The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Outrage

  • Outrage as police fail to arrest Inspector who demanded bribe from firm boss

    •Victim invited to police command HQ

    There were outrage on the social media over the inability of Lagos State Police Command to arrest Inspector Jude Akhoyemta and some officers, who allegedly demanded bribe from the Managing Director of Planex Finishing Nigeria Limited Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu.

    The officers, attached to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) Ikeja, seized the handset of Ibe-Anyanwu for reporting them to the Lagos State Command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chike Oti, a Superintendent (SP).

    Oti had requested to speak with them before the FSARS seized Ibe-Anyanwu’s handset.

    Jessica Nnadi, while commenting on the issue, described FSARS men as “hungry looters.”

    She said: “Once those bastards see you’re looking well and all knitted up, they will think you are a Yahoo boy. Stupid sets of Loosers!

    “They have harassed my neighbour also at the front of that Zenith Bank Ago Palace when he went to do some transactions. Immediately, they saw him coming out from the bank, they hurried and blocked him, raised the alarm as though he was a suspect. Imagine the embarrassment! Passersby were even thinking his either an armed robber or a fraudster. They seized his car keys and asked him to bring out his documents. After checking, they took him to Okota Police Station and later started asking him for money. He refused and told them that he won’t give them one naira. He called a lawyer and they discharged him immediately.”

    According to Emmanuel Okunlola, “Last Thursday was the third time I got arrested this year. It was one of the most frustrating moments of my life. My phone was seized and I couldn’t even make any calls out. Seriously, these guys (FSARS) have a way of messing people up no matter how strong hearted you are. They went as far as accusing me of forging a DG’s signature after they found a friend’s scanned signature on my phone. Helpless, you would have no choice than to part with hard-earned money to prevent further troubles.”

    To Vincent Emeka, Ibe-Anyanwu was clever enough to hide in the bank.

    “I know of someone who was abducted by SARS at Eleme Port Harcourt, beaten and held up for days. He later realised that he has been taken to Okigwe in Imo state, where he was made to request an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and withdraw his last dime from the Fidelity Bank around.

    They agreed to ”waste” him afterwards, and one of them was given the job to do. Along the line he felt ”pity” for my friend and gave him some token as transport. My paddy, had his over N200,000 ransomed by SARS and had his shoulder dislocated. At a point, he became suicidal,” Emeka said.

    Ibe-Anyanwu told The Nation yesterday that he was invited to the command headquarters to identify some officers suspected to be on patrol at the area as at the time of the incident.

    “I met the PPRO Oti and some other senior officers. They brought some officers but none of them is among those who accosted me. They said there’s another group that patrolled that area. I later gave them the phone number one of them used to call me while I was hiding inside the bank’s toilet. He called me to quickly come out to settle them. The officers admitted that the line belongs to an officer in the other group,” he said.

    Ibe-Anyanwu was stopped by the FSARS officers at about 3pm for search in Ago Palace, opposite Zenith Bank, Okota, Lagos.

    Having found nothing incriminating, the officers allegedly humiliated Ibe-Anyanwu and accused him being a fraudster.

    The officers told him to lead them to his Ikoyi office to confirm.

    It was at that time that people intervened and Ibe-Anyanwu called the police spokesman.

    Ibe-Anyanwu wrote on his Facebook wall: “I was accosted by SARS officers at Ago-Palace, Okota, opposite Zenith Bank. They humiliated me and accused me of being a fraudster.

    “Checked my documents and found nothing, and then said I should follow them back to my office in Ikoyi to confirm my claims. People intervened. I called the PPRO of Lagos State and he asked to speak with them. They took the phone and seized it.

    “They are still holding my documents. Later one called me aside and asked me to go arrange money. I asked for my phone to let me make a transfer to my ATM (Automated Teller Machine) account and he gave me. I took the phone and card and went into the bank and have gone into hiding here. I’m updating from my hiding place. They are waiting for me by my car. Please share.”

    In a chat with The Nation last night, Ibe-Anyanwu said: “It was past 2pm yesterday and I was at Zenith Bank, Okota Branch to submit a document prepared on my company letterhead. I was asked to edit a part of it and re-submit.

    “Because I wanted to conclude the transaction yesterday, I had to look for a business centre around to type and edit. Across the bank was one and, as I walked towards it, a young man accosted me saying he was a police officer, His superiors would like to see me inside a bus waiting around, he said.

    He was slightly bearded and in mufti, so I was skeptical. I asked for his ID (Identity) card and he unhooked it from his waist and showed me. The prints were tiny and blurred, so I reached out to collect it and read properly. ‘So you want to snatch my ID card,’ he shouted.

    “He took from me the PLANEX-branded envelope containing plain letterheads and other documents, and walked towards the bus, asking me to come along. Right away, I made a call to Ekene Okoro and briefed him. By the time I got to the bus, the story had changed: that I snatched his ID card from him. They were about seven armed men, and one of them started interrogating me. Why did I choose to use this branch of Zenith Bank instead of the one close to my office in Ikoyi? Where is the other director of PLANEX? Why was the document I went to edit not stamped with my company stamp?

    “Dismissing all my answers, he said they would take me to my office in Ikoyi to confirm. He said he knew people on that street and had just spoken to them and they couldn’t identify me. I asked him to speak to my office landlady, he ignored me.

    At that point, I stepped aside and called the Lagos PPRO and narrated my experience. He asked me to pass the phone on to them and they took the phone from me, cut the call, and seized the phone. At that point I started inviting passers-by into the argument and people gathered.

    “One of them intervened and begged them a lot and they calmed down, insisting that they were still going to take me away anyway. Then they asked to search my car and I let them. Finding nothing, they took my ID and demanded my car key and car documents. I had to corner their leader to a side and beg him, telling him he was like a father to me and should appeal to his men. His men were almost going violent with me but he kept calming them down.

    “He told me to arrange some money and I told him I needed the phone to transfer money from the corporate account to my ATM account. I needed the car key too to get the ATM card. On my way to the ATM, the one who arrested me asked me how much I was going to withdraw. I told him N5, 000 and he flared up.

    “At the ATM booth, I called back the PPRO. “Don’t give them any money”, he warned, promising to send down a band of policemen. I withdrew some money and ran into the banking hall instead, went straight to the bank toilet and hid. Then, made an update on Facebook. I sat there in the toilet for close to two hours. By after 4pm, I feared the bank would soon close and called the PPRO again, who assured me his men were on the way. He asked me to put the CSO of the Branch on the line for him. They spoke and he asked the CSO to put the bank mobile police unit on the line too for him to instruct them on what to do. But before the bank policeman could come on phone, the phone had died.

    “I narrated everything to him, the bank policeman. But he was skeptical, saying if I did nothing, SARS would not be after me. I learnt from the CSO that the SARS people actually came inside the bank to look for me while I was in the toilet, purporting to want to give me back my documents. The bank policeman now said I should leave the bank, that the bank was not the place for people to hide. So he eased me out of the bank and, outside where my car was parked, I noticed the number plates had been taken away. The police bus was no longer around. So, I assumed they had left.

    “I got into my car, plugged my phone because I was desperate to reach people. As soon as I started the car, the SARS bus came from nowhere and double-crossed me. I turned swiftly facing the bank gate, hooting crazily for the bank security to let me in. The bank security, on the order of their skeptical policeman, refused me entry, leaving me out for SARS to devour. It is a branch I have used to for 10 years, visiting there almost weekly.

    The SARS people jumped out of their bus and started banging on my windows. One attempted to puncture the tyre but that superior asked him not to. My phone was still yet to come on, heightening my fear. It was the longest moment of my life, as I was surrounded by seven armed policemen who had patiently waited for me for over two hours.

    “They ordered me to wind down but I wouldn’t and a crowd began to form. They stepped aside, speaking to the bank policeman. The bank policeman later came to me and asked me to wind down, that he had spoken to them, and that I should leave even outside the bank premises where this was happening.

    “The management had asked him to chase me away, he said, adding that the bank was not the place for me. Shouting through shut windows, I pleaded with him to let my phone come on so help could reach me. He threatened to use force on me if I didn’t leave that very minute.  I hunched over my steering and said a short prayer.

    “They (SARS) came back to me again, asking me to wind down, and I pretended to be making a phone call. One was impatient and wanted to smash the glass. Their superior who had been soft all along got angry and dumped the number plates and documents on my bonnet and stormed out. The others followed him, entered their bus, and they drove ahead and waited.

    “I was scared that they were still waiting along the same road I was to take, so I remained in the car. The bank policeman came back again, fuming, banging on the car and urging me to leave. I had to take the opposite direction amid a slow-moving traffic, driving insanely cutting through the traffic until I found a free road which was in the opposite direction to my house. I fled, literally.

    “At that point my phone had come on. The PPRO and his deputy called respectively. They had been trying to reach me. Their men who were on the way also called me saying they had been unable to reach me since. For the next hour, they kept calling checking up on me. Even the Lagos SARS commandant called, apologetic. They all rose to the challenge and began to look for the erring officers. The response on social media had been overwhelming, from colleagues, friends and family.  I was in shock, I have read stories of SARS tracing people home in the night and killing them and I still fear for my life.”

    Police spokesman said the erring officers hurriedly left the scene in a manner suggestive that they were on illegal duty when a team of policemen from the Command X-Squad Section, led by Musa Shuaibu, an Assistant Superintendent (ASP) arrived the scene.

    The erring officers, he said, were led in that inglorious duty by one Inspector Jude Akhoyemta attached to FSARS Ikeja.

     

  • IYC’s letter to church sparks outrage in Bayelsa

    Outrage has trailed a letter written by the Epie Clan of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Central Zone, to the Building Committee of the Redemption Ministry.

    The leaked letter which was signed by the Chairman IYC, Epie Clan, Abia Oyisor and the Secretary, Newman Atamadu, demanded N500,000 from the church building committee.

    The group in the letter dated March 27 ordered the committee to pay the money in respect of an ongoing building project in their area.

    “We need the money to enable us meet our goals and objectives”, the youths said outlining some of their objectives as seminars, sensitisation, workshop and empowerment.

    But the group gave the church a five-day ultimatum to respond to its request.

    The clan said: “We will be extremely grateful if our demand is reached peacefully. Please, in a bid to achieve this,we are giving you period of five days to get back to us”.

    No sooner had the letter leaked than members of the public lashed out at IYC describing the development as shameful.

    Condemning the move, a media aide to the governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, asked the national leadership of IYC and its founding fathers to quickly rescue the image of IYC.

    He said: “This cannot be the direction of the IYC. I am of the opinion that IYC will issue a statement to assure agitated minds that this statement does not capture the mode of operations of the council”.

    Also, a youth leader, Esuye Adulphus, said the letter was a direct consequence of allowing wrong people to occupy sensitive positions.

    He said Epie-Atissa people were too intelligent to allow some individuals ridicule them in the name of hustling.

    Further condemning the development, Obesi Maxwell said: “This is very shameful. To learn that the IYC we all know has reduced all its standard is absolutely disgusting and quite honestly very pathetic”.

    But there was an indication that the Pereotubo Oweilami-led national leadership of IYC commenced an investigation to fish out persons behind the letter.

    A statement by the Spokesman of the group, Daniel Dasimaka, vowed that the national leadership would sanction persons behind it.

    He said: “We the National Leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide wish to express our utter disgust,  displeasure, disbelief and to  condemn in its entirety a  letter of demand notice purportedly issued to Redemption Ministry, Azikoro Road, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State by the Epie Clan in Central Zone demanding the sum of N500,000 Naira.”

     

     

    “We condemn this shameful act because it not only brings odium to the IYC but disgrace to all Ijaws everywhere.

    “We assure all Ijaw sons and daughters and various stakeholders that despite the challenges the council is facing at the moment  we vow to always protect the norms, principles and ideals of the struggle upon which the IYC was founded as encapsulated  in the Kaiama declaration of 1998.

    “In view of the above we want to use this medium to inform the general public that we have resolved to set up a high powered Investigative team to look into the source and motive behind this anachronistic approach which is totally alien to the very foundation of the Isaac Boro’s dream for the Ijaw Nation.

    “Let it be known that Council will not leave any stone unturned in our investigation until we get to the bottom of this ignoble letter allegedly emanating from one of our clans in the central zone, at a time when all Ijaws are united in our agitation for restructuring and a better Political space to achieve our collective goal”.

     

     

     

     

  • Outrage over ‘no Nigeria without North’ remark

    •ACF chief under fire over comment

    Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Chair Ibrahim Coomassie’s statement that the country can never survive without the North has drawn the ire of some Nigerians. Former Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Afenifere Secretary-General Sehinde Arogbofa and United People’s Party (UPP) chieftain, among others, have cautioned elder statesmen against provocative remarks. Leke Salaudeen, Raymond Mordi and Musa Odoshimokhe report.

    The debate on the unity of Nigeria has been on for a very long time. One school of thought believes in negotiating the country’s unity by way of restructuring.  Another expresses fear that any attempt to discourse the unity will dismember Nigeria as a nation.

    Three days ago, the chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Ibrahim Coomassie stirred the hornets’ nest with his comment that “Nigeria can’t survive without the North.”

    Commassie’s remarks have been eliciting reactions from some stakeholders in the Nigerian project, with many arguing that no part of the country was unable.

    “We all know that without the North, Nigeria can never survive. We still stand by it. But now is the time to walk the talk in the interest of our people,” Coomassie, a one-time Inspector-General of Police (IGP), told members of the Jam’iyya Matan Arewa (JMA), in Kaduna on Tuesday.

    Members of the JMA, a foremost northern women socio-cultural organisation, were on a visit to ACF’s National Working Committee (NWC).

    The Secretary-General of Yoruba socio-cultural organisation – Afenifere – Chief Seinde Arogbofa, urged elder statesmen to refrain from making inflammatory statements that could incite people against themselves.

    Arogbofa said that such comment from an elder in the standing of a former police chief and leader of a pan-North organisation, was uncalled for, giving the security situation in the country.

    Urging the ACF leader to be more circumspect in future, Arogbofa said all regions in the country are inter-dependence and that none is indispensable.

    The Afenifere scribe said: “We need each other to make the country great; no region should be considered inconsequential. Let’s live together as a nation irrespective of our diversities; let’s unite and work for the progress of this country.

    “The peaceful co-existence of the country is what Afenifere stands for and that is why we are calling for true federalism so that each region or zone can develop at its own pace.”

    In his own reaction, a lawyer and civil right activist, Monday Ubani, described Coomasie’s statement as ‘an out-of-place’ comment, insisting that “all regions make up Nigeria; no region can claim to be superior to others.”

    Ubani, who said that every region was endowed with natural resources, said: “There is no region that can’t stand on its own; anyone saying a region is indispensable to the continuous existence of Nigeria as an entity is deluded under demonic influence.”

    The activist pointed out that the clamour for true federalism continued to resonate because of the abundance of God-given resources across the land.

    He recalled that in the First Republic, the 1960 Constitution allowed each of the defunct three regions to manage its resources.

    “There was pyramid groundnut in the North; rubber and palm oil in the East and cocoa in the West. The regions were developing at their own pace and there was healthy competition among them”, he said.

    Ubani regretted that the military intervention stalled the nation’s progress when it suspended the constitution and imposed a unitary system of government on us.

    “Despite the absence of true federalism, no region can lord it over the others”, Ubani concluded.

    A sociologist, Dr. Alfred Okunbor, cautioned the ACF chief to desist from making statements that can jeopardise the unity of the country.

    He said the era of one ethnic group or region claiming superiority was gone for good.

    “The days of regional hegemony are gone,” he said.

    Insisting that no region was indispensable for the country’s existence, Okunbor said Nigerians should de-emphasise artificial boundaries and see themselves as one united family.

     

    No region is an island

     

    But, an Enugu-based lawyer, Chief Enechi Onyia, (SAN), who agreed that Nigeria cannot survive without the North, said “every region needs the other to survive”.

    He said: “Yes, it is true; Nigeria cannot survive without the North. If the North pulls out, is it the same Nigeria again? Can Nigeria survive without the Igbo? It would not be the same Nigeria without the Igbo. Can Nigeria survive without the Yoruba? Can the country survive without the Itsekiri? It cannot be the same anymore.

    “But when you become selfish and think that survival is individualistic, then that’s a different thing. We have 240 tribes in Nigeria, if we start this tribalistic thing, how do we go? Have you read the constitution of Nigeria? Do you see anywhere labeled North, East or West? Do you see Igbo, Yoruba or any tribe for that matter?

    “There are no geo-political zones in the constitution either; it doesn’t exist. It was only introduced by people who cannot survive in Nigeria, because they are ‘bigmen’. So, they decided to organise Southeast, Southwest and what have you, where they would be at the top.

    “What it means is that the country cannot be the same again. We need each other, to develop ourselves and sustain the unity of Africa.

    “Indeed, all parts of this country can survive as a country. But what kind of survival is that? What it means is that when an Igbo man is going to Port Harcourt, he would require a visa; when he is going to Benin City, he would need a visa. You are going to Otukpo, you will take visa. What kind of survival is that? My point is that we need each other.”

    As far as the All Progressives Congress (APC) spokesman in Anambra State, Mr. Okelo Madukaife, was concerned, the country needs all its constituent parts to survive.

    He said: “My response is that people are free to air their views. Nigeria needs all of us to survive; irrespective of the part of the country we come from. From such a positive point of view, what that statement simply means to me is that they have a lot to contribute to Nigeria.

    “But I’ve not read the ACF statement, because in matters like this the context is important. It does not sound like a positive statement, if it is turned the other way round: that they are indispensable to Nigeria. But I don’t think it was said in that context.”

     

    Remarks delusory

     

    Former Senator Femi Okunrounmi described the ACF leader’s comment as delusory.

    He said: “When you say we cannot survive without them, you begin to imagine what exactly we get from them that we shall miss if we are not together. They are the ones who depend on us and not the other way round.

    “All the oil is in the south, they have not got any oil in the north. From all the years and the billions of naira they have spent looking for oil in the Chad Basin, they have not found any trace of oil there.

    “There is no indication that there is any oil in the North, all the industries are in the South, the revenue that we share in Abuja, 80 per cent or more comes from the South.

    Okurounmu said the North will benefit a lot from a restructured Nigeria.

    He said: “In fact, the bulk of the revenue comes from Lagos, Ogun states and of course the oil producing states in the Delta areas. So, the North would be left with nothing if they are not with the South.

    “That is why we are calling for restructuring and in fact, it will benefit the North more. When we restructure, they will be in a position to explore the mineral resources in their domains which at present, they are not exploring. There are enough mineral resources within the states in the country,” the former Ogun senator said.

    Also reacting, the National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Prof Bankole Okuwa and his United Progressives Party (UPP) counterpart, Chief Chekwas Okorie, described the remarks credited to Coomasie as unfortunate.

    Okorie said: “As a matter of fact the statement is condemnable because many people don’t want Nigeria to continue this way. Many people want to go their separate ways. Why is he talking about Nigeria not surviving without the North? Is it not clear to him that there are many separatist agitations in the country, who feel they are better off without being in Nigeria?

    Instead of joining hand with Nigerian leaders of thought to make the country a better place and to have reason to say they are proud Nigerians, he is putting more fuel in a burning fire.”

  • Outrage over senators’ jumbo pay

    •Falana, Raji, others demand action

    There was more outrage yesterday over the revelation that Senators take home N13.5 million in allowances monthly.

    Senator Shehu Sani disclosed in an interview with TheNews that each senator gets N13.5 million monthly as running cost apart from the N750, 000 consolidated salary and allowances.

    At the weekend, the Senate, through its spokesman Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi confirmed Sani’s claim, saying that the figures given by the Kaduna Central senator were contained in various line items and expenditure heads of the National Assembly’s budget which had been made public.

    “Almost all holders of elective and appointive offices have running costs allocated to their offices and that cannot be said to be part of their salaries”, Abdullahi said, adding that senators’ emoluments were never secret.

    He denied that senators had been up in arms against Sani for the disclosure, saying there was nothing new in the senator’s revelation.

    The breakdown of the National Assembly’s annual budgets has not been made public despite demands for transparency. In last year’s budget, the National Assembly got N125 billion.

    The latest revelation drew more flak yesterday from lawyer-activists.

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Babatunde Fashanu, described as annoying and irresponsible the lawmakers’ award of jumbo salaries and allowances to themselves.

    Fashanu said the pay does not reflect economic realities and average earnings of Nigerians.

    He said: “It is absolutely irresponsible to just award yourselves such gargantuan pay which is far removed from the reality of the earnings of the average Nigerian which should be the measure of what they earn as is done in countries where legislators feel for and serve their citizens and not the other way round.

    “This lends credence to the call by many that legislative business should be non-paying for now in Nigeria until such a time that our legislators have matured enough to know what they are really there for.

    “It is a confirmation of the allegation that we have ‘legislathieves’ at the National Assembly and not Legislators that they are supposed to be.”

    Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said the development in the Senate and House of Representatives should provide an opportunity for Nigerians to review the entire costs of governance.

    He said the Buhari administration owes the nation a duty to ensure that no political officer is paid salaries and allowances that have not been approved by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

    Falana said: “The members of the RMAFC empowered by section Section 70 of the Constitution to approve the salaries and allowances of the legislators have always washed off their hands like Pontius Pilate while the Budget Office has never questioned the payment of unauthorised salaries and allowances to federal legislators.”

    The activist-lawyer said the time was ripe for government to stop the jumbo salaries and allowances of federal lawmakers.

    He said the government should, as a matter of urgency, halt the payment of double salary and allowances to a number of legislators and ministers.

    “The Buhari administration owes the nation a duty to ensure that no political officer is paid salaries and allowances that have not been approved by the RMAFC,” Falana said.

    According to him, it was clear that the statement credited to Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) to the effect that Nigerian legislators were the highest paid in the world could not be faulted.

    But, another SAN, Mr. Ahmed Raji, said Nigerians much first understand the components of the allowances before jumping into conclusions.

    Raji said: “For us to have a meaningful discussion on this issue, we need a breakdown of the components of the allowances.  It is after this information that one can make meaningful comments.

    “It is not salary. It is described as allowances. We need to be careful in rushing to inferences and conclusions which may not hold water.”

    To the Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, the salary package of the legislators was like “daylight and vicious rape by the minority elites that do not constitute up to two per cent of the population”.

    Ubani said it was miraculous that the country was still alive given the level at which her resources are plundered.

    The NBA chief said: “One ordinary senator alone collects N45 million a quarter, N750, 000 a month, a constituency sum of N200 million per annum plus clothing, newspaper, house, car etc allowances of various sums, and these do not include the illegal monies he or she makes in over-sighting job, budget padding, lobbying money to pass legislation.”

    He noted also that when that senator is a principal officer, these amounts are received in double.

    Ubani asked: “What of House of Representative members, governors, local government areas’ chairmen and councillors, not forgetting the presidency, cabinet and aides? Do we know how much these ones collect in allowances and salaries?

    “Do you now know why we are bleeding from all parts of our body as a nation and unable to fix the basic infrastructures that make life worth living?

    “Unemployment is so high, no light, no water, no good hospitals and schools, yet minority are swimming in obscene affluence!”

    Ubani challenged Nigerians to determine what should be done with the information provided by Senator Sani on the salary package of the legislators.

    A Lagos-based lawyer, Maduka Okoli, called for the amendment of the RMAFC Act.

    He said: “Let us all march to National Assembly and shut it down until they agree to amend the RMAFC Act empowering them and the executive to go home with those wicked allowances and salary and make their work part time legislation. This protest should be spearheaded by the NBA.”

     

  • Outrage over ‘Free Evans campaign’

    Outrage over ‘Free Evans campaign’

    A Twitter campaign seeking mercy for the suspected kidnap baron, Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, alias Evans sparked outrage from Nigerians yesterday.

    Some denounced the campaigners as mad.

    The campaign with the hashtag #FreeEvans   followed an interview granted Vanguard by Uchenna Precious Onwuamadike, the Ghana based Evans’ wife, in which the woman pleaded for a second chance for a man she had married for 14 years. She also asked for forgiveness for the family.

    In the interview, conducted on phone, the 31 year old lady and mother of four claimed she was unaware her man was a kidnapper. She said Evans always told her he was into spare parts business but he never for once took her to his shop.

    She also said among other things that she was not aware her husband was rich as the only money he ever gave her was N200,000 when she was taking the kids to South Africa on holidays.

    But she did admit that she suspected something was amiss as her husband was very secretive and also shielded them from attending social events.

    The pleading met unbridled outrage from Nigerians on Twitter. Here are samples of the responses.

  • Outrage over Customs’ alleged killing of artisan

    Outrage over Customs’ alleged killing of artisan

    The alleged killing of an artisan by customs men in Atan area of Ogun State has sparked a row between the victim’s family and Customs area command, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE

    AN end appears not in sight to the dust generated by the alleged killing of a 27-year-old artisan, Sheriff Ajibose, by men of Ogun Customs Area Command. Ajibose was allegedly killed by operatives of the Customs Service during a clash with suspected smugglers at the Tollgate end of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway on Tuesday. The incident resulted in an attack on a Customs checkpoint at the Atan section of Ota-Idiroko Road during which about five vehicles were destroyed. Ajibose’s family members, however, insisted that their son was not a smuggler and demanded justice for his killing. ‘’He was not a smuggler,’’ said Hon. Solomon Ajibose, spokesman of the victim’s family.

    ‘’He was a vulcaniser and was running an errand for me when he ran into the heartless customs men that shot him dead. “He was never a smuggler. Contrary to the official statement of Ogun customs, he was not carrying any item or goods at the time he was killed in cold blood. ‘’I had sent him on errand to collect some money from me at my mother’s place in Ikeja when he ran into the customs patrol and they shot him dead on the allegation that he was a smuggler. “He left his residence at Obere area of Atan in Ado Odo/Ota Local Government Area in a Lexus car and was heading towards Lagos when he ran into Customs patrol around the Toll Gate.

    “They gunned him down and turned around to say that he was a smuggler. ‘’He was shot in the neck and killed as if he was a fowl just, one month after his wife was delivered of a new baby. “We have photographs to prove that he was shot dead. It is sad that Customs published in a national newspaper that he was killed during an exchange of gunfire. “Who will now take care of his family now that they have snuffed out his life? “As a family, we will not take it easy with Customs authorities over his killing. We are prepared to pursue the matter until justice is done.

    “The customs men were not properly trained to handle fire arms and their inadequate training has resulted in senseless killing of innocent people. “Even if he was a smuggler, are Customs operatives mandated to kill an unarmed smuggler? I repeat, Sheriff was never a smuggler and Customs unnecessarily labelled him to prove a point that they are working.’’ He added: ‘’All we want is justice and nothing but justice. It is high time customs men stopped killing our youths all in the name of law enforcement. “Sheriff was not armed at the time he was senselessly killed by Customs operatives. ‘’Our political leaders, including Governor Ibikunle

  • Outrage as soldier shoots Judiciary worker in Akwa Ibom

    There was outrage yesterday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, following the shooting of a Judiciary worker, identified as Godwin Udoka, by a soldier.

    The duo were said to have had an argument over right-of-way.

    It was gathered Udoka, who was driving the judiciary bus, ran into a Hilux van belonging to Wizchino Engineering (WE) Limited, with registration number ABC 222 AY.

    “An argument over right of way ensued in the process and the soldier came down when the Judiciary driver could not budge. He cocked his AK-47 rifle and shot at the driver,” Effiong Akpan, an eyewitness told The Nation.

    The shooting, which occurred at 1 pm, about Udo Asutan and Eka streets’ intersection, shattered the front windscreen of the bus and the passenger door.

    Sympathisers took the victim to the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), where he is receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

    Other eyewitnesses said sounds of gunshots caused pandemonium in the area.

    Passersby were said to have scampered for cover in nearby buildings and sheds.

    Chairman of the State branch of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) Mr Mbebe Albert, who confirmed the incident, frowned at the action of the soldier, describing it as unprofessional.

    Albert said: “It is an act of irresponsibility and gross abuse of position for a soldier to use the same weapon issued for him to protect the citizenry to turn it against the same people he is paid to protect.”

    He regretted the collapse of the rule of law and lack of respect for human beings by security operatives.

    The union leader said the Judiciary would ensure justice for its member on the matter.

    Albert said the soldier was in the team of security operatives guarding expatriates at WE engineering firm hired by the state government to fix the Etinan-Onna dual carriageway.

    The victim’s son, Itoro, said: “My father lost a lot of blood; he could barely speak because the bullets pierced through his nostrils and part of his eyes.”

    He urged the government and security agencies to tame the “over-zealousness” of men in uniforms.

    Itoro added: “If this goes unpunished, others would also behave the same way.”

  • Outrage as unknown persons demolish Lagos market

    Outrage as unknown persons demolish Lagos market

    More persons and groups continued to voice their anger and outrage at the midnight demolition of the Sabo Market in Ikorodu area of Lagos State. The market, The Nation learnt, is the biggest and most popular market in the entire division. A substantial part of the expansive market was demolished by yet to be identified persons by midnight last Friday.
    The Ikorodu North Development Forum (INDEF) expects an immediate inquest into the circumstances leading to the unfortunate demolition of a market where thousands of the residents of the numerous communities scattered all over Ikorodu division are eking out their daily bread. According to the spokesperson of the forum, Funmi Fawehinmi, “it is sad that unknown persons, accompanied by unknown soldiers, invaded our market by midnight and reduced it ti rubbles.
    “However, we are insisting that it is not enough for government to sympathize with the victims of this dastard act, what is important is that the perpetrators must be brought to book and made to face the full wrath of the law. The losses suffered by poor residents of Ikorodu to this wicked act is too much to be allowed to just go like that,” she said.
    Reacting to the development, the member representing Ikorodu constituency 1 in the state assembly, Hon. Sanai Bolanle Agunbiade, regretted that the perpetrators of the demolition are yet to be identified. He however promised not to relent in his effort to get to the root of the matter. He sympathized with the affected traders and assured them that the state government is interested in the matter.
    “My conversations with the Sole Administrator of Ikorodu Local Government, who has been working round the matter, reveals that the council is yet to know who directed and who enforced the demolition. The Commisioner for Physical Planning has been emphatic that neither his Ministry nor any of the Agencies under the Ministry is responsible for the act.
    However, the State Government has been so concerned and top officials of the Government are currently working with the Commisioner for Physical planing to unravel the seemly cloudy but certainly unfortunate scenario. While empathizing with victims of the demolition, I plead with all and sundry, particularly those affected, to treat all insinuations and suspicions with caution, so that we do not aggravate this very ugly situation, “ the lawmaker said.

  • Outrage over arrest of Ile-Ife riot suspects

    •ARG, Fasanmi, Gani Adams condemn arrests 

    The Afeniefere Renewal Group (ARG) yesterday denounced the police investigation of this month’s mayhem in Ile-Ife, Osun State describing it as one-sided and predetermined.
    Elder statesmen Ayo Fasanmi and Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) leader Gani Adams, also criticised the investigation and lopsided arrests.
    But the police defended their action and warned that security of the country should be paramount.
    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, the group urged the police to carry out a thorough and trustworthy investigation to determine the immediate and remote cause of the crisis.
    It said: “In a violent clash that involved deaths, injuries and arson on all sides, the Nigeria police are saying that Yoruba people are the only culprits. Yoruba people attacked their own people and burnt the homes of their own people.
    “Who would believe this? We contend that the Ife crisis, no matter how much the police tends to make it an ethnic issue will never stand as one.
    “It disturbingly raised the question of partisanship and cast a doubt on the police institution. But, the whole world can see now the joke that the Nigeria police is in the temple of justice and fairness.”
    Famoriyo added that the outcome was not surprising, noting that similar incidents in Southern Kaduna, Benue and Enugu states were bungled.
    “Within a week it found sudden ‘efficiency’ in the Ile-Ife crisis. Where was the police when a similar crisis broke out in Mile 12, Lagos last year during which Yoruba people were killed and their property razed.
    ”Where was the police when a LASTMA official Tunde Bakare was brazenly murdered in the process of enforcing the rule of law?
    “Yoruba people are lovers of peace, but also haters of injustice in any appearance of form and we would not allow our people to be deliberately made a scapegoat of inherent failure of Nigeria’s nationality.”
    But the police insisted that their investigation was thorough and that those paraded were found culpable.
    They also denied that the clash was motivated by ethnic or religious reasons. .
    Police spokesman Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), told our correspondent in Abuja yesterday that the investigation was not one-sided.
    He said: “The Nigeria Police Force under Inspector General of Police  (IGP) Ibrahim Idris is stamping out impunity in totality. Gone are the days when people will take up arms and kill other Nigerians and go free.
    “No matter highly placed any group or association is, they should not whip sentiment into the police investigation.
    “They should be mindful of national security and they should be mindful that every Nigerian has the right to live in any part of the country. National unity is very important. So, any association that goes to fan the ember of disunity should know that they are not doing this nation any good. The era of impunity is over.
    “Anybody or group that has been accused of any offence would be prosecuted and the law will take its course. It is important to also note that associations should follow up matters in the proper manner, they have the right to defend whoever they want to defend and they have the right to seek legal remedy for anybody that is being charged to court.
    “It would be wrong for them to cast aspersions on the police investigation. The investigation was unbiased, thorough and we are going to sustain the tempo.
    “We don’t have any reason whatsoever to be biased in an investigation.”
    Explaining how the police ended the mayhem, he said:  ”Our men were deployed in Osun State and in the first two days of their deployment, they succeeded in arresting the arrow-head and some of the principal suspects and further investigation
    He also explained that “outside those paraded, investigation is ongoing and we are still going to arrest anybody found to be involved”. “We want people to know that we are not one-sided.
    “The investigation was thorough. Amongst those released, there were indigenes and people who are not even from Ile-Ife, probably among the victims and relatives of victims.”
    On whether the clash had any ethnic colouration, Moshood said: “This is no ethnic or religious clash; these are people who have been living together for years. Issues came up and that is why the police are there to ensure that anybody that takes law into his hands will face the full wrath of the law.”
    Moshood added that the Special Police Investigation Team deployed in Ile-Ife were still working, adding that they were under instruction to be firm and civil in their responsibilities.
    ”We also call on the good people of Ile-Ife to allow peace reign and we want people to live in peace wherever we find ourselves,” he added.
    Afenifere Deputy Leader Pa Fasanmi expressed worry over the lopsided investigation by the police, nothing that all the suspects were Yoruba.
    He said: “It is a sensitive matter. We need to find more information about the incident. It is worrisome. I have gone through the list of suspects. They are only Yoruba. We should exercise patience. There is need for more investigation. I will comment later.
    (OPC leader Adams flayed the police for what he described as particularly shoddy investigation.
    He said the arrest, detention and parade of suspects were skewed.
    Adams said the parade of suspects was highly suspicious, wondering why the police were shielding Hausa culprits.
    He added: “We are highly disappointed by the outcome of the investigation. A Vulcaniser was beheaded by Hausa. His head was taken round the streets. That snowballed into the communal crisis.
    The police claimed that they arrested 28 people. The police released five Hausa and paraded 23 Yoruba as suspects. How can crisis break out in Ile-Ife, the cradle of Yoruba, and all the suspects are indigenes? It is injustice. It is highly condemnable.

  • Outrage as police kill two in Bayelsa

    •Our bullets ricocheted, say police

    There was outrage at the weekend in Bayelsa State at the killing of two unidentified persons and a five-year-old by a police squad.

    Members of the squad were reportedly responding to a distress call when the incident happened.

    It was gathered the team from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) responded to a call by residents of Ekeki, in Yenagoa, following activities of cultists.

    The squad reportedly raided the area at 4 pm on Saturday and allegedly started pursuing the cultists and shooting at them.

    In the process, the policemen were said to have killed three people, including a kid, while another person was shot in the ribs.

    But it was learnt the police could not arrest any of the suspected cultists.

    The incident, which led to exchange of gunshots, threw residents of Ekeki and adjoining streets into panic.

    A resident, who spoke in confidence, identified those killed as a 30-year-old Igbo man, popularly called Inyan, as well as a five-year-old girl, Godsgift Odoku.

    The resident said the victims were killed when the police were chasing members of the notorious cult group, the Islanders.

    He said: “The cult boys came into Ekeki community at 2 pm to bury one of their members. They were in deadly mood and went to Yenezue-Epie in anger. But the SARS team chased them away.

    “They regrouped at Ekeki and saw two girls visiting their boyfriends. They collected the girls’ mobile phones. While the girls ran away, their boyfriends called the police.

    “One of the girls came back with men of SARS. While pursuing the cultists to the waterside, the police started shooting. Their shots missed their targets and killed two people.”

    The residents said the SARS team immediately left the scene.

    Another resident of Amarata, who also spoke in confidence, said the state was suffering from indiscriminate arrests and extra-judicial killings, despite improvement in police response to distress calls.

    He said: “I was a victim. I was arrested for going to my house after close of work about 8 pm. I had to pay cash for my freedom at 1 am at “A” Division.”

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), led by Chief Nengi James, urged the inspector-general of Police (IGP) to probe the rising cases of extra-judicial killings.

    James said: “We condemn the increasing rate of police killings in the state and call on the IGP to probe the killings of citizens and the indiscriminate arrests and extortion of the citizenry under the guise of bail.”

    But in a statement in Yenagoa, the state capital, police spokesman Asimin Butswat said the command was ambushed by the armed cultists.

    He said: “On October 22, around 1730 hours (5.30 p.m), policemen from the SARS responded to a distress call about a cult attack at Ekeki village in Yenagoa. The policemen were ambushed by the cultist.

    “Consequently, a police sergeant fired but the bullet ricocheted and injured three persons who were unfortunately not among the cultists.

    “The victims were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC)in Yenagoa for treatment. One of them later died. The sergeant, who fired the shots, has been detained. Investigation is ongoing.” here was outrage at the weekend in Bayelsa State at the killing of two unidentified persons and a five-year-old by a police squad.

    Members of the squad were reportedly responding to a distress call when the incident happened.

    It was gathered the team from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) responded to a call by residents of Ekeki, in Yenagoa, following activities of cultists.

    The squad reportedly raided the area at 4 pm on Saturday and allegedly started pursuing the cultists and shooting at them.

    In the process, the policemen were said to have killed three people, including a kid, while another person was shot in the ribs.

    But it was learnt the police could not arrest any of the suspected cultists.

    The incident, which led to exchange of gunshots, threw residents of Ekeki and adjoining streets into panic.

    A resident, who spoke in confidence, identified those killed as a 30-year-old Igbo man, popularly called Inyan, as well as a five-year-old girl, Godsgift Odoku.

    The resident said the victims were killed when the police were chasing members of the notorious cult group, the Islanders.

    He said: “The cult boys came into Ekeki community at 2 pm to bury one of their members. They were in deadly mood and went to Yenezue-Epie in anger. But the SARS team chased them away.

    “They regrouped at Ekeki and saw two girls visiting their boyfriends. They collected the girls’ mobile phones. While the girls ran away, their boyfriends called the police.

    “One of the girls came back with men of SARS. While pursuing the cultists to the waterside, the police started shooting. Their shots missed their targets and killed two people.”

    The residents said the SARS team immediately left the scene.

    Another resident of Amarata, who also spoke in confidence, said the state was suffering from indiscriminate arrests and extra-judicial killings, despite improvement in police response to distress calls.

    He said: “I was a victim. I was arrested for going to my house after close of work about 8 pm. I had to pay cash for my freedom at 1 am at “A” Division.”

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), led by Chief Nengi James, urged the inspector-general of Police (IGP) to probe the rising cases of extra-judicial killings.

    James said: “We condemn the increasing rate of police killings in the state and call on the IGP to probe the killings of citizens and the indiscriminate arrests and extortion of the citizenry under the guise of bail.”

    But in a statement in Yenagoa, the state capital, police spokesman Asimin Butswat said the command was ambushed by the armed cultists.

    He said: “On October 22, around 1730 hours (5.30 p.m), policemen from the SARS responded to a distress call about a cult attack at Ekeki village in Yenagoa. The policemen were ambushed by the cultist.

    “Consequently, a police sergeant fired but the bullet ricocheted and injured three persons who were unfortunately not among the cultists.

    “The victims were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC)in Yenagoa for treatment. One of them later died. The sergeant, who fired the shots, has been detained. Investigation is ongoing.”