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Tag: Police Corporal

  • Police corporal, 200-level student arrested for allegedly leading cultists in Rivers

    Police corporal, 200-level student arrested for allegedly leading cultists in Rivers

    A police corporal attached to the Elimgbu Division, Onukwue Godswill, and a 200-level student of Biomedical Technology, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Ifeanyi Israel, have been arrested by the police for allegedly leading cult-related activities in the state.

    A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said the suspects were apprehended during the activities marking the signing out of final-year students at UNIPORT.

    Iringe-Koko said the internal security team at the school confronted the police corporal and the student after discovering that they were on campus to lead a potential clash with rival cultists

    “In a swift response, Operatives of the Command attached to the Anti-Cultism Unit (ACU) were dispatched to the scene and the suspects were arrested,” she said.

    She added that a thorough search of the suspects led to the recovery of two locally made pistols, four rounds of live cartridges, two rounds of 9mm live ammunition and one small axe.

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    She disclosed that a subsequent search of the house of the suspected cult leader, Cpl Onwukwe by the operatives also led to the recovery of one locally made pistol and two machetes.

    Iringe-Koko said: “The suspects and exhibits are currently in police custody. An in-depth investigation has been launched to determine the full extent of the suspect’s involvement in cultism and other related activities.

    “The police command is working diligently to unravel any potential networks or accomplices and bring all perpetrators to face the full weight of the law.

    “The Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, CP Olugbenga A. Adepoju, reaffirms the Command’s unrelenting commitment to maintaining peace and security in the State, stating that there will be no hiding place for criminals in the State.

    “He urges the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the nearest Police Station or other Security agencies, emphasizing that collaborative efforts will help build a safer and more secure state for all”.

  • Retired general vs retired police corporal

    Retired general vs retired police corporal

     It was the solid logic of a retired general versus the frothing (il)logic of a retired police officer! 

    That is the latest macabre drama coming out of Rivers, the last dying kick — it appears — of Ijaw exceptionalism or supremacism: the wide and merry way that threw suspended Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, into power Siberia for six months.

    With the late Chief Edwin Clark gone, it would appear Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, sitting senator for Beyelsa West, was fancying himself some Clark-wannabe on Rivers, but this time from Bayelsa, opposed to Clark from Delta, before the Rivers National Assembly caucus starkly shut him down.  Enter: retired Navy general vs retired Police constable!

    Clearly playing to the gallery, Senator Dickson wondered why President Bola Tinubu should not have removed Rivers Emergency Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (rtd), and restored Fubara, yet he gave a long speech to the combined National Assembly.

    But in his over-reach, he waxed hyperbolic, arguing crass illogically too, that since Ibas the Rivers Administrator was a retired Navy officer, Rivers was under military rule.  That was cheap and disingenious  — and also false.

    But that claim provided an instant nemesis that brought Dickson back to his humble start — and the Rivers National Assembly caucus rubbed it in.

    That caucus riposted that though Dickson was a retired police corporal, he is a senator today, after being a two-term governor, does it then mean that he’s still a police corporal — a post he retired from eons ago — and not distinguished senator of the Federal Republic, after being His Excellency, Governor of Bayelsa State?  Case closed!

    Why a senator would mouth pure falsehood to make a political point in crass deceit beats any logical mind hollow.  How could Dickson have said Rivers in under military rule?  What deliberate fib, built on sinking sand of illogic?

    But again, the more fundamental question: what’s Dickson’s especial interest in Rivers, being from Bayelsa?  Anything beyond because Fubara is Ijaw, he must be right and others must be wrong?

    It was the same dead — lack of — reasoning that the late Edwin Clark pushed that led Fubara astray, landed him in Emergency ditch and sent him now eating crow!

    These interlopers should keep off Rivers case.  Let the folks there work on honourable reconciliation which should earn Fabara a ticket back to his high office.  Enough is enough of wailing more than the bereaved.

    But the Rivers folks should rise to the occasion too.  It’s when you leave your matter to fester that outsiders take over.  The Nyesom Wike bloc should take especial note.

  • Court remands suspected killer of police corporal

    A Senior Magistrates’ Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ordered the remand in prison custody of 23-year-old Ndifreke Jonah, for alleged murder of a police corporal, and armed robbery.

    Ndifreke and others at large allegedly shot dead Cpl. Godknows Iworima at an hotel, before snatching N4,000 from another victim.

    A court document obtained by our reporters showed that the incident occurred on March 7, 2018 at Varlin Hotel, Rumueke Mgbuoba, Port Harcourt.

    Iworima was reportedly shot on the left side of his chest by Ndifreke’s gang, who were armed with guns, including a locally made revolver pistol. He died from the gunshot wound.

    Read also: Court orders service of processes on Magu over detention of lawyer, ex-Senator

    The accused was also alleged to have dispossessed Obinna Irondi of N4,000.

    The suspect was charged with a three-count charge of murder and armed robbery, but the charges were not read to him; hence he did not take any plea.

    Magistrate Sunday Abel said the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter and ordered that Ndifreke’s case file be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice.

    He said the accused should be remanded in prison custody, and adjourned the case till May 2.

     

  • Gunmen kill policeman accompanying election results

    A police corporal identified as Sunday Idoko was shot dead by gunmen while escorting election results from Ipokia to the Ilaro collation centre in Ogun State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the incident happened around 8pm on Sunday in Eredo area of Yewa South Local Government.

    The gunmen were said to have laid ambush at Eredo and began shooting sporadically at the vehicle conveying the election results and other materials.

    The results of the House of Representatives for Ipokia/Yewa South Federal Constituency seat were being taken to Oronna Hall in Ilaro.

    Police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed the incident.

    He said Police Commissioner Ahmed Iliyasu had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Wale Abass, to begin investigation into the matter.

    Abimbola, who said the hoodlums would be brought to book, however, assured that the election results were intact.

    “The unfortunate incident happened on Sunday evening when he was escorting election results to Ilaro. The hoodlums laid ambush for the vehicle conveying the results.

    “We are on the trail of the hoodlums. We will arrest them,” he added.

  • Abia killer police corporal dismissed

    •Twenty-nine suspects paraded 

    Police Corporal Iroh Orji, who killed two officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has been dismissed.

    The Abia State Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, stated this yesterday while parading 29 suspected criminals in Umuahia.

    Oyebade, who described Orji’s action as inimical to the force’ rules, said the command, and the police hierarchy, condemned it.

    He said: “The command has put the incident, which wanted to bring disaffection between it and its sister-security agencies, behind it.

    “All security agencies in the state have been working in synergy with each other and this ugly incident is capable of creating tension between us.”

    Orji allegedly shot the officials after a fight broke out between them. The FRSC officials hit the vehicle the wife of speaker of the House of Assembly was travelling in.

    But the Speaker, Chikwendu Kalu, denied ordering his police orderly to shoot the deceased.

    On the paraded suspects, Oyebade said Peter Okorie Nwaigwe of Afam road, Oyigbo, Rivers State, a commercial driver, reported that his passengers were robbed at gun point by four men at Isialangwa North, on the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway.

    He said one of the suspects, Madubuchi Ekeleme of Ubakala in Umuahia South was, gripped by one of the passengers while others fled.

    “His arrest led the police to their hideout at Ubakala, where three other – Bright Iroakazi, Chizoba Ede and Adaugo Onuoha – were arrested.

    Oyebade said his men also rescued Onyemaechi Mbamaonyeukwu Ijeoma, a hotelier, who was abducted, while the suspected kidnappers, who escaped with bullet wounds, was later found dead.

    The police boss said the dead suspect, identified as Charles Ndubusis Nwaichi of Eziudo, Ezinihite Mbaise, Imo State, was traced to the Abia State Teaching Hospital, Aba, where he was being treated. He died in the hospital.

  • Police Corporal killed, nine wounded in Boko Haram ambush

    One Police Corporal has been shot dead in a fierce battle between unknown gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram terrorists in Borno state.

    A reliable security source inform that the gunmen ambushed a Police escorts conveying a suspect from Biu Police Area Command to the State CID Maiduguri when the terrorists opened fire on them at Kubuwa village in Damboa Local Government killing one Corporal and nine others wounded.

    The source added that among the nine police personnel’s wounded is the Biu Area Commander who has been taken to Damboa General Hospital.

    Just last week, the insurgents attacked travelers on that same road almost at that spot and carted away with trucks of food.

     

  • How my informant lured me into robbery—Police corporal

    How my informant lured me into robbery—Police corporal

    A robbery gang allegedly led by a police corporal has been smashed by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Response Squad (IRS) ‎in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    According to police sources, the gang is said to specialise in car snatching.

    The alleged leader of the gang, Corporal Christ Oboko, who is said to be serving at C4I in Rivers State, was arrested together with a member of the gang identified as Johnpaul Amani.

    In his confession, 27-year-old Amani, an indigene of Bayelsa State, said: “I was a commercial bus driver before I went into robbery, and I started by snatching cars. One of my friends, Kelvin, who we normally call Side-Mirror, a fellow commercial bus driver, led me into my first gang, led by one Okute from Edo State.

    “Side-Mirror and I were driving other people’s vehicles but he was looking better and was spending more money than me.  When my wife became pregnant and I needed money to arrange for her delivery but things were not working well for me. I approached Side-Mirror for assistance and he revealed that driving was not the only job he was doing.

    “He took me to his boss, one Okute, at Diobu area of Port Harcourt. And since I was a good driver, I was accepted into the gang. When I joined them, I discovered that Okute has several boys working for him. On the day I went there, I saw Ifeanyi, Onu, Ama-Boy, Patoranki, Pikin and others I could not identify.

    “Whenever my boss wanted to go for an operation, he would come to our base at Market Junction in Port Harcourt and pick anyone he wanted to work with. I went to five operations with him.

    “In our first operation, we stole a Toyota Camry at Market Junction. My boss saw the car where it was parked and liked it. He stole it at night, took it to Owerri and gave it to one Kabiru, a soldier.

    “In my second operation, we stole five cars in one night. Three of us went for the operation and we first stole a white Toyota Corolla from Elekoyo Estate, Port Harcourt.  “We also stole two Nissan Sunny cars from Artillery area of Port Harcourt. We then stole two Toyota Camry cars from D-Line area of Port Harcourt. We parked all the cars at Diobu and the next day, we called Ifeanyi and an ex-policeman to help drive the cars to Owerri.

    “We gave all the vehicle to Kabiru, who paid N500,000 for the two Camry cars while Okute alone went to collect the balance. He gave me N60, 000 as my share. Side-Mirror and I became angry with Okute. “Two weeks later, he came to Port Harcourt with a Totota Corrolla and asked us to watch over it, but Side-Mirror made away with it and told him to give him the balance of the five cars we took to Owerri. He lied that Kabiru had not paid him.

    “One week after Side-Mirror took the car, I leant that Okute went to a hotel where Side-Mirror kept the car and stole it.  Side-Mirror called me that he parked the car in a hotel and went to drink. But when he returned, he could not find the car.

    “When I called Okute, he told me that the car was with him and he was not going to work with us again because we did not trust him.

    “Two of my friends, who kidnapped a former local government chairman in Bayelsa State brought two of the man’s cars to me to sell in Port Harcourt. When I was checking the cars at Nembe Waterside, Coporal Oboko and one of his colleagues confronted us and took the cars away. But he didn’t take the cars to the police station; he converted the cars to his own use.

    “Three months after, he saw me on the road and asked me to forgive him, saying that he would like me to work with him. He took me to his boss at C4I and he told him that I was highly resourceful and could give them information about armed robbers operating within Rivers State.  His boss promised to reward me handsomely if I assisted them and I accepted.

    “I gave them information that led to the arrest of big armed robbers and they recovered assorted arms and ammunition. I was rewarded as promised, but after some months, Corporal Oboko called me and said that the car he took from him was giving him trouble and he wanted me to get him a new car.

    “I told him that I had stopped stealing cars since I started working with them, but he insisted and said that he would follow me to wherever I wanted to steal the car to ensure that I was successful.

    “We both went out on the first operation and we stole a Honda End of Discursion car. He gave his father the old car and started using the new one. Seeing how easy the operation went, he said that we should go for more robberies. He also established contact with a stolen vehicle receiver in Owerri and we started stealing cars from the parks around Port Harcourt at night.

    “We stole several cars and took them to the receiver in Owerri and shared the proceeds equally. We were close to the point that whenever I was arrested, my people would call him and he would come to the police station and tell them that I am his boy, and the policemen would release me.

    “At a point, Oboko said he was tired of operating in the dead of the night and he wanted to start using guns to snatch cars whenever he needed them. I thought he was joking. But    few days after he said so, he brought two pistols.

    “We did several jobs with them around Port Harcourt, but at a point, Oboko started cheating me. After snatching a car, he would take it to the receiver, sell it and refused to give me my share. He also stopped carrying me along and was working with some other boys he knew through me.

    “Not long after then, I was arrested and I led the police to apprehend him.”

    The police corporal, Oboko, confessed to snatching eight vehicles and admitted selling them to one Victor who is based in Owerri. The 35-year-old native of Onitchaigbo lamented that it was his informant that lured him into crime.

    He said: “I am married with children and I reside in the Police Barracks on Iche Street, Borokiri, Port Harcourt. I joined the Nigeria Police Force in April 2003 and I have served at Borokiri Police Division, from there I went to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) before joining C4I.

    “I started car snatching in 2015 when I met Amadi. He was our informant and he lured me into robbery. It all started when Amadi brought two vehicles and gave them to one Victor Nwogu to sell. I met them doing the negotiation and from there, I offered to join them.

    I snatched a Toyota Camry at D-Line area of Port Harcourt and we took the car to Victor in Owerri. I sold the car to victor for N200,000. We were three and I took N70,000 and gave Amandi and Kelvin the balance to share.

    “On the second operation, the three of us went for the job at D-Line and we stole three Camry cars from the park. We sold the vehicles to Victor in Owerri and he paid us N360, 000. I got N150, 000 as my share.   “We also snatched a Toyota Corolla from Elelenwo area with a gun and I took the car to victor and he paid N250,000. I took N80,000 as my share and gave the rest to Amadi and Kelvin to share. We also snatched a Toyota Spider at GRA at gun point and we parked it inside Borokiri. But before we arrived in the morning, the car had been removed.

    “I was always going to release them whenever they were arrested by the police, and I don’t know what came over me.  I am the resident Pastor of Battle Axe Assembly Church in Chuba Allo area of Port Harcourt and I have a calling in the work of God. I do not know what made me to join Amadi in his evil business,” he lamented.

  • Police corporal sacked for murder

    Police corporal sacked for murder

    A Police corporal, Christopher Ali, has been dismissed from service for “accidentally” killing two nursing mothers at a funeral in Fugar, headquarters of Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo State.

    His dismissal followed an Orderly Room trial by the state police command, which found him culpable.

    Police spokesman Stephen Onwochei, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), told reporters in Benin, the state capital, that of the two policemen arrested, one of them was found wanting.

    Onwochei said: “The policeman has been tried in the Orderly Room. He is a corporal. As I speak with you, he has been dismissed.

    “Hopefully, by next week (this week), he will appear in court. Police officers should be guided by Force Order 237, which spells out the use of arms, among officers.”

    Two nursing mothers were killed at a funeral by a stray bullet at Ivhiokhile Quarters in Fugar.

    A two-month-old baby strapped to the back of one of the victims was almost hit by the bullet.

     

     

  • Police Corporal jailed six years for manslaughter

    Police Corporal jailed six years for manslaughter

    A Trigger-happy policeman, Corporal Abang Okon, was yesterday sentenced to six years imprisonment by an Ikeja High Court in Lagos.

    Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya found Okon guilty for the unlawful killing of Olalekan Ajayi.

    Okon was convicted after he pleaded guilty to the one-count charge.

    Okon was arraign before Justice Ogunsanya on April 1 for firing the shot that killed Olalekan.

    The incident, according to the prosecutor, Adebayo Haroun, occured at the Ladega area of Ikorodu, Lagos.

    The defendant, who initially pleaded not guilty, changed it to guilty following a plea bargain with the prosecution.

    yesterday, Haroun told the court that the defendant has changed his plea.

    He urged the court to approve the guilt plea as involuntary manslaughter.

    In his judgment, Justice Ogunsanya adopted a part of the plea bargain, saying:

    “The defendant having shown remorse for his actions on August 28, 2013 along Ladega Junction, Ikorodu, Lagos by negligently firing a bullet at one Olalekan Ajayi which resulted in his death hereby pleads guilty to the offence of involuntary manslaughter contrary to section 222 of the criminal law.

    “The defendant is hereby sentenced to six years imprisonment to take effect from the date of his remand in prison custody.”

    The judge turned down other parts of the plea bargain which recommended that the defendant should serve a six-hour community service thruough environmental sanitation as part of his punishment.

    Justice Ogunsanya also turned down the part which recommended that the defendant should be responsible for paying the tuition fees of one of the deceased’s children from primary to secondary school.