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Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • South Africa determines to deepen ties with Nigeria, says envoy

    South Africa’s Acting High Commissioner to Nigeria Ambassador Bobby Moroe said on Monday that the country remained determined to deepen bilateral relations with Nigeria.

    Moroe, who is currently in South African, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that adequate preparations had been made by the South African Government to prepare for Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari’s state visit to South Africa on Oct. 3.

    According to the envoy, preparations are at an advanced stage and “our government is ready to welcome President Buhari and his delegation to South Africa for the State Visit’’.

    Read Also: Obasanjo optimistic of improved relations between Nigeria, South Africa

    Moroe said “the government and the people of South Africa reaffirm the desire to further deepen and consolidate the bilateral relations and strategic partnership between the two countries.

    “Our government is optimistic about the prospects of the state visit to our relations and looks forward to meaningful engagements with the Nigerian delegation.

    “We further believe that the fruitful engagements will yield positive outcomes on issues of common interest and mutual benefit to our bilateral relations.

    “This visit will give impetus to the already cordial relations between the two countries.’’

    The envoy expressed the hope that discussions by both presidents during the visit would strengthen the already strong historical relationship between the two countries dating back to the era of apartheid.

    He also said that the visit would make relations between Nigeria and South Africa wax stronger.

    Moroe wished Nigerians “a happy 59th independence anniversary celebration on Oct. 1’’.

  • Why we sealed church in Uyo, by police

    THE police in Akwa Ibom have explained why they sealed up Qua Iboe Church along No 112 Ikot Ekpene Road, Uyo, the state capital, on Sunday where Governor Udom Emmanuel worships.

    The state Commissioner of Police Zaki Ahmed  said the sealing of the church was to avert a clash among worshipers over the change of name from Qua Iboe to United Evangelical Church.

    He also regretted that the action of his men had led to some worshippers sustaining varying degrees of injury.

    Ahmed said the police were alerted of the plan by a faction in the ongoing crisis to factions to foment trouble and decided to seal the church to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

    He said, “Police sealed the church to prevent crisis. Last Sunday there was a crisis among the worshippers in which many people were injured. We got information that a  faction of the church was coming there to cause trouble, so our officers were there to prevent further clash”.

    Read Also: Panic as suspected cultists raid shops in Uyo

    It was gathered that the police arrived the church premises as early as 6am and barricaded the entrance, preventing early the morning worshipers from going in to worship.

    Governor Emmanuel and some prominent members of the church were allegedly accused of having personal interest in the matter rocking the church.

    But speaking on Sunday against the backdrop of insinuations, the governor declared that he has no personal interest in the crisis, adding that he was rather committed to ensuring that peace return to the United Evangelical Church which was originally founded as Qua Iboe Church.

    Governor Emmanuel who said he has been making progress in bringing peace and harmony between the two contending parties, urged agents of blackmail to desist.

    He said, “It is very wrong for certain elements to make unfounded allegations concerning my role in the local assembly on Ikot Ekpene road.”

    “In a peace meeting I had with the leadership of the church on Thursday September 26, I had outlined the processes and plans for peace to return to both the local and national leadership of the church.

    “The parties were very satisfied with the plans outlined and went back very happy.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Policewoman killed by colleague in Asaba

    A FEMALE police officer attached to the Delta State Police Command has been shot dead by a colleague over the weekend in Asaba, the state capital.

    The Nation learnt that the deceased officer was part of a four-man team deployed to quell a protest by women in Bonsaac area.

    An eyewitness said the incident occurred after a face-off between the chairman of landlords in the area and petty traders whom the former sought to displace  from their rented plot of land.

    The source said, “The chairman of landlords in Bonsaac, Mr Bidi, has been molesting market women for a very long time and wanted to forcefully evict them from a plot of land they rented, where they had set up caravans and paid the owner of the land about N2000 per month as rent for each container space”

    Continuing, “The landlord on Friday, September 26, 2019 brought a bulldozer and connived with the Divisional Police Officer, (DPO) in-charge of “B” Division Asaba, who deployed about 4 police officers to the premises to supervise the pulling down of the caravans belonging to the hapless women.”

    Read Also: Robbers planning to attack banks in Abia- Police

    “Having pulled down the source of their daily bread, which was neither obstructing vehicular nor water flow, the women demanded that the caravan at the landlord’s premises be pulled down too because he had earlier informed them that the demolition was authorised by the Delta State Ministry of Environment.”

    The source said the petty traders insisted on a thorough demolition including the caravans in the chairman’s premises, but the police team tried to scare the women  by shooting sporadicall but a shot hit a police officer who died afterwards from the bullet wounds.

     

     

     

     

  • Three ‘robbers’ lynched in Abuja

    THREE suspected robbers who operate on commercial buses  were on Monday set ablaze for allegedly robbing a young lady in the Dutse Alhaji area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    Dutse Alhaji, a suburb of the Bwari area council, is said to be one of the notorious dens of the bus robbers referred to as “One chance” in local parlance.

    The “One chance” operators normally pretend to be commercial drivers who carry unsuspecting victims to be robbed, kidnapped or killed for ritual purposes.

    The suspected robbers, it was learnt, posed as a driver and passengers in the vehicle in which they carried the lady.

    Eyewitnesses said they dispossessed the unnamed lady of her valuables after which she was pushed out.

    That was the last mistake they were to make as the lady was said to have raised the alarm to draw the attention of people around, especially commercial motorcyclists who chased the vehicle and apprehended the alleged criminals.

    A mob was said to have gathered and soon started  raining stones on them and beating theem.

    “By this time they had been exhausted due to the mob action. One of them who tried to run away even after the beating was held down as old tyres were put around them, petrol poured on them and they were set ablaze,” one of the eyewitnesses said.

    Those who did not join in attacking the suspected robbers were said to have stood around watching, while some of them cheered the mobsters.

    It was gathered that even policemen at the scene could not prevent the mob as they were bent on having their way.

    The three men who died from the mob attack were left on the spot until the police evacuated their bodies.

    The saloon car which they operated with was also burnt.

    The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Manzah Ajuguri, condemned the killing of the alleged ‘One Chance’ operators. He said that extensive investigation has already been launched into the incident to ascertain the truth of the matter.

    He said, “We condemn jungle justice. We condemn the act of people taking the law into their hands. If there is a crime we expect our attention to be drawn so that arrests are made.”

    Ajuguri did not say if arrests had been made but stressed that investigation has commenced into incident.

    Abuja has been under the siege of “one chance” operators in recent times with an attendant heightened apprehension of residents, especially those who do not own cars.

    Even assurances by the Inspector General of Police had done little to allay the fear among residents, as the problem seems to be on the rise.

    The lady who was robbed was said to have been taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

  • ‘Killers’ of police officer arrested in Aba

    THE Abia State police command has reportedly arrested two members of a dreaded armed robbery gang which has been terrorising residents of Aba, the commercial nerve of the state.

    The gang, The Nation gathered, was responsible for the killing of a police officer as well as the driver of a commercial bus which the police team was using for patrols on the Ngwa Road axis of one of the suburbs in the commercial city.

    While credible information has it that the armed robbers made away with about two rifles belonging to the patrol team, another police officer was said to have been badly injured and receiving medical attention at a yet-to-be disclosed private clinic.

    According to a source, policemen from Ndiegoro police division, acting on intelligence, visited Aba South where the gunmen took them unawares, killing one of them and the driver of the vehicle on the spot.

    Read Also: Abia lawmakers screen commissioners Monday

    The State Police Commissioner Ene Okon confirmed the death of the policeman, saying that the officers were on routine patrol duty when they were ambushed by the armed gang.

    He added the police have arrested two of the robbers.

    Okon said they have launched a manhunt for other fleeing members of the gang, adding that the two suspects in their custody have made useful statements.

    It would be recalled that the command had raised the alarm on a planned attempt by an armed robbery gang to attack financial institutions in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state, and placed N50m reward for any member of the public that would give the police useful information on the whereabouts of the hoodlums.

  • Hope for Tiv, Jukun enduring peace

    New move by some stakeholders to broker peace between the warring Tiv community of Taraba State and Jukun community of Benue State yielded some level of success as the communities signed a peace deal that will lead to cessation of hostilities. FANEN IHYONGO reports that the 30-man committee insisted on a ceasefire between the communities to allow peace to reign.

     

    THE Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups of Southern Taraba have been at daggers drawn for some time now. Several efforts made in the past to bring about lasting peace between these two neighbours have been futile. For about six months, the two ethnic groups have been at war.

    However, fresh moves to resolve the crisis by stakeholders from Tiv and Junkun seem to bear fruits. The stakeholders succeeded in making the warring communities sign a new peace deal, even as they called for suspension of hostilities.

    The stakeholders have directed that all road-blocks in the affected communities should be dismantled and all local markets in the areas reopened.

    They also called for the release of all victims who were kidnapped during the hostilities. They also urged government to provide relief materials and ensure the return of all displaced people to their ancestral homes.

    At the two-day peace talks which held at the weekend, the 30-man committee insisted that there should be a ceasefire to allow peace to reign.

    The committee, set up by Governor Darius Ishaku, has 15 representatives from the Tiv and 15 from Jukun communities. The representatives were drawn from the affected areas which include Wukari, Donga and Takum.

    This is the second committee to be set by the governor since the crisis erupted on April 1.

    The first committee, which had five representatives from Jukun of Taraba and five representatives from Tiv of Benue State, was rejected by a Taraba Tiv youth group for the non-inclusion of Tivs from the affected areas.

    It was gathered that the committee, which was mobilised with N30 million to stop the violence, sat for most or all of the time outside Taraba and could not achieve success, as the killings continued.

    Hundreds of Jukun and Tiv have lost their lives to the crisis while properties, including homes and food stuffs estimated at billions of naira have been destroyed.

    The Federal University in Wukari was shut down as violence spilled to the campus.

    The crisis is an offshoot of a lingering feud based on a claim by the Jukun that the Tiv are “settlers,” in Taraba State, and therefore, have no ownership rights to the land they occupy.

    The conflict first erupted in 1959. It reoccurred in 1980, 1990, 2001 and this year.

    The latest crisis reached a crescendo when a 42-year-old cleric, Rev. Fr. David Tanko, a peace broker, was killed and set ablaze. The priest’s murder prompted President Muhammadu Buhari to call for a peace dialogue between Tiv and Jukun from Taraba and Benue states respectively.

    During the meeting, which was held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom proposed that the Federal Government should set up a commission of enquiry into the crisis.

    But Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku strongly objected to the idea of bringing a “stranger” into the matter. He suggested that “the problem is ours; it’s an internal problem; we shall look into it and resolve it.”

    Upon his return to the state, Ishaku set up the new committee and gave the warring groups a seven-day ultimatum to sheathe their swords for the committee to work effectively.

    The new committee, which has been hailed by all as likely to succeed, is to examine and bring to an end all issues underlying persistent violent clashes between Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups.

    The committee held a peace dialogue in the Executive Chamber of Government House, Jalingo the Taraba State capital. In their midst were the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Anthony Jellason, representatives of the police, army, Civil Defence Corps and the Department of State Services (DSS).

    Others in attendance included representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and other religious bodies as well as representatives of the Jukun, Tiv and Etulo communities from the affected local government areas. All the attending groups made their presentations.

    The meeting was chaired by the Taraba State Deputy Governor, Haruna Manu, who, together with the SSG on behalf of the state government, signed the communique that was issued at the end of the meeting.

    Danjuma Adamu, Markus Ikitsombika and John Mamman signed the communique for the Jukun community while Jime Yongo, Kurason Kura and Isaac Waakaa signed for the Tiv community.

    The communique reads: “Speakers at the meeting condemned the crisis and stressed the need for cessation of all forms of hostilities between the two communities to pave way for the peace building effort being spearheaded by the state government.

    “The crisis had been hijacked by criminals from both the Jukun and Tiv communities and therefore, the two communities should expose the criminals among them.

    “We also resolved to, henceforth, stop reprisal attacks or revenge from both parties, but report all forms of security breaches to security agencies for appropriate action.

    “There is need for the government to take deliberate steps to encourage the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to return to their homes, since adequate security operatives have been deployed in the affected communities to protect lives and property.”

    The committee advised the Jukun and Tiv communities to be wary of rumours that are capable of inciting them and destabilising the peace process.

    One of the signatories of the communique, Danjuma Adamu, revealed that during the peace meeting, the committee split into Team Tiv and Team Jukun to sketch their submissions.

    “We in the Team Jukun were just clapping as the Tiv made their presentation. The issues they raised were exactly the same with ours, as if they spied or copied from us.

    “So, it was not difficult marrying or harmonising the two submissions. We just adopted them.

    “That was victory number one. It means the problem is an internal one, and we know it. It means we can solve the problem by ourselves.

    “In doing this, we must be sincere to ourselves. Any criminal element among us must be fished out, punished and treated as a criminal. With this, the committee shall succeed,” he told The Nation.

    Also in a chat with The Nation on the telephone, Isaac Waakaa, a Tiv member of the committee, said the committee will achieve the needed result.

    Waakaa said: “The committee will succeed because it captured the actual environment of the crisis and the people that are directly affected.

    “If there is crisis in Taraba because someone is killed in Taraba, and you bring somebody from outside to resolve the matter, it will be an exercise in futility, because the outsider is not familiar with the terrain, the people and their cultures.

    “In this committee, we know all the people representing the Jukun community and they know us all.

    “Secondly, all the issues the committee has raised are genuinely correct. The next step is to look into the issues, which is what we have started.”

    Waakaa, however, noted that the Jukun/Tiv crisis is a “recurring feud” as such; the committee would need time in tackling the issues involved.

    “Our work is a peace-building process that is not achievable in a hurry,” he said.

    He observed that there are other personalities who were not invited to be part of the committee.

    “In trying to solve a problem, you involve everybody concerned. In this case, you involve them to aid the peace-building process, not to truncate it. That is why we are going to consult those out there who are not members of this committee whom we are convinced know better than we do.

    “So, everyone affected is involved. We are only representing them in tackling the issues. So far, I don’t think there is any shortcoming with the committee, and I am sure it will succeed,” he said.

  • Court acquits lawyer, others accused of selling land

    Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of an Ikeja High Court  has discharged and acquitted a Lagos lawyer, Kole Bello and three others alleged to have sold a land in Lekki belonging to a dead woman, have been discharged and acquitted.

    The defendants who were being prosecuted by the who were prosecuted by the Lagos State Government  before the court were set freed  on the ground that the prosecution failed to prove its case against them.

    Bello was arraigned alongside three others, Chukwu Victor, Friday Palmer and Osumah Terry, for allegedly selling a landed property in Lekki, belonging to late Mrs Francisca Awolaja.

    They were tried on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraud and forgery filed against them by the state government in October 2017.

    In the charge Bello and others were alleged to have forged a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) with reference no. 63/63/1989, dated September 28, 1989, of landed property in Lekki, belonging to late Mrs Francisca Awolaja.

    The defendants were also accused of impersonating the late Awolaja in order to fraudulently sell her land to one Mr Rotimi Olubeko for the sum of N5 million.

    The defendants however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    During trial, the prosecution called five witness to testify against the defendants while all accused testified for themselves in proving their innocence.

    Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Taiwo held that the prosecution also failed to prove the charge of conspiracy against the defendants.

    The trial judge held that the defendants only acted in their professional capacities in  the sale of the property.

    The court held that neither the lawyer nor the three others defendants conspired with acclaimed owner of the land  who was not before the court  during the pendency of the trial bordering on  the sale of the land.

    “it is very clear that the document (C of O) use for the sale of the land was forged, but the prosecution fail to prove case of forgery, conspiracy and fraud pressed against the defendants, from the evidences and exhibits before the court, it only show that all the defendants acted in the various professional capacities in facilitating the sale of the land in question, so therefore. I hereby discharge and acquit them”, the court held.

  • Yet another sombre anniversary

    IT is again that time of year when Nigerians, contemplating their country’s troubling past and uncertain future, engage in an orgy of collective self-flagellation, when an anniversary that should be an occasion for rejoicing  and renewal breeds, instead, recrimination and resentment.”

    Those were the opening lines of my column for this newspaper on September 29, 2009, as a preface to the National Day, our independence anniversary,  a day when, to paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, many Nigerians consider their country’s unflattering profile and wonder why, and many others contemplate what their country could be and ask: why not?

    In his National Day Broadcast four days later, the guileless President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, of fond memory, would warn that the anniversary should not be turned into an occasion for “self-flagellation,”  using the very term I had employed in my preface to the milestone.  It is not the kind of term you find in presidential speeches.  Even for the most practised speakers, it is a tongue-twister, and the meaning is unlikely to be immediately apparent to the general audience.

    I claim no copyright on the term, to be sure.  Still, I could not but be gratified that, although the speechwriters employed that term as warning against what the day should NOT consist in, and might even have intended a gentle rebuke to this columnist rather than what Oscar Wilde designated the sincerest form of flattery, its invocation by the president was heartening evidence that the column commanded attention in high places.

    Even while warning against self-flagellation, Yar’Adua enjoined in the 1,040-word speech that the day should serve as “a forceful reminder of the promise yet to be fulfilled, of the dream deferred for too long, and of the work that is still outstanding.”

    Yar’Adua’s warning was right on the mark.  Considering all and kvetching and inveighing pervading the anniversary, it might as well be called National Lamentation Day.  Or National Moaning Day.  Or National Self-loathing Day.  Or National Self-flagellation Day. This anniversary will be no different, I wager.

    October 1, I suspect, is also the day policy-makers and political officials dread most on the national calendar.  What can they claim to have achieved since the previous anniversary that they had not claimed the year just past with great eloquence and even greater vehemence, and for the year before that?

    I don’t envy those who write the speeches and those who make the speeches for that day.

    I am here reminded of the budget writers who plan to buy for the Presidential Villa the kitchen equipment and accessories they had bought the previous year and the year before that, as well as computers and servers and communications hardware they had purchased the previous year and the year before, and to sign a contract they had awarded the previous year and the year before for that geo-strategic bridge that was “nearing completion” at the time of the last appropriation.

    In his 2009 Budget speech, Yar’Adua spoke about “positioning” Nigeria, “sustainable development,” providing electricity on a “sustainable basis,” and about “holistic measures” aimed at “ensuring requisite macroeconomic stability.”

    That was ten years ago today. Those goals and terms are strewn over practically every National Day Broadcast since then. I will be surprised if they do not perfuse President Muhammadu Bihari’s National Day Broadcast today.

    Since then, a thousand conferences have been staged on national development, housing for all, food self-sufficiency, water for all, electricity for all, mass transit for all, and generally on how to move Nigeria forward, to translate its vast potential into actual power.  Yet the image it conjures up is that of a stalled caterpillar, its antennae probing in every direction but its body inert.

    They say, following the great writer Chinua Achebe, that the problem is the failure of leadership, by which they mean the political leadership.  Taking a related but different tack, others locate the problem in the accession to power at independence.  The prize, they say, was presented on a “platter of gold” to marginal actors for the most part, not to those who were bloodied and jailed and exiled in the struggle.

    If it was the latter that had succeeded to power, they argue, Nigeria’s history would have at the very least mirrored, in terms of development, that of former colonial dependencies in the same league, like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the so-called Asian Tigers.

    Who knows?

    Of course, leadership matters.  Leaders dream great dreams, define and articulate goals, enlist public support for the goals, map out strategies for pursuing them and stay steadfast on the long road to actualizing them.  They set the tone for public discourse.  They strive to see that rewards and sanctions are distributed justly.  They lead by example, not by precept or preachment.

    They see their position as a summons to service, not as an invitation to “come and eat,” as one former minister memorably phrased it.  They appreciate that public service should not be a path to great personal wealth.  They will not engage in an obscene display of wealth from that provenance and dare the pubic to do its damnedest.

    When they call for sacrifice in the national interest, they do so from a moral pedestal, having slashed their own perks and privileges.   You cannot call for sacrifice when you appropriate unto yourself as monthly “wardrobe allowance” twice the monthly minimum wage of N30, 000 you are loath to pay.  You cannot, under the guise of making laws for the good governance of Nigeria, allocate more than one-tenth of the national budget to meet your fancies and fantasies.

    Leaders are rarely solitary figures.  They work with like-minded persons to define goals and seek solutions; they seek actively to bring others of a different persuasion to the fold. But when necessary, they are prepared to act alone and take responsibility.

    In the Nigerian experience, such figures are rare.  Yet they constitute what Nigerians have in mind when they bemoan the failure of leadership.

    Others blame the structure of the federation, the obsessive drive for uniformity in the guise of unity, for the failure of the promise of independence.  The answer, as they see it, lies in restructuring the polity to achieve “true federalism.”

    Nigeria’s present structure is without question a serious impediment to development, what with too many unviable states, and funds that should have gone into meeting worthier goals being used to maintain a bloated political bureaucracy that serves little purpose.  But that is only a part of the answer.

    If leadership in Nigeria has been dysfunctional, what of the followership?

    Can leadership be divorced from followership?  The one and the other are but two sides of a single coin.  Thus, the failure of leadership in Nigeria is no less remarkable than the failure of followership.

    When the followership behave as subjects rather than citizens, when they continually make excuses for bad leadership, when they embrace policies that are not merely inimical to but are actually subversive of their interests, when they are easily bought off or bribed, they become an integral part of the problem.

    When followers do not see it as their duty to help maintain facilities and structures built at great expense for their benefit, no leadership can accomplish much in the area of infrastructure.  To take as an example:  Where today are the guard rails for the bridges and highways built in the 1970s and even more recently?  Why are the drainage systems clogged with solid waste and even disused tyres days after they were decongested?

    Nigerians of all classes will kvetch and moan and lament as usual on this independence anniversary, the followership more than the leadership.  But the followership has been an equal-opportunity actor with the leadership in perpetuating the national malaise, and must resolve to be an equal partner in ending it.

     

  • APM Terminals, LAWMA clean up Apapa 

    Residents and commuters in Apapa can heave a sigh of relief as APM Terminals, Apapa, in partnership with the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), has embarked on a cleanup to clear the refuse dumps littering the Apapa-Wharf Road and its environs.

    Port Complex, Apapa Manager, Mrs. Fumilayo Olotu; Controller, Apapa Area Command, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Comptroller Muhammed Abba-Kura; Apapa Local Government Chairman, Mr. Adele Owolabi and APM Terminals workers participated in the event.

    Speaking after the flagged off of the exercise on Wharf Road, APM Terminals Managing Director Mr. Martin Jacob said the cleanup initiative was part of the company’s  ‘Go Green’ campaign on environmental degradation and encouraging sustainable waste disposal practices.

    Jacob expressed the company’s commitment to a cleaner port environment. He charged port users to stop the indiscriminate dumping of refuse on the port access road.

    “We can complain about what is happening but nothing will change, if people don’t change their attitude. So, we need to forget the past and focus on what to do to make a difference and achieve a sustainable clean port environment. We, as a corporate organisation, will help as much as we can to make sure that happens,” Jacob said.

    Mrs. Olotu, who described the refuse as an eyesore, said all hands must be on deck to clear them.

    She said: “Apapa used to be a place of pride in those days; so activities around the port community should not make us lose the heritage we had in the past. We have discussed the need to partner with the local government to maintain the cleanness of our environment. We must engage the truckers and in their own language so that they have a buy-in and key into the project so that the heaps of refuse do not return.”

    Owolabi applauded APM Terminals for coming up with the initiative.

    He said the refuse on the port access roads had become a major challenge for the council. He appealed to other corporate organisations to emulate APM Terminals.

    He said: “We appreciate the gesture by APM Terminals and we encourage everyone around to do same thing. It is a right step in the right direction giving back to the community by evacuating the refuse. It should be sustainable and in sustaining it, there should be sensitisation and advocacy campaign to these truck drivers and motor boys against throwing wastes on the road.

    “We need the collaboration of every corporate organisation within Apapa. By the time we come together and everybody contributes their own quota, we will make a uniform force for the community.”

    LAWMA Executive Director, Ibrahim Ojuboni, while calling for the sustainability of the exercise, lauded APM Terminals for the initiative, urging other corporate organisations to emulate such gesture.

  • Dane to defend ‘double murder’ charge Oct 25

    An Igbosere High Court in Lagos has adjourned till October 25 for a Danish man, Peter Nielsen, to open his defence to a double murder charge.

    Nielsen, 54, is standing trial for the April 5, last year death of his Nigerian singer wife, Zainab and their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Petra.

    The Lagos State government accused the Dane of smothering Zainab and Petra to death at about 3:45am at No. 4, Flat 17, Bella Vista Tower, Banana Island Ikoyi.

    Nielsen was arraigned on June 13, 2018 on two counts of murder contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Read Also: ‘Cultists’ arrested for ‘murder’

    He denied the charge.

    Lagos State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice Ms. Titilayo Shitta-Bey closed the government’s case on Friday, September 20.

    Justice Okikiolu Ighile fixed October 25 for trial to continue.

    Last Friday, defence counsel, Mr Olasupo Shasore (SAN) cross- examined the prosecution’s ninth witness Dr. Idem Richard Somiari.

    Somiari stated that the defendant’s DNA was found in the apartment and on Zainab’s night gown, but neither on the body of his deceased daughter, nor in the kitchen where the bodies were discovered.

    The expert also stated that they found the DNA of an unknown female in the kitchen.

    When confronted that the crime scene investigation and forensic DNA analysis was deliberately aimed at gathering evidence and arriving at results showing that the defendant was guilty of the murder, Somiari denied it.

    Somiari stated that the forensic DNA team took steps to prevent contamination of the crime scene by putting on gloves, shoe covers, and disposable laboratory coats.

    But when he was later shown photographs from his visit to the crime scene, he admitted that some members of the DNA team did not put on the protective gear.

    Somiari was also unable to account for the number of people that had access to the crime scene in the period between the discovery of the bodies and the examination of the crime scene by forensic experts.

    The prosecution witness also informed the court that samples for DNA analysis were only taken from three occupants of the apartment; the defendant and the two deceased persons even though six people lived in the apartment at the time of the murder.