big goats and  personal effects were recovered from the suspects, who were injured by the mob.

    The goats were said to have been stolen in Ilupeju-Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area. Two of them died in transit.

    The suspects were arrested at 7.30 am at Okeyinmi by the mob, including commercial motorcyclists and youths, who gathered at newspaper stands.

    Nemesis caught up with the suspects, who were coming from Oke-Ila on high speed and reportedly hit a motorcyclist and his passenger.

    Their refusal to show concern for the victims angered  bystanders who challenged them on why they were driving recklessly.

    Some sympathisers saw some of the goats inside the car, which elicited questions about their ownership.

    But the suspects were unable to provide satisfactory answers.

    The crowd at the scene continued to grow and the booth of the car was forced open. Many goats were in it.

    The mouths of the goats were smeared with salt and sealed with sellotape to prevent the animals from bleating.

    The  mob beat up the suspects. They also vandalised their car.

    Curiously, there was on the car a big sticker with the inscription ‘CLERGY’ which was believed to have been pasted to create a false impression.

    A goat-stealing syndicate is believed to be operating on the Iworoko-Are-Afao-Ire-Ilupeju axis where residents have been complaining of mysterious disappearance of domestic animals, especially goats.

    The motorcyclists claimed that members of the syndicate have an unnamed “godfather”, who bails them from police stations anytime they are caught.

    As the “jungle justice” was going on, policemen arrived on the scene and an argument ensued with the mob, which expressed fears that the suspects may be released.

    Reason later prevailed and the suspects were taken to the Okesa Police Station.

    Police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi confirmed the arrests, saying the victims were receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

    Adeyemi said the suspects were recently charged to court for the same offence but were released on bail.

  • Mob kills police corporal over death of two persons

    Mob kills police corporal over death of two persons

    A mob yesterday shot dead Police Corporal Sunday David for allegedly killing two persons in Agege, Lagos.

    The mob killed Sunday, who was in mufti, as he tried to flee after his allegedly dastardly act.

    David, popularly known as Iku Sunday, who was attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Sqaud (SARS), was shot in the forehead and neck on Salawu Street, Orile-Agege.

    His assailants, it was learnt, caught up with him in traffic around Elere, pursued him up to Salawu Street and shot him.

    It was gathered that his blood was splattered on the seats of his newly bought Toyota Camry saloon car; the side glass and the open roof were shattered.

    A resident in the neighbourhood said the incident occurred around 3pm, adding that Sunday’s killers did not remove anything from him.

    She said the police found the corporal’s remains behind his steering with bullet wound on his neck.

    According to an eyewitness, the corporal had a pistol in his pocket, an AK47 rifle in his car’s boot, a gold necklace and cash, but they were not taken by his killers.

    It was gathered that Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives and officers from Elere Police Division, took his body to the Ikeja General Hospital morgue.

    “It was at the point of searching that the police realised he was one of their own. The man shot two people, one in the chest and the other in the neck.

    “He lives around here and they said he was running when those chasing him caught up with him in traffic and killed him.

    “We heard that nothing was taken from his car. The people he shot were rushed to the hospital but we later heard they died in the hospital,” she said.

    Another eyewitness told The Nation that the late policeman opened fire on the victims on a football pitch.

    A source said the late Sunday, who is survived by three children, is in trouble because of the guns found on him.

    According to the senior police officer, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase has directed that policemen should never take guns home.

    The officer said investigations would show how the late corporal, who was yet to report to his new place of assignment at SARS Ikorodu, came about the guns.

    “It is a serious issue. He has been posted to Ikorodu for over one week now but he has not reported there. We are yet to know how he had two guns in his possession and what he was doing with them.

    “Just the fact that he had those guns means dismissal. Because the IGP has been warning since last year that no policeman should take weapons home after duty.

    “We cannot say it was armed robbery since his attackers did not take anything from him. He had two guns, a gold chain, and money bit none was touched.

    “They just killed him and ensured he was dead. I do not know the condition of the people he shot but I heard one died in the hospital,” said the police source.

    Police spokesman Joseph Offor, a Deputy Superintendent of police (DSP), said one of the victims was responding to treatment. The other did not survive.

    According to Offor, the corporal was driving with his friend identified as Taiwo Balogun before they were shot by unknown assailants.

    “One Raheem Sulaiman of 18, Adeyinka Road, Orile Agege sustained gunshot wound on the neck.

    “Corpses of the dead have been deposited at the Mainland General Hospital for autopsy. The injured is receiving treatment at the Ikeja General Hospital.

    “Investigation is ongoing and the matter will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti,” he said.

     

  • Mob torches building over printer’s death

    Mob torches building over printer’s death

    THE year ended on a sad note yesterday for residents of House 38 Solanke Street in Akoka, Yaba, Lagos Mainland, which was torched by a mob.

    The bungalow, which also house three shops, was burnt following the killing of a printer, Rilwan Lawal, 25, by some hoodlums led by a man whose family owned the building.

    The man, according to some residents, does not live in the building, but stays there whenever he was around.

    Lawal was shot dead on Tuesday night on Ibukunoluwa Street, Akoka, while returning home.

    Some students and shop owners were trying to salvage some of their belongings when The Nation visited the scene yesterday.

    A mob prevented fire fighters from entering the street, locking the two gates leading there.

    A resident said he did not know why Lawal was killed, describing him as “easy going”.

    “It was the hoodlums’ leader that killed him and I am sure that boy didn’t do anything because he doesn’t mingle with touts. Some residents, who were angry, put petrol in the building which belongs to the Oyedeles and burnt it down,” he said.

    A trader, Yahaya Dauda, said the gang’s leader returned from prison in March where he spent 13 years.

    He said: “He was sentenced to prison then because of murder and now it is the same thing. He hasn’t learnt his lessons. He disturbs the neighbourhood and flees afterwards.

    “I don’t know why people like him should be released. He believes his father, would always save him. Since the incident happened, we haven’t seen him or any family member. Most of the residents have been left homeless. This is too painful to start the year with.”

    A resident, Chris Uzor, said the late Rilwan worked as a printer with El-holar Nigeria Enterprises on the street he was killed.

    “He was an easy going man. I got to this area over five years ago and I met him here. His death is painful because he was a determined man and jovial. He never took things hard. If he was arrogant, people would have ignored him but he wasn’t. Immediately he was shot, policemen from Bariga Division carried his body. His colleagues have not opened their office because of the incident. Nobody can open their store because we don’t know what the gang will do again. This matter needs to be looked into,” he said.

    Dada Salau, whose shop was affected, said he received a call around 8am that his shop was on fire.

    “I live in Ikorodu but yesterday, I decided to stay in Bariga. I was able to save few things but some tenants couldn’t save anything because most of them had gone out. Students who occupied the building couldn’t save their books and appliances,” he said.

    A resident said he learnt that some people were planning to set the house ablaze on Tuesday night and alerted the police in Bariga.

    “The police came immediately that night and left around 7am. Shortly after, the mob appeared and set the house ablaze,” he said.

  • Mob attacks policemen, snatches riffles

    Mob attacks policemen, snatches riffles

    Two policemen attached to Ebonyi State command were Tuesday hospitalized following injuries they sustained when they were attacked by a mob where they went to make arrest.

    Also, they were dispossessed of their service AK-47 riffles by the mob.

    The two officers whose names and ranks could not be immediately ascertained, it was gathered, were attacked at Amofia Ngbo, Ohaukwu local government area.

    The officers had gone to the community to arrest a man who stabbed another man for demanding to be paid money owed him when they were surrounded by members of the community who refused to allow them effect the arrest of the suspect.

    An eyewitness who did not want his name in print said that the policemen insisted that the suspect must be arrested and swooped on him.

    Another source added that following the attack on the policemen by the youths, stern looking policemen in large numbers stormed the area in the late evening and started destroying things.

    He disclosed that houses were razed in the alleged police reprisal attack.

    Police spokesman, ASP George Okafor confirmed the incident to our correspondent.

    He said the policemen attacked are responding to treatment and that their AK-47 riffles snatched are still missing.

    Okafor added that some arrest has been made in connection with the incident.

    Meanwhile, it was learnt that people have deserted the community.

     

  • Deceased killer cop to be dismissed posthumously – Lagos CP

    Deceased killer cop to be dismissed posthumously – Lagos CP

    A police Sergeant, Stephen James who shot himself after killing three men at the weekend in Lagos would be dismissed posthumously.

    This disclosure was made by the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, while condemning the actions of the cop.

    It was gathered that James at about 4pm on Saturday in the Ketu area of the state, ambushed and killed three men, including two siblings for admonishing him to behave appropriately at a drinking spot.

    The deceased twin (only children of their bereft mother),Taiwo and Kehinde Oyesunle, as well as their their friend identified as Jeje, were said to have admonished the drunken officer, who entered the premises of Paulson Hotel on Anibaba Street, and harassed customers to buy drinks for him.

    James, a Sergeant with force number 217884, attached to MOPOL 22, Oduduwa, GRA, Ikeja, was said to have threatened to shoot anyone who refuses to buy alcohol for him at the hotel bar.

    Aside being drunk, the cop was also said to have been a chronic Indian hemp smoker and was probably high on narcotics that fateful evening.

    An eyewitnesses said the policeman ambushed and killed the three young men, who were in their early 30s, as they stepped outside the hotel premises where they had gone to celebrate Jeje’s birthday.

    It was gathered that when he realized the implications of his action, the policeman allegedly shot himself on the chest.

    The incident threw the entire neighborhood and its environs into confusion with passers-by and residents running for safety, it was learnt.

    An angry mob, The Nation gathered, attempted to raze the hotel as well as burn the corpse of the cop but for the swift intervention of police officers attached to Ketu division.

    The mob was said to have thrown bottles and stones at the hotel, prompting lodgers to flee their rooms with their luggage.

    Reacting to the misfortune, Owoseni said the cop will be tried and dismissed in death, adding that the Sergeant can no longer be a member of the force following his callous behaviour.

    “ We would try him even in death and dismiss him for his actions. We want to use this medium to sympathize with the families of the deceased and we apologize for the irrational actions of the policeman who also took his life,” said Owoseni.

  • Dickson’s mob mentality

    The inconclusive governorship election in Bayelsa State must have come as a surprise to many Nigerians for a diversity of reasons. First is the strong showing of the candidate of All Progressives Congress, Chief Timipre Sylva. Second is the level of violence that was unleashed on citizens during the election and not discounting the attack on APC chieftains across the state and third is the alarm and mob sentiments that Governor Seriake Dickson has been throwing all over the place, despite evidence that it was the APC whose chieftains and potential voters were on the receiving end of the thuggery.

    The results so far released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that the APC performed very well across the state and even in places considered as PDP strongholds such as Ogbia and Yenagoa. In fact, it was clear to watchers of the election that the early results filtering out of polling stations showed the PDP leading in several polling units in Yenagoa and elsewhere only for the final tally to reflect something else. Still, the difference in declared votes between both candidates is narrow and the decider could be the results of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which has about a quarter of the state’s voting population and where the APC has many of its key stalwarts, including Sylva’s running mate, Elder Wilberforce Igiri; former Secretary to the State Government, Alabo Gideon Ekeuwei; the state party chairman, Chief Tiwei Orunimighe among others. It was an area the PDP knew would tip the scale of the election and virtually everything was done to mar the exercise in APC strongholds. Some 120,000 votes are at stake here but it was the premeditated manner the thugs executed the rigging plan that says a lot of their motive.

    Before elections were due on the morning of December 5, thugs intent on murder had stormed the Ekeremor home of the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, and shot severally into his house. Sylva was also targeted at Odioma in Brass Local Government Area by armed thugs but vigilant security men repelled the attack.

    One interesting fact is that it is only APC members that were targeted and suffered these attacks, an indication that the alarm raised by Sylva days to the election that the PDP was stockpiling arms and ammunition for violence was credible. Perhaps the party knew that without such intimidation it stood no chance against APC and Sylva, who has a strong grassroots network and is well respected as a former governor of the state. The protest by youths and women in Yenagoa against the results released so far and the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw elections speaks to this reality.

    Dickson’s mob mentality has become so warped that he equates his victory with that of the Ijaw nation. In several places the governor has tried to pitch the election as a choice between the PDP as the Ijaw party and the APC as an invading force, rather than a referendum on his performance in office, which has been woeful to say the least. In desperation, during the campaigns, he tried to reach out to the people of the state, promising that he would deliver on the earlier promises he made and which have remain unfulfilled as his term in office draws to a close.

    The Ijaw people are a fearless and upright people and with the reports of massive looting that are unfolding daily under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan cannot be a legacy to the Ijaw spirit of uprightness. It is indicative of the level of pillage that the Bayelsa State economy has been undergoing under Dickson and we must reject a situation where the resources of the state will be used to feed the greed of these visionless elite of the PDP. This is the crux of the current governorship election, where Dickson is determined to pull all stops to distort the voice of the Bayelsa people and the Ijaw nation. He must not be allowed.

    It is important that the security forces do not succumb to the intimidation of blackmail that Dickson and the PDP have been employing, especially in the coastal states of Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo and Rivers. The engagement of criminals, thugs and ex-militants, masquerading as community leaders, to rig and inflate results has been a regular feature of the PDP and this should be checked through intensive policing, for the integrity of the electoral process and the results.

    The PDP tactics have been to portray Bayelsa as its bastion and create a siege mentality that the APC is out to ‘capture’ the state. The truth is that Bayelsa people are disappointed that despite the massive support to the PDP during the Jonathan presidency, nothing was done to address critical issues of road infrastructure, pollution and environmental problems that are of concern to people of the state.

    The results so far released should tell Dickson that his mob mentality and blackmail would not work and Bayelsans are the wiser that neither he nor the PDP represent their interests.

    • By Mabota Alata

    Director of Research and Strategy, Amaebi Foundation, Yenagoa.

     

  • Angry mob lynch suspected kidnapper in Lagos

    Angry mob lynch suspected kidnapper in Lagos

    A man suspected to be a kidnapper has been lynched by an angry mob in Lagos.

    Although the incident occurred at Coker bus stop, Orile Iganmu on Tuesday morning, the man who was beaten to a pulp died Wednesday.

    It was learnt that the mob descended on the man after he was found with two school children who were crying.

    Although no one could produce the children he allegedly abducted, the crowd stripped the man naked, hitting him with stones and sticks.

    Having beaten the man to comma with his blood littering the ground, the crowd in a bit to set him ablaze, hung a tyre round his neck, while others took horrid photographs of the helpless man.

    However, some passersby who disliked what was happening contacted the police and a team was sent to rescue the man.

    The unconscious man was rushed to the hospital, The Nation learnt but he eventually passed on.

    An eyewitness who posted some of the obscene pictures on social media stated that the man was almost dead when the police got to the scene.

    “He was unconscious. He was terribly beaten. They even scattered his head. The mob claimed that the man kidnapped two school children. No one knows the truth.

    “I did not see any school kid around and so I can’t say if the man was a kidnapper. They were about to burn him when the police came and rescued him.

    “He was rushed to the hospital but I heard that he died this morning (Wednesday),” said the source who gave his name as Blinkz Mick.

    When contacted, the state command’s spokesman, Joseph Offor, a DSP, condemned the act of lawlessness displayed by the mob.

    He stated that the man was not a kidnapper, adding that no one has come forward to say it was their children he attempted to abduct.

    “Yes the man died in the hospital Wednesday. It is very unfortunate the way people take laws into their hands. The police could not identify the man because he was unconscious when he was rescued from the mob.

    “They claimed he was a kidnapper but no one saw him with any hostage. No one has also come forward to claim he kidnapped their child.
    “Investigation is ongoing in the matter and we will ensure that all those who participated in that man’s unfortunate death are brought to justice,” said Offor.

  • Soccer fans mob Alebiosu in Aba

    Soccer fans mob Alebiosu in Aba

    Soccer fans at the Aba Township Stadium on Wednesday mobbed Kwara United FC of Ilorin striker, Segun Alebiosu for his scintillating performance and aggressive moves against Enyimba Int’l FC in a match day 35 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) encounter which the host won 1-0.

    Alebiosu was a real nightmare and threat to the defence of the league leader as every of his moves look dangerous throughout the game.

    Chinedu Udoji, captain of Enyimba nodded home the only goal of the game in the 23rd minute winning an aerial battle to get the goal.

    Some of the soccer enthusiasts followed Alebiosu beyond the stadium gate seeking to shake his hands for the troubles he caused their team in the game.

    Some of them vowed that their team will snatch the young striker from Kwara United next season.

    Alebiosu who had scored five goals this season said he put up the performance because he wants to do all he could to help his team remained in the league.

    “Our performance has shown we are not negotiating anything than to remain in the league.

    “You can see the overall performance of everyone because we believe is not over yet.

    “The season has not ended for us and we will keep fighting till the end of the season,” Alebiosu said.

    The young striker urged his team’s supporters to keep praying for them as he pledged the resolve of the team to win the remaining three games.

    Kwara United will lock horns with FC Taraba on Sunday in Ilorin in a match day 36.

  • Mob lynches suspect as ‘robbers’ steal N3m from tricycle passenger

    •Hoodlums shot Keke NAPEP operator

    A mob at the weekend apprehended three of a four-member robbery gang at Ox-Bow Lake, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

    One of the suspects, identified simply as Jeff, was reportedly lynched; the others had been beaten up before a police patrol van arrived and took away the suspects.

    Jeff, it was learnt, was among the suspected robbers who shot a commercial tricycle (Keke NAPEP) operator and dispossessed his two passengers of N3 million.

    The hoodlums were said to have accosted the tricycle operator, shot him in the head and collected the money from his passengers, a couple, returning from a bank.

    The gunshot reportedly attracted workers at nearby building sites.

    Some residents were said to have run to the scene and chased the hoodlums.

    A resident, who spoke in confidence, said: “The robbers had one gun. The mob moved closer and apprehended three of them. They were almost beaten to death before the arrival of a police patrol team.”

    It was gathered that Jeff died while the police were conveying him to the hospital, following the injury he sustained from the beating.

    Police spokesman Asinim Butswat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), urged the public not to take the law into their hands.

    He said: “On September 12, at noon, four armed young men – Aya Victor (23), Ebi Godwin (20), Ejike Igwe and Jeff (surname unknown), drove a Volkswagen car with registration number AL 305 AGU and blocked a tricycle that was carrying Mr and Mrs Eric Oyibodokoye, at Oxbow Lake, Swali, Yenagoa.

    “The suspects shot the tricyclist in his head, collected the N3 million from the occupants and zoomed off.

    “Policemen were alerted and three members of the gang were arrested by the residnts, but were apprehended beaten up before the arrival of the policemen. The tricyclist and the suspects were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, for medical attention.

    “One of the suspects, Jeff, later died. His body has been deposited at the same hospital for autopsy. The fourth suspect was trailed and arrested at Swali community in possession of a locally-made pistol and N144,500, part of the stolen money.

    “The public is advised to continue to support the police in fighting crimes. But they should not take the law into their hands by beating suspects. Investigation is ongoing.”