The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Murder

  • UNIPORT students’ murder: Court fixes judgment for July 31

    A High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has adjourned till July 31 to deliver judgment in the murder of four students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

    The judge, Justice Ledan Nyordee, who fixed the date yesterday, said he was ready with the judgment, but he was ill.

    A correspondent of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that lawyers, reporters and others besieged the courtroom, waiting for the judgment, only to be informed that the court would not sit.

    Twelve people, including a police sergeant, have been facing trial since December 20, 2012 over the alleged murder of the students.

    Five of the 12 suspects, including a traditional ruler in Allu community, have been discharged.

    The four murdered students are Ugonna Obuzor, Toku Lioyd, Chiadika Biringa and Tekena Elkanah.

    Security was tight at the court premises in anticipation of the judgment.

    The murder was allegedly committed on October 5, 2012 at Allu in Obio-Apkor Local Government of Rivers State.

  • Was it murder or an accident?

    Was it murder or an accident?

    A 300-Level Pharmacy student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Uche Rickson Esegine, is being detained with a pastor and three others at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Edo State Police Command over the death of an admission seeker,  Lucky Chukwuka. An autopsy allegedly revealed that Chukwuka was murdered. But, the suspects denied the allegation, saying he bled to death. EZEKIEL EFEOBHOKHAN (600-Level Pharmacy) reports.

    What killed Lucky Chukwuka? This is the puzzle the homicide division of Edo State Police Command is trying to unravel. Chukwuka died on July 2, after he returned home from a regional prayer vigil organised by the Sapele Road branch of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Benin City, the state capital.

    Chukwuka, an admission seeker, allegedly died in a bus conveying him and fellow RCCG members back to Benin City, shortly after they left the vigil. Five people, including a pastor and the bus driver, are in police custody over the matter.

    An autopsy report by the police allegedly indicated that the deceased may have been murdered, but the suspects denied having hand in his death.

    After the vigil, CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the officiating pastor pleaded with church members, who came with vehicles, to help others who did not have any means of returning home. The late Chukwuka hopped into the bus, which was going to Benin City. It was gathered that the bus was full before it left the vigil’s venue.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that an accident was averted when the bus almost collided with a trailer coming from the opposite direction. Although the passengers panicked, they suspected nothing, until the late Chukwuka’s blood-stained phone was found on the floor of the bus.

    It was gathered that the late Chukwuka was found bleeding from the head, prompting the driver and other church members to rush him to the Central Hospital in Benin City, where he was rejected. He was then taken to the UNIBEN Teaching Hospital (UBTH), where he was pronounced dead.

    His distraught parents filed a complaint at BDPA Police Station, which led to the detention of the suspects. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that they were moved to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), following the autopsy report.

    One of the suspects, Uche Rickson Esegine, a 300-Level Pharmacy student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), said he knew nothing about Chukwuka’s death when he spoke to CAMPUSLIFE before he was moved to CID.

    Uche said nobody in the bus knew the deceased was bleeding until his blood-stained phone was found on the floor. He wondered how the police came about the murder story when efforts were made to save Chukwuka’s life.

    “If truly the deceased was murdered, why did we have to take him to two hospitals in an effort to save his life?” Uche asked.

    Explaining how the accident happened, Uche said after the vigil, he joined four other church members in their chartered bus to return to town. Before departure, he said some faithful appealed to them for a ride, which they obliged.

    “As Christians, we believed it was good to help our fellow Christians. Our bus was filled up as we left the camp. I was so tired and sleepy. Some minutes into the journey back to Benin City, I dozed off. The scream by other passengers woke me up when our bus was almost hit by a trailer. We were all frightened by that experience. After a while, we heard someone from the back seat shouting ‘blood…blood’.

    “We discovered Chukwuka, who was sitting at the extreme right of the back seat, had an injury on his head. He was bleeding profusely. His phone was stained by the blood. We alerted the driver, who made a diversion to the hospital. He was rejected at the Central Hospital, after which we rushed him to UBTH where he died.”

    Uche’s explanation did not convince the bereaved parents, who suspected foul play in the death of their son. It was learnt that the parents urged the police to investigate the circumstances of their son’s death.

    Uche’s collegues are worried by his continued detention. They have threatened to stage a protest against the police and the school. The students said they would march on the Police Command if Uche was not released before his third-year professional examination, which started last Monday. His colleagues threatened to boycott the examination.

    The Students’ Union Government (SUG) leadership, however, waded into the matter, urging students not to embark on the planned protest. The union president, Elvis Osemudiamen, promised to meet with the school management and police authorities on the matter.

    Briefing the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Faraday Orumwense, Elvis urged the school to wade into the matter, noting that Uche should be allowed to write his exams while police continued. The management promised to do what it could to get Uche back in school for his exams. The VC promised students that the school’s legal team would be informed about the matter.

    The SUG leaders also visited the police command to meet with  the commissioner. Elvis urged the police to make their investigation open.

    The commissioner reportedly told the union leaders: “Litigation is the next step. Only the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the court have jurisdiction to dismiss, discharge or acquit a murder suspect.”

    The Deputy Speaker of the union, Philip Omoaregba, described the matter as “dicey”, urging students to remain calm.

    He said: “We have spoken with Uche and he is traumatised. He is still  in shock. This case is dicey, because there is evidence in support and against. But, we are curious as to why the police only detained five persons of all the people in the bus. It is unfortunate Uche found himself in this mess.”

    A 600-Level Pharmacy student, Anthony Ehimare, urged students not to disrupt the examination, saying: “Due process is being followed to get Uche out of detention.”

    Another student, who asked not be named, said “We must stop being emotional. We should also think about the trauma of the bereaved family. They are grieving over their son. What they did was simply report to the police. Uche was only found at the wrong place at the wrong time. May God help him.”

    It is not clear whether the police have concluded plans to charge the case to court, but the continued detention of the suspects is raising dust.

    Students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, urged the police to “thoroughly investigate” the circumstances leading to Chukwuka’s death, but their poser to the police is: “If suspects committed the murder, why would they try to save the life of the victim by taking him to two hospitals?

  • Ekiti ‘murder’ trial: Families urge vigilance as hearing resumes today

    Families of slain World Bank consultant, Dr. Ayodeji Daramola, and the late Tunde Omojola have urged interest groups to pay attention to the murder trial which reopens today.

    The families urged reporters, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), lawyers, students’ bodies and the public to attend the continuation of the trial before Justice Adewale Fowe at the State High Court in Ado-Ekiti.

    Daramola was killed on August 14, 2006 at Ijan-Ekiti

    He planned to run for governor.

    Omojola was killed in 2005 during the councillorship poll at Ifaki-Ekiti.

    Both families, last week, petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Presidency, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Chief Judge of Ekiti State.

    They called their attention to an alleged manipulation of their sons’ murder trial in what they called a secret hearing where the families, who were the chief complainants, were kept in the dark.

    The petition also called the attention of NJC to a suspected fake list of defence and prosecution witnesses, all allegedly compiled to falsely testify in court to save some individuals indicted in the killings.

    According to the petition, none of the purported witnesses knew they were listed for either the prosecution or defence in the trial.

    The families said though the witnesses were members of the two deceased men’s families, but they were not aware of any trial.

    They added that their witnesses would be impersonated by another set of people allegedly paid to pose as witnesses.

    In a joint statement yesterday, representatives of the two families – Mrs Kehinde Olubunmi Daramola, Daramola’s widow, and Suleiman Bakare, Omojola’s brother-in-law – said they wanted reporters, lawyers, students and the public to attend the hearing to see out how the “witnesses” attained that status without the knowledge of the families of the victims.

    In the petition, Bakare, who was one of the purported witnesses in Omojola’s murder, confirmed that he was not aware of the trial; same with other 10 purported witnesses in Omojola’s case.

    At Ijan, two of the purported witnesses from Daramola’s family said they were not aware of any trial, while two other purported witnesses – Femi Kehinde and Edward Kehinde – never existed in the community.

    The families sought the support of Nigerians to insist on due process and open trial to ensure justice for their slain sons.

  • Police arrests council chairman, others over council secretary murder

    The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested the transition chairman of Ukanafun Local Government Area, Mr. Abasiono Udomfu and three others over the killing of the council’s secretary, Mr. Ime Atakpa.

    An aide to the chairman, Mr. Akaninyene Ibout, was said to have been arrested on Wednesday after the visit of the wife of the Akwa Ibom State governor, Mrs. Martha Emmanuel to inaugurate building for widows on Tuesday.

    A sister to Atakpa’s wife, who did not want her name in print, told newsmen  in Uyo yesterday that Udomfu, during Emmanuel’s visit, raised up his hands saying: “God knows that my hands are clean concerning the murder of the LG secretary.”

    She said that after the chairman had made the declaration, Ibout also said that his hands were clean and that he did not have anything to do with the killing of the late LG secretary.

    It was learnt that the police intelligence who were in the area at the time they were making the statements, arrested Ibout on Wednesday.

    He was said to have named the chairman and two other people of involvement in the alleged murder of the council secretary.

    Our correspondent gathered that Udomfu had made attempts to bribe the policemen that arrested him, asking them not to disgrace him.

    The two other people were said to have been arrested from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. They were said to have confessed to the police that Udomfu gave them N300,000 to kill the LG secretary.

    On April 16, 2017, four unidentified gunmen shot and killed Atakpa.  He was said to have been shot when he was in his farm, an Integrated Farming scheme, which is a boys’ quarter in his house in Ukanafun on that date.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Chukwu Ikechukwu, who confirmed the arrest, explained that all the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.

    He said: “Investigation is on and soon as we conclude it, the matter will be charged to court.”

  • Police nab 20-year-old for ‘murder’

    The police in Ogun State have arrested a 20-year-old man, Badmus Gbadamosi, for allegedly killing his room-mate.

    Gbadamosi was said to have shot dead Friday Michael, 27, last Saturday while he was asleep.

    The incident occurred at Mamu, Awa-Ijebu, Ogun State around 6:30a.m.

    The Nation learnt the suspect killed the victim to stop him from informing the police he was a robber.

    A source said the deceased confronted Gbadamosi on two occasions to desist from following robbers, but he refused.

    He said neighbours, who heard the gunshot, notified the police.

    Confirming the incident, command spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi said the suspect killed his room-mate with a locally-made pistol.

    He said: “The Divisional Police Officer led his men to the scene and the suspect was arrested.

    “Investigation showed he is a member of a gang terrorising residents.

    “Police Commissioner Ahmed Iliyasu has ordered that he be transferred to FSARS for investigation. The body of the deceased has been taken to a morgue for autopsy.”

  • Murder at Ojukwu varsity

    Murder at Ojukwu varsity

    A final year Computer Science student at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University (COOU) in Uli,  Anambra State, Mohammed Umar, has been shot dead by gunmen, who allegedly mistook him for their target. FRANKLIN ONWUBIKO reports.

    Who killed Mohammed Umar? This is the knot the Homicide Department of the Anambra State Police Command needs to untie.

    The late Mohammed, a final year Computer Science student of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), formerly known as Anambra State University, in Uli, was ambushed and shot at close range penultimate Saturday by yet-to-be identified gunmen on his way to his off-campus hostel around 2am. He was returning from the bonfire night organised by the Students’ Union Government (SUG).

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the late Mohammed was a victim of mistaken identity. The union’s Director of Transport, it was gathered, was the assailants’ target.

    Mohammed, who hailed from Kogi State, was shot in the chest and he died on the spot.

    His death plunged the campus into mourning.

    Olivia Ikejiuba, his classmate, who was with him moments before he was shot, described the incident as “plain murder”.

    In a tribute to the deceased on her Facebook timeline, Olivia wrote: “It’s still a shock to me, Mohammed. We went to the SUG night together; we had fun. On our way back home, you were murdered. I don’t have much to say, but to say rest in peace dear friend. I can still remember all that you told me that evening.”

    When CAMPUSLIFE visited the campus last week, there were insinuations of the real identity of the assailants. While some believed the victim could have been killed by suspected secret cult members, who attempted to disrupt the bonfire night organised by to mark Students’ Week; others said the killing might have been carried out by motor park touts.

    It was gathered the union leaders, particularly the Director of Transport, had a bitter dispute with leaders of the road transport union in Uli Motor Park over the union’s introduction of tricycles (Keke) approved by the SUG leaders to convey students from off-campus to school.

    After the bonfire night ended at midnight, it was gathered that the late Mohammed was in company of some friends when he was accosted by the assailants.

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Fidelis Okafor, described the incident as “a tragedy”. He told CAMPUSLIFE that investigations had begun into the killing, vowing that the perpetrators would be fished out and brought to book.

    The VC said preliminary findings by the school revealed that the incident took place outside the university.

    He said: “We gathered reliable information that the deceased was returning to his off-campus hostel after bonfire night with other students, about five of them. While they were on their way, they were accosted by two unidentified men. We learnt that one of them approached the late Mohammed and said in pidgin: ‘Shey you be SUG official, you think say you don get power’. Afterwards, he was shot and killed on the spot.

    “We gathered that the SUG officials, who were returning from Adoration Ground that night, where they had gone for prayers, found the victim in a pool of blood. They immediately alerted the police plying the area and took the deceased to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The body was conveyed in the police van back to the school.

    “On inquiry, I was told and confirmed that the Director of Transport of the SUG might have been the actual target, because he had a misunderstanding and dispute with the local park managers known as agberos, who took great offence in the decision of the SUG to introduce Keke into the transport scheme within the area for students.

    “The agberos had believed the scheme would affect their business. On interrogation, the students’ leaders told me that they always felt they were being trailed by unknown persons and believed that the Director of Transport could possibly be the target.

    The Director of Transport is not a Muslim, but he is popularly called Suleiman. And he keeps bushy beard that makes him to look like the victim.

    “We were told that the victim answered the assailants when they  called him Suleiman. He was shot immediately. This pointed towards a mistaken identity, because the victim was said to be a quiet student.”

    The VC denied reports making the rounds that the management suspended the SUG president for “contravening the school directive” which banned night activities on the campus. He, however, said the bonfire was held against the school’s directive.

    Prof Okafor said: “The university has placed ban on night activities, including religious events. If any event must be held on the campus, the organisers must inform the management ahead so that we can arrange for security. The bonfire night is illegal and in defiance of the school rules.”

    It was gathered that the SUG president sent a text to the VC about the cancellation of the bonfire night, but the union still organised the show. This, some students said, was the reason why some leaders of the union’s stayed away from the show.

    The union Public Relations Officer, Godwin Onwuemezina, in  a statement, said the SUG regretted the “ugly incident”, while condoling with the family of the victim.

    The statement reads: “The late Mohammed was a final year student who had held leadership positions in his department. It is on record that he was COOU’s Best Basket Ball Player. He was a devoted Muslim and loved to participate in social activities. We regret his killing and we hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

    Some students, who spoke to our reporter, described the late Mohammed as “peace-loving and jovial”, adding that he actively participated in every extracurricular activity.

  • Fulani herdsboy remanded in prison for murder

    A Kogi State High Court has found an a Fulani herdboy, 17, guilty of murder.

    He was accused of killing Happy David after the latter warned him against grazing his cattle on his father’s farm because the farm had been sprayed, which could harm the herd.

    The herdsboy, aged about 15 when he committed the offence in July 28, 2015, was said to have stabbed David on his back and ran away.

    The deceased’s mother, who was the second prosecution witness, said her son died as a result of the stab.

    The Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah, held that the prosecution was able to prove that the herdsboy killed David.

    According to him, the doctor’s report corroborated the fact that “a penetrating object that caused the laceration, also pierced the deceased’s diaphragm”.

    Justice Ajanah said: “I am, therefore, convinced from the evidence of the PW2, the picture of the deceased (exhibit 1) and the medical report (exhibit 2), tendered by the prosecution, which established the fact the accused was stabbed…by the vicious and unprovoked act of the accused, that the said accused intended the natural consequence of his act.

    “I am also convinced that the prosecution has proved the third ingredient of the offence of culpable homicide beyond reasonable doubt.

    “I, therefore, in the circumstance of this case, find the accused guilty of the offense of culpable homicide, punishable with death, under Section 221 of the Penal Code”.

    But Justice Ajanah said evidences showed the accused was a minor when he committed the offence. He, therefore, ruled that he be further remanded in custody, awaiting the governor’s prerogative.

    He said: “I, therefore, in conformity with Section 272(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, order the detention of the deceased at Koton-Karfe prison, where he had been during his trial, to await the governor’s pleasure”.

  • Two Ogun vigilantes jailed six years for murder

    An Abeokuta High Court on Thursday sentenced two vigilantes — Lambe Yinka and Friday Gbenga — to six years imprisonment with hard labour for killing two men.

    Both are members of the Ogun State Vigilance Group and were tried for committing murder in the course of performing their duties.

    Justice Olatokunbo Olopade said the men were found guilty of killing the duo of  Raji Morufu and Akeem Usman.

    He noted that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubts by the evidence adduced.

    “With all the evidence tendered in court during trial, I found out that the two accused  persons killed the deceased while they were performing their duties and they could not provide any of the robbers they claimed shot the men on their arrival at the scene.

    “I do not find it as an accident or mistake and so the court found them guilty as charged;  I hereby sentenced the accused persons to six years imprisonment with hard labour,” Olopade said.

    The offences contravened Sections 317 and 308 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun 2006.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convicts, who had been standing trial since April 27,2015,  pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The prosecution said the vigilantes shot and killed the two men at about 4, 30 a,m, on July 7, 2013 at Oniyorin, off Quarry Road in Abeokuta.

    The convict were said to have received a distress call from one Mrs Lawanson who live in the neighborhood that robbers had invaded her compound.

    “During investigation. the two accused persons had  made confessional statements that they shot one Raji Morufu, and Akeem Usman mistakenly when one of them was trying to struggle with them.

    Earlier, the defence counsel, Mr J.A. Apanishele, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing them.

    “I urge the court to consider the fact that they did not deceive the court by saying the truth that they shot the men.”

  • Murder: Man, 40, docked for allegedly giving false information to police

    A 40-year-old man, Murisiku Adejuwon, on Thursday appeared before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on Lagos island for allegedly giving false information to the police to implicate five men over  murder charge.

    The accused, who resides in Ikorodu area of Lagos State, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and giving false information to the police.

    The Prosecutor, ASP. Henry Obiazi, told the court that the accused with others still at large committed ‎the offence sometime in October 2016 in Lagos.

    He said Adejuwon  accused the five men — Suleman Onabanjo, Ibrahim Adesanya (alias Elebiju), Suleman Adesina, Lekan Obisanya and Uthman of murdering a man, Michael Ekpo, knowing full well that they were innocent.

    The offences contravened Sections 95 (1) and (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

    The accused, however, denied the charge and his lawyer, Mr Femi ‎Adefalujo, urged the court to grant him bail on liberal terms.

    The prosecutor objected to the bail application on the grounds that the accused had earlier jumped administrative bail and was likely do it again.

    In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs K. S. Abdulsalam, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    She said one of the sureties must be a blood relation of the accused and must provide evidence of gainful employment.

    In addition, the other surety must be a property owner within the court’s jurisdiction and produce evidence of tax payment from 2014 to 2016.

    The case was adjourned until May 9 for mention.

  • Murder: Man docked for allegedly giving false information to police

    A 40-year-old man, Murisiku Adejuwon, on Thursday appeared before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on Lagos island for allegedly giving false information to the police to implicate five men over  murder charge.

    The accused, who resides in Ikorodu area of Lagos State, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and giving false information to the police.

    The Prosecutor, ASP. Henry Obiazi, told the court that the accused with others still at large committed ‎the offence sometime in October 2016 in Lagos.

    He said Adejuwon  accused the five men — Suleman Onabanjo, Ibrahim Adesanya (alias Elebiju), Suleman Adesina, Lekan Obisanya and Uthman of murdering a man, Michael Ekpo, knowing full well that they were innocent.

    The offences contravened Sections 95 (1) and (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

    The accused, however, denied the charge and his lawyer, Mr Femi ‎Adefalujo, urged the court to grant him bail on liberal terms.

    The prosecutor objected to the bail application on the grounds that the accused had earlier jumped administrative bail and was likely do it again.

    In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs K. S. Abdulsalam, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.

    She said one of the sureties must be a blood relation of the accused and must provide evidence of gainful employment.

    In addition, the other surety must be a property owner within the court’s jurisdiction and produce evidence of tax payment from 2014 to 2016.

    The case was adjourned until May 9 for mention.