The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ogun

  • Robbery suspects, two kidnappers arrested in Ogun

    Robbery suspects, two kidnappers arrested in Ogun

    The Special Anti – Robbery Squad(SARS) attached to the Ibafo division of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF), Ogun state Command have arrested three robbery suspects notorious for attacking commuters and travellers on long bridge at the Ibafo stretch of Lagos – Ibadan expressway.

    The suspects who have reportedly confessed to the crime are Christopher Abuo, Nwanorim Ukachkwu, and Ali Segun while a pistol, some ammunition and police and military wears being used for robbery operations were also recovered from them.

    The Nation gathered that the suspects who were picked on Saturday atop the long bridge while waiting around for targets, are already assisting the police to apprehend fleeing members of their gang.

    The Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, who confirmed arrest on Saturday, said the suspects’ arrest followed the execution of the order of Commissioner of Police, Mr Ikemefuna Okoye, to raid all black spots, to tackle crimes and criminality in Ogun state.

    Adejobi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) added that the police detectives attached to Agbado Division also arrested two suspected kidnappers – Philip Okere and Ugho Samuel, at the Agbado Road, Dalemo Agbado on Saturday.

    Adejobi said: “according to the complainant, Folorunsho Abraham, Okere and Samuel attempted to kidnap his grand children, Damilola Folorunsho (6) and Olaitan Folorunsho(5), at the said address; and the suspects were questioned about their mission in the area,they could not give any satisfactory explanation.

    “The suspects will soon be transferred to the department of criminal investigation Eleweran Abeokuta for discreet investigation as directed by the commissioner of police CP Ikemefuna Okoye.”

  • Security: Ogun commissioner calls for vigilance in communities

    Security: Ogun commissioner calls for vigilance in communities

    Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu has underscored the need for communities to be vigilant at all times, particularly now that the country is facing security challenges.

    Olaniyonu gave the advice in Abeokuta, in a lecture he delivered at a programme of the Junior Chamber International, with the theme: “Effective policing; the key factor to a crime-free society.”

    He emphasised that ensuring security is a collective responsibility of all, urging Nigerians to get the law enforcement agents promptly informed of any suspicious activity that could threaten the security and peace of a community.

    “We must all be vigilant at all times and get the Police informed of any suspicious move that is inimical to the security, and consequently, the peace of our community. That is why I am an advocate of community policing, where all of us, consciously police our environment. We must realise that members of the Nigerian Police and neither spirit nor omniscient. Thus, we provide them with information that can truncate the moves of men of the underworld.”

    While urging Nigerians to have attitudinal change and repose enough confidence in members of the Nigerian Police Force, the Commissioner tasked the law enforcement agents to also see their profession as that which is sensitive and deals with lives and well being of the populace. He, therefore, called on the Police High Command to rid the force of bad eggs and take necessary steps to launder its image in the mind of the populace.

    To do this, he called for orientation programmes, seminars and trainings to re-orientate the policemen to see themselves as public servants and trustees and not masters or rulers of the public.

    Olaniyonu also enjoined government to provide essential amenities for the populace in terms of education and employment generation as well as improve on the funding of the police force to motivate them and enhance their welfare packages, saying all these would go a long way to smoothen police-public interaction.

    Corroborating the position of the Commissioner, the state Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), DSP Muyiwa Adejobi, emphasised the need for the people to be security conscious and vigilant in their day-to-day activities.

    Adejobi added that members of the society needed to assist the Police by giving out information that could help in nabbing people with criminal tendencies.

    Earlier, the National President of the Junior Chamber International of Nigeria (JCI), Mr. Eniola Egbek-unle, said that security of lives and property is one of the basic needs of every Nigerian, stressing that the intervention of the Police was important to maintain law and order in the society.

  • Ogun moves to avert terrorism

    Ogun moves to avert terrorism

    AS part of the efforts to ensure that terrorism does not have a foothold in Ogun State, the state government is taking measures to make it difficult for any terrorist organization to operate within its domain. The state governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun gave this assurance today in Abeokuta, the state capital, at a meeting with security chiefs and heads of security units of religious organizations located along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The meeting, which was conveyed at the instance of the governor, was in response to a false rumour that was widely circulated on the social media that the dreaded Boko Haram sect was operating on the Lagos- Ibadan expressway and that some security personnel and civilians were killed. Governor Amosun, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa, said his administration was aware of the security challenges currently bedeviling the nation and would not fold its arms and do nothing. He noted that the state was home to the largest number of religious organizations in the country, and could be a possible target for the terrorists. He, however, assured residents to remain calm and go about their legitimate businesses. “The purpose of this meeting is for us to share views, evaluate the current trends and discuss what should be done to create awareness and improve security,” the governor said. In his own remarks, the State Director, State Security Services, Mallam Abdulahi Charanchi, admonished the public to desist from spreading unconfirmed rumours and report suspicious individuals or activities around their areas to security agents.

  • Ogun students tour home state

    Ogun students tour home state

    Members of the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) at the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) have gone on excursion to the state.

    They visited Adire International Market, the Governor’s Office, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Olumo Rock, the Alake’s Palace, the Palace of Osile of Oke-Ona, among others.

    The Adire International market was their first port of call where they were taught how to make tie and dye.

    The next day, the students went to the palace of the Alake of Egba, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo III. The traditional ruler told the students the history of Egbaland evolved.

    A student, Teniola Oshin, asked the king to explain the cause of the war between the people of Ijebu and Egba.

    The students left for the office of governor, Ibikule Amosun, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Segun Odubela; the Director of Education Support Services, Mrs Folashade Oresegun and the Director, Administration and Supply Mr Adebowale Oyejole. The association’s President Abdul-Azeez Adeosun, told the governor’s representatives that it had been eight years since bursary was paid to students of the state. The commissioner enjoined them to be good ambassadors of the state and the country.

    The students visited the palace of the Osile of Oke-Ona, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso. He donated some of the books he wrote on Oranmiyan to the university’s library.

  • Mob vandalise police officer’s mansion over alleged ritual cell

    Mob vandalise police officer’s mansion over alleged ritual cell

    A mob stormed a three storey building in Abeokuta the Ogun State capital on Monday and  vandalised the glass window panes as they pelted it with stone, steel and other objects following allegation of the existence of an underground cell  for ritual in the house.

    They were on the verge of battering the high perimeter wall surrounding the building to gain entry and apparently to torch it but for the quick arrival of a security personnel from the State Security Service(SSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC), Special Anti – Robbery Squad(SARS) and Policemen from Eleweran who fought off the mob and saved the building from being set ablaze.

    Two lady – tenants who were the only found inside the house  on Agogo – Ogun compound, Ijaiye area panicked and scampered to safety on sighting the surging youths that besieged the compound.

    They mob were acting on the allegation that the house, believed to be owned by a retired senior police officer, harbor an  underground cell where ritual syndicates go for supply of flesh blood and human parts.

    Not even the sporadic firing of gunshot into the air by the police could make the resolute mob in their hundreds beat a retreat as they said they would not leave the compound until every part of is searched.

    When the tension heightened by noon, the Balogun of Ijaiye and Aare of Egbaland, Alh. Ganiyu Babayedun Alimo, was called in to douse the tension and upon his arrival to the scene, he was said to have instructed that the gate be broken so that a search could be conducted on the building.

    For almost an hour, a search team comprising the Balogun Ijaiye, youth leader, selected natives, SSS, SARS, NSCDC, Police, operative of the Vigilante Service of Ogun State(VSO) combed every room, toilet and enclosure within the expanse house that looked odd in a depressed, dingy and seedy Ijaiye compound and found no underground cell.

    The Balogun appealed to the curious crowd and irate youth – mob who had been spoiling to bring the building down if their suspicion was confirmed, to disperse while the police also fired into the air several times to scare people away.

  • A trip to Ogun baby factories

    A trip to Ogun baby factories

    The imposing one-storey building within what appeared to be an emerging elite setting of Akinremi Estate in  Adigbe, Abeokuta area of Ogun State, may pass for residential apartment in the estimation of not a few residents around that serene neighbourhood.

    Residents who spoke amid fear of being witch-hunted, said until now, they knew nothing about the existence of a ‘baby factory’ in their midst and how long it has been in operation.

    For years, they have lived with the notion that probably the landlord and tenants occupied it, solely as home and nothing gave them an inkling that something much more goes on there.

    The ignorance of neighbours and others around the vicinity was not helped by its seemingly elite look, the non-descript or open access way to the estate – a shallow stream separated the estate from others making it to have a blind alley or close, coupled with the high rise perimeter fence and gate which ensured that outsiders or unwanted visitors rarely know what happens there.

    When The Nation visited the place, the area look forlorn and deserted while the building is a shadow of its former beauty. Wreckages of burnt vehicles and other household items gave an impression of a home devastated as in war situation but bricklayers had since began re-erecting the perimeter fence brought down by surging irate youths, who stormed the building.

    One of the bricklayers, who declined to disclose his name said, the landlord lives in London and that he was contacted to carry out the repair work on the fence by someone who has link with the landlord.

    The veil of secrecy over the home broke on April 3, as a  detachment of policemen from Adigbe Divisional Police Headquarters, burst it and rescued five children and three pregnant women holed up there as it, allegedly, served as baby factory to the operator.

    The Police also arrested the wife of the suspected operator.

    Curious residents who were scandalised by the discovery torched the building. Also torched were two vehicles; a Toyota Camry salon car marked (Lagos) EKY 942 AJ, and a Mitsubushi salon car marked (Lagos) AGL 971 BH, parked within the premise.

    It was the intervention of officials of the Ogun State Fire Service, who arrived the scene in two vehicles marked OG 124 A 09 and OG 122 A 09 to put out the fire that prevented the building from being razed.

    Same ignorance of residents was observed about a baby factory in Akute area of the state, where a detachment of the anti-crime team attached to the Ajuwon Division of Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Police Force had following intelligence gathering, stormed a baby making factory there and found pregnant women being kept and nurtured to produce babies for sale.

    The Police during the raid, arrested the owner, Mrs Chigozie Angela, 39, and also rescued one Blessing and eight other pregnant girls aged between 16 and 22 years within the facility.

    As was the case at Adigbe, The Nation gathered the building is owned by someone residing abroad and that it is also the subject of litigation in court between the man and his wife.

    For Adigbe baby factory, the lid was blown open when one of the victims escaped from the facility and took refuge in a building located around the estate and pleaded with the occupants to save her from her captors.

    The pregnant girl, it was gathered, confided in those shielding her from further abuse, telling them that her elder sister sold her and her unborn baby to the operator of the facility for N100,000.

    Upon hearing the reprehensible occurrence, the people were said to have informed the police, who eventually carried out a raid on the home.

    But a twist also crept in and soon a ritual dimension was added as the irate youths who set the building ablaze were said to be looking  for a cooler and a can believed to contain fresh human blood suspected to be in use for ritual purposes.

    The youths, who were believed to be students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, after a thorough search of the building were said to have found ritual items such as ivory plate containing fresh blood, coffin, effigy, dried scorpions and assorted charms.

    Also said to have been discovered are international e-passport, identity cards of Junior and Senior Secondary School students of Sacred Heart Catholic College, Oke-Ilewo.

    Many are wondering why people are into making baby for commercial purpose, with some also saying if there are no end users for what comes out of the ‘baby factories’, the business would not be booming, albeit underground as it takes two tango.

    Dr. Adewunmi Alayaki said, the phenomenon is a response to infertility challenges by women who have tried many times to conceive without success, such women he added, elected to follow shortcuts to have children that are not really theirs.

    Alayaki, who is with the State General Hospital, Ilaro, said such women either do not explore fully the medical solutions to infertility such as InVitro Fertilisation (IVF) or were put off by the high cost of obtaining IVF and also the low success rate, hence the recourse to buying children they can see and can afford.

    According to the family physician, it cost between N850,000 and N2.5m to have IVF whether in Nigeria or abroad which some couples looking for children can’t afford.

    Alayaki, however, doubted whether the booming business was all about women looking for children to purchase, saying it is not common for people who were not seen to be pregnant to suddenly emerge with new born babies as theirs.

    According to him, the baby factory could be the work of ritual syndicates who operate such underground facility for purpose of getting steady and reliably supplies when they have needs to make sacrifices or renew devilish oaths with blood of innocent babies.

    Also, Rev. Olusola Ladega of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) gave a religious dimension to the nefarious and illicit business.

    Ladega, who is in charge of St. James Anglican Church, Federal Housing Estate, Elega, Abeokuta, said those making babies for commercial purposes are ungodly. They lack the fear of God and have concluded within themselves that there is no more hope of making it in life by legitimate means hence their recourse to the sinful practice.

    He also said those who buy babies from ‘baby factory,’ are as “guilty” as the operator and the girls that procreate for sale, noting that it is their destiny they are hurting.

    According to him, the driving force is man’s lack of faith in God to fulfill His promise regarding blessings of wealth and children, hence the recourse to self-help and unethical practices.

    He recalled an experience of someone close to him, who was desperate to have a child saying when it delayed in coming, the woman began to consider the sinful option of going to buy a baby but was counseled against such action and with prayer she was also encouraged to keep waiting for God’s time.

    The clergy explained further that few years later, the woman became pregnant and  delivered twins after nine months, and wondered what would have been the fate of the woman today coupled with  the likely burden of inner guilt and insecurity that could be haunting her, if she had yielded to the craving to patronise baby selling syndicate.

    A Sociologist, Dr Sola Arowolo, sees the prevalence of baby factories as a multi-faceted issue and ascribed it to the nation’s cultural practice which sees women or a couple without children as failure and accursed ones.

    Arowolo, who is the Department of Sociology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, said because of celebration of wrong values, the society does accord anything to a childless woman, if she is married and the husband passes on, she gets nothing out of the marriage, in some cases, she is driven away from her matrimonial home.

    According to the don, women who face infertility problem could out of desperation resort to getting babies through surrogate mothers who are being paid for that purpose.

    He also identified the general economic malaise, the get rich quick syndrome, the political environment where some of the players in a bid to acquire power and office at all cost, engage in human sacrifices, as factors fuelling baby factory phenomenon.

    Meanwhile, the Ogun State government has said that the affected building, if it was proven that suspects are also the owners, would be “sealed up”, though the position of the court would be awaited because of the criminal nature of the matter.

    Speaking with The Nation, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Elizabeth Sonubi, said: “unfortunately, I understand that the owner of the building is not even in Nigeria. So, I’m not sure the landlord or landlady, is aware because the suspected operators of the building are not the owner of the house. If they are the owner, definitely the government will seal it.

    “The owner of the house, I’m sure he is not aware of the kind of business the tenants were doing and anyway, the government can’t just take over the building, the criminal is in the police net, they (Police) are going to charge her and of course, they have been looking for the husband and if charged to Court, we will definitely wait for the court judgment. I pray that the judiciary will do its best. And now that it is in public domain, the judiciary will do justice to the case.”

    On the rescued the victims, two of which have delivered a boy and girl, respectively, she said: “the child development department actually is saddled with the responsibility of seeing to the protection, survival and development of children in general, we have the capacity and the facilities to take care of them and the political will is there, we have the support of our Governor.

    “So, immediately when we got to the police station, we requested that we are ready to take care of this children and so we brought them into this home, because we believe that they are pregnant and they are already victims and where they are coming from, from the story they told us, is like they are in darkness because they were locked up, they don’t even see sunlight.

    “The first thing we did was to see to their welfare, to ensure that medically and physically they are okay, including the fruit in their wombs and they can attest to that and that is why they are not even ready to go back to their state.”

    “We thank God that we have the political will, the support of our Governor and we have capable hands here in the home as mothers and they have been taking good care of them. We had to change their wears, so that they will be physically okay. Psychologically we have been counseling them to know that though they are victims, they can still live a better life.

    “Many of them are ready to go back to school to continue with their education and we have taken them to the hospital, you can hear them say that this is the first time  they will know that pregnant woman needs to go to the hospital and they have done a lot of tests, did scan.

    “Like the 17year-old that gave birth to the baby we have christened, the baby initially was in breach, the doctors rallied round, initially they wanted to do operation for her but to the glory of God she was able to deliver by herself so that means it is not only the Ministry of Women Affairs that are taking care of this children, the ministry of health too are also involved, it is a team work and we thank God they have delivered safely.

    “We have interfaced with their state, I spoke with the Commissioner of Women Affairs in Abia, we send them correspondence to let them know that their indigenes are here and they need to come and take them, so they are making preparation to come for their repatriation.”

  • Ogun, MTN partner on community-based health insurance

    Ogun, MTN partner on community-based health insurance

    The Ogun State government said it is set to roll out the pilot phase of its Community Based Health Insurance Scheme (CBHIS) in six Local Government Areas of the state.

    The Local Government Areas are, Abeokuta South, Odeda, Ado Odo/Ota, Ifo, Obafemi Owode and Ipokia.

    The plan is part of government’s determination to further improve health indices for the overall well-being of the citizens of the state.

    The State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun made this known in his address at the inauguration of Ogun/MTN Foundation Mobile Medical Intervention Scheme held at the Arcade Ground, Governor’s Office, Abeokuta.

    The governor who was represented by his Deputy, Prince Segun Adesegun disclosed that the CBHIS would help reduce the cost of accessing medicare as government would subsidise for able bodied participants in the scheme while pregnant women, children and the aged would be given treatment free of charge.

    He expressed gratitude to the teleco for selecting the state for the scheme, affirming that the mobile medical intervention would strengthen government efforts at enhancing quality primary health care delivery services, particularly at the grassroots.

    “The project will involve skilled health workers going to rural communities using the fully equipped mobile clinic to deliver quality primary health care services to them and appropriate referral of complicated cases to secondary health facilities”, the governor said.

    He affirmed that his government would continue to partner with private individuals and corporate organisations to move the health sector forward, while investments in human resources for health would be intensified.

    Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka said the mobile clinic which is fully equipped with basic medical tools and drugs would be deployed to the rural areas of the state to provide services to those who do not have access to medical facilities and lauded the organisation for the gesture, assuring that the equipment would be put to proper use.

    Speaking earlier, the Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, Ms. Nonny Ugboma, said six state-of -the-art mobile clinics would be deployed to six states of Abia, Delta, Ogun and Taraba and one state each in the Northcentral and Northwest geo-political zones to provide maternal and child healthcare services as well as tips on prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

    According to her, Ogun is the only state in the Southwest region that met the criteria for the scheme, maintaining that the state government’s commitment to health care delivery was an impetus for the telco to sustain and take the programme to reach larger number of people in the rural areas of the state.

  • Ogun verifies homeowners’ claims

    The Ogun State HomeOwners Charter has continued to elicit responses from the people. It has moved to the verifying of documents stage.

    Director of Land Ratification in the state Bureau of Lands and Survey Mr Fatai Adeboyejo advised applicants who were yet to submit their forms to do so and attach the necessary documents to enable the assessors work without stress.

    Speaking when he led a team of assessors to Ado-Odo, Ota, Akute, Agbado and Alagbole-Ifo local government areas in continuation of the verification, he said the government meant well with the programme to enable them to obtain necessary documents at a huge discount. He added that beneficiaries should not frustrate the programme, as the team discovered a lot of discrepancies and incorrect information in the forms.

    “The government’s gesture to help home owners regularise papers of their properties is, no doubt, a laudable move, but this cannot be achieved when people fail to supply us the necessary information, phone numbers and correct home addresses among others; all these are needed to carry out our responsibilities and help them get their documents at the end of the day,” he said.

    He enjoined applicants, who were contacted earlier through either phone calls or text messages, to be available when the assessors come to check their documents.

  • Houseboy kills retired Senior Magistrate

    Houseboy kills retired Senior Magistrate

    Another tragedy struck Friday evening  in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, as a disgruntled houseboy identified as David, butchered a Senior Magistrate (Mrs) Olufunmilayo Timehin(retired).
    A policeman on Thursday killed himself, wife and and five others in Abeokuta.
    David  was a former house help of Magistrate Timehin but was sacked two months ago following allegation that he  stole  the woman’s phones and gold chains.It was gathered that while trying to sell the phones  at Oke – Ilewo area of the state capital, David was arrested by the police but following the intervention of the woman, he was released.But on Friday evening, the boy reportedly  stole into the Ladiren Estate home of the Magistrate, scaled the high rise perimeter fence and hid himself at vantage point waiting for when she would come out of the house.

    However, her  son who was returning from outside happened to knock at the entrance gate, ostensibly to enable the mother open the door but woman only walked into David, who attacked her with machete.

    Before help could come, David had killed her and  was about escaping when operatives the Ogun State Vigilante Service apprehended David and handed him over to the police.

  • Centre invites professionals to help achieve jobs, wealth creation in Ogun

    Centre invites professionals to help achieve jobs, wealth creation in Ogun

    Seven years old Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), Abeok-uta, is repositioning itself, ostensibly to enhance its chances of creating not only wealth but also the targeted 5,000 jobs or more for budding young entrepreneurs, among  the youth of Ogun State within a couple of years.

    It is a collaborative efforts of the Federal Government, state and local governments in Ogun to nurture the start-up development and growth of innovative business ideas and technologies via Technology Incubation Programme (TIP).

    And aside Abeokuta, the state capital, there are two extensions of TIP in the state – Odogbolu ( Ogun East) and Owode – Yewa (Ogun West).

    Penultimate week, the centre brought into its fold, professionals from tertiary institutions, marketing, NAFDAC, research institute, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Ministry of Commerce and Industry to help it evaluate feasibility studies and business plans of potential small and medium scale entrepreneurs desirous of using the facility to incubate their business ideas and innovations.

    The professionals – are also expected to provide advisory role on linkages to other source of funding for financial support to the aspiring entrepreneurs as well as on product marketing and export potentials for products produced by them.

    The Nation gathered that since its establishment in May 2007, the centre has provided no fewer than 500 direct jobs to youths and there are about 20 young entrepreneurs producing different products using local raw materials and whose investment worth at inception, was put at N24m beside 200 unemployed, who were sponsored for training in various vocations by the Ogun State government.

    The TIC Manager, Dr. John Oni, who recalled that the facility was established by the Federal Government to serve as an “industrial nursery and designed to use locally generated technologies and raw materials” for wealth creation, said the invited professionals are needed to move the place forward.

    Members of the team include Olootu Layi Labode, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria(NIMN), Pharm. Ugochukwu Ilo (NAFDAC), Engr. Enebi Onucheyo (Standards Organisation of Nigeria) and eight others.

    The state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, who inaugurated the 11-member  committee, advised them to use their experience in various callings to assist the centre attain its objectives of “jobs and wealth creation.”

    According to Ashiru, the TIP is an avenue to engage the youth and other enterprising minds needed to diversify the economy and steer the nation away from dependency on the oil sector and imports.

    The commissioner urged the budding small and medium entrepreneurs of the centre to leverage on the N1bn Ogun State – Bank of Industry Industrial Matching Fund and develop their various businesses to success stories.

    According to him, aside the link road, the state government built to the centre,  also request for provision of Industrial borehole, 500KVA transformer and connection of the Odogbolu extension are being looked into.

    The chairman of the advisory committee, Olootu Layi Labode, assured that products and discoveries at the centre would be made to get to the public as well as get certification and approval by government regulatory authority.

    According to Labode, who was former chairman, Ogun State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), it served neither the manufacturer/entrepreneurs nor the public any purpose if goods produced do not get to those who would make use of them.

    He expressed the confidence that with the team, the centre could be positioned to create over 10,000 jobs in the state within a short space of time.