Tag: ONDO

A 17-year-old boy, Jibola Fakologbon, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for assaulting and raping a student of Ero College of Education.

Fakologbon, who was arraigned in December 2021 on two count charges bordering on assault and rape, committed the offence at Ero via Igbara-Oke, by touching the victim’s breast and having unlawful sexual intercourse without her consent.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During the trial, the prosecution led by D. G Kayode called three witnesses and tendered six exhibits but the convict testified as a sole witness.

The victim had narrated to the court that the convict accosted her and demanded money from her for food, but she refused to give him.

“I did not know the boy. He waylaid me on my way to my house and asked for N100. l refused to give him and immediately he tried to forcefully touch my breast. While struggling with him, he hit me with a stick on the head and I was unconscious.

“He carried me with my bag to an uncompleted building, tore my underwear, and had sexual intercourse with me.”

Delivering judgment, Justice Yemi Fasanmi, held that the prosecution proved its case of indecent assault and rape against the convict beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Fasanmi stated that the victim’s testimony that the convict assaulted and had sexual intercourse with her was corroborated by medical reports and another exhibit before the court.

The judge said: “There is ample evidence before the court that the defendant forcefully touched the victim’s breast and that she was sexually penetrated by the convict.

“The evidence is believable, unassailable, and credible that the victim tried to resist the convict rigorously.”

He said the convict confessed to having touched, physically assaulted, and tore the underwear of the victim.

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 “It is considered an abomination and not accepted in any community in Nigeria for a man to forcefully touch the breast of a woman.

“The fact that the convict confirmed that he refused to rape the victim when he noticed the wound on her belly and exhibit 6 (medical report) which shows that the vulva of the victim in examination sustained injury, copiously corroborated that the victim was raped. The court found Fakologbon guilty of both crimes,” the judge held

Fasanmi sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment for the offence of indecent assault and 12 years imprisonment for the offence of rape respectively.

“A total of 14 years imprisonment shall commence from the convict’s first day in custody. The sentences shall run concurrently.”

An unidentified septuagenarian has slumped and died inside an Ondo State High Court session in Oka, Ondo.

The incident occurred before the court proceedings had begun.

Witnesses reported that the deceased was present to testify as a witness in a case involving his friend.

A court staff, speaking anonymously, said that the septuagenarian collapsed suddenly without any apparent interaction or collision with anyone or anything.

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He said: “The man was in court with his friend and suddenly, he stood up where he was seated and fell down, hitting his head on the tiles and he passed on.

“He didn’t look like someone who was sick and he did not collide with anything or anybody that we may say is the cause of his death.”

Another witness, Tunde Ariyo, said policemen from the Enu-Owa police division were called in to take the deceased to the mortuary.

Police sources at the Enu-Owa Police Division confirmed the incident and said the case has been transferred to the homicide section of the police headquarters in Akure.

No fewer than 55 members of the executives and members of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Igbotako Ward II, Okitipupa local government area of Ondo have passed a vote of confidence on Senator Jimoh Ibrahim.

Senator Ibrahim contested the party’s governorship primary in the state.

He was among the aspirants who rejected the results of the primary and had since dragged the party and Governor Aiyedatiwa to court.

The vote of confidence came a few hours after some executive members of Igbotako Ward II suspended the senator from the party.

They spoke at an emergency meeting held where they declared support for Senator Ibrahim.

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Among those who signed the resolutions were Otekaye Alana Sunday and Olowole Musa, secretary and assistant public relations officer.

The resolution insisted that there was no party’s governorship primary election in the Okitipupa local government area.

They declared support for Senator Ibrahim’s quest to pursue justice in the court of law as regards the outcome of the party’s primary.

The resolution reads: “At the general meeting of Igbotako Ward 2 held today, Thursday 9th May 2024 at 4 pm, we reviewed the fraudulent election of Saturday 20th April 2024 and resolved as follows:

“That no election took place at Igbotako Ward 2 and indeed all the other wards in Okitipupa Local Government Area;

“That we are surprised to see votes allotted to contestants by the Ododo-led Committee. We hereby pass a vote of absolute ‘Confidence’ on our leader Senator Jimoh Ibrahim.”

Workers of the Ondo state-owned University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital have staged a peaceful protest to demand payment of their salary arrears between 2018 and 2020.

The workers blocked the entrance to the hospital as early as 7:30 am with placards and chanted solidarity songs.

They said it was wrong for the hospital management to pay doctors arrears owed and excluded other categories of staff.

A medical scientist, Oluwafemi Akinboboye, said the protest was to demand payment of the money owed to all categories of staff.

He said: “We have nurses, accountants, pharmacists,.laboratory staff here protesting the non-payment of arrears. Some are owed as much as 13 months arrears.

“Our leaders met with the former CMD, Dr. Ige but the management only paid the doctors and left other categories of staff. We wrote letters to them but nothing was done. They didn’t answer us. We are pleading with the state government to come and assist us with the payment. All categories of staff are affected. The only people not here are the doctors. The payment is long overdue.”

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Another protester, Olatunde Oluwafemi, said many affected staff have resigned due to inability to cope with non-payment of salary.

He said: “We want them to pay us our salary arrears. It is bad to be owing somebody arrears for nine months. Many people have left the job because they could no longer feed their families.”

A nurse at the hospital, Oriole Joy, said she joined in the protest because she was owed two months arrears

“This is not the first time for us to protest. We are not fighting the management but asking the government to come and assist with the payment.”

Acting medical director of the hospital, Olumide Micheal Gbala, said it would be difficult to borrow money to pay all the salary arrears.

Gbala assured that his administration would gradually pay the arrears and pledged not to victimise any staff that joined in the protest.

He noted: “You will see the sincerity in me. I am concerned about staff welfare which was why I increased the salary of security personnel by N20,000.

“We will engage everybody. It is only when staff are happy I can succeed. I feel your pain and I need your support.”

A Junior Secondary School student of Commercial Secondary School, Sunday Adegbolu, has escaped death by the whiskers while attempting to vandalise a transformer at Owo, Owo local government area.

Adegbolu, aged 17, was electrocuted and roasted as electricity was restored while carrying out the act.

His accomplices and sponsor took him to three different hospitals in a bid to evade arrest.

They took him out of Ondo state in a bid to kill him but Amotekun operatives caught up with them and arrested Adegbolu.

Commander of Ondo Amotekun Corp, Adetunji Adeleye, said lots of money was spent on reviving Adegbolu due to the severe burns on different parts of his body.

Adeleye spoke while parading 45 suspects arrested for various crimes ranging from kidnapping, vandalism, armed robbery, and stealing amongst others.

He said the suspects were arrested within the last two weeks of constant patrol across the state.

“We have a set of criminals that engaged in vandalism, especially transformers. One of them was unlucky. Power was restored and burnt half of his body. He was to be killed so that he would not reveal his sponsor. We spent lots of money to make him come back to life. He told us nine others including their godfather. He was among the locals recruited to join the gang.”

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Adeleye said one Jibril who is facing charges of kidnapping was re-arrested for plotting to kidnap another three persons.

He said the state government was resolute in guaranteeing the safety of lives and property.

Adegbolu, who confessed to the crime, named one Abubakar as their sponsor.

He said he was promised the sum of N25000.

According to him, my name is Sunday Adegbolu, we went to steal wire from the transformer and I was electrocuted.

“We were three of us but it was two of us that went to the transformer. This is the second one. The first one we stole house wire.”

Ondo state government has started training 80 birth attendants on the use of partographs to prevent maternal morbidity and mortality.

The Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), Oladiran Ayodeji, said the training was to boost the efficiency of the birth attendants in child delivery within the state health sector.

Speaking at Bolorunduro, headquarters of Ondo East Local Government, Ayodeji disclosed that common causes of maternal mortality were hypertensive disorders of pregnancy at 42.9 percent, sepsis at 42.9 percent, while Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH) was responsible for 14.2 percent of maternal deaths.

He said: “These actions are more likely to halt the progression of near-miss maternal mortality. The healthcare-seeking behaviour of women in the community must be improved through advocacy, and the enlistment of community leaders must be assured through periodic outreach interactions with different strata of the community.

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“The issue of maternal mortality is a worldwide problem, but most of it comes from Nigeria, and our country is now becoming an embarrassment to itself and the whole world. It is not that we cannot take care of or solve this problem.

“We cannot continue to stay in the teaching hospitals, hoping and thinking that the problem of death that will be seen in the teaching hospitals will just go away. Patients that die come from our community, and that is why we are engaging our health workers from the grassroots now.”

Primary Health Care Coordinator and Medical Officer of Health in the locality, Babatunde Akinbinu, expressed optimism that there would be an improvement in the state health sector on maternal morbidity and mortality.

Two persons identified as Ojulewa Alex and Alonge Samuel have died after consuming local herbs otherwise known as Agbo in Ipe-Akoko, Akoko northeast local government area.

It was reported that the third person, Adu Johnson, who also drank the concoction is currently in a coma at a hospital in the locality.

The incident occurred during the celebration of the Ibogbe age group festival.

An eyewitness said one of the victims came from Abuja to celebrate the festival.

Ondo Police spokesman, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said it was reported by a Chief in the community that one Ojulewa prepared a native concoction (Agbo) which was consumed by three men.

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She said the trio started vomiting but that two died on their way to the hospital.

Odunlami said the investigation was still ongoing.

Youths of Ondo state under the auspices of Ondo State Youth Network (OSYN) has asked both the Peoples Democratic Party and the ruling All Progressives Congress to pick a running mate that is under 45 years of age

The group urged both political parties to prioritise youth inclusion in their tickets ahead of the November polls.

It said this year’s gubernatorial election must break historical neglect of youths by previous administrations.

The coordinator of the group, Comrade Afe Ezekiel, in a statement issued in Akure, said it was wrong for youths to be appointed into the office of Special Assistant or Personal Assistant.

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He said there were numerous capable and competent young individuals who are ready to take on leadership roles.

 “This has to stop. We, the youth of Ondo State, demand from the All Progressives Congress (APC) & Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) a deputy governor who is less than 45 years old. We want young individuals as cabinet members in the next administration.

“Ondo State must follow the example set by other states in the region. We need to bridge the gap between the youth and the government to ensure effective governance and development.

“We want political parties to prioritize youth representation in the forthcoming election. The organization will continue to engage with stakeholders and advocate for policies that promote youth inclusion and empowerment in governance.”

Babalola Dolapo Daniel, who confessed to killing his childhood friend, Opeyemi Oyelakin, and stealing his motorcycle, has revealed how he sold his late friend’s body parts to ritualists in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Dolapo said he also killed his cousin and three other persons.

He said he was not aware if all his victims died after hitting them with a stick and a stone before making away with their motorcycles.

Police investigations showed that Dolapo killed a motorcyclist in Kabba, Kogi state and in Ife along Ilesha road in Osun state in April 2023.

The police said: “In June 2023, he killed another motorcyclist at Ondo town and dumped the corpse at a farm at Oboto bush along Bolorunduro road, Ondo town while in October 2023 the suspect and one Sikiru Mutiu aka S.K killed his childhood friend, dismembered his body and handed them to herbalists identified as Mujeeb Lawal and Shina Ojo for rituals.

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“The duo of Abiola Olatunji Toheeb and Ayegbajeje Micheal who are receivers of stolen items and one Oyediran Waheed Olaitan who helps in the production of fake documents to aid the selling of the stolen motorcycles have been arrested. Seven motorcycles have been retrieved from the receivers while one suspect is still at large. I have killed five persons including my cousin and my friend, and snatched their motorcycles.

In an interview, Dolapo said: “I killed Opeyemi who is my friend, and sold the motorcycle to one man at Ibadan called Toheed. I do not sell human parts but I took part of one of my victims’ bodies to an herbalist in Ondo who promised to give me an Ifa Oracle.

“At the point where we snatched motorcycles, anyone who struggled with me in the process got hit on the head with a fat stone and a stick.”

The herbalists said they used the body parts to prepare spiritual soap.

Also, one Adetokunbo Adesina, who claimed to have been hired to kill over 500 persons, was arrested after his last victim paid him N110,000.

Police said Adetokunbo claimed three staff of the woman paid him to kill her.

“Out of fear, the victim sent the sum of ₦110,000 to the account forwarded to her. Through Technical assistance, he was arrested.

“The suspect claimed he was sick and needed money to carry out a surgical operation and decided to use the threat as a means to extort the victim because she refused to employ him in her pure water factory.”

Ondo Police Commissioner, Peter Abayomi, said a 30-year-old man, Abdullahi Fatai, who was suspected of having killed his wife, was also arrested.

He said: “Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect and his wife Olayode Morenike (late) had always quarreled over the issue of going to check on her child in her former marriage. The suspects after killing the deceased took pictures of the body and locked the corpse in the house till late night before raising an alarm.”