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Tag: Police

  • Police move to stem cases of kidnapping in Plateau

    The Plateau Police Command has decried the increasing cases of kidnapping in the state.

    DSP Terna Tyopev, the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said in a statement on Thursday in Jos, that the command has put in place stringent measures to address the ugly trend.

    He said that information at the command’s disposal indicates that the perpetrators were living within the community; warning that anyone caught also harbouring criminals would be decisively dealt with.

    “The Police Command in Plateau wishes to inform members of the public of the new trend of crime in the State, where criminals go into unsuspecting homes to kidnap innocent people.

    “The command is using this medium to assure the public that everything is being done to track these criminals.

    “It has been established that the kidnappers are not far from the communities.

    “Already we have gotten the profile of some of them through our intelligence network and they will soon meet their waterloo,” Tyopev assured the people.

    The police spokesman said that Mr Isaac Akinmoyede, the state’s Commissioner of Police wants residents to assist the police by giving useful information that could help in apprehending criminal elements in the state.

    Tyopev said the Command arrested one Daniel Useini, a notorious criminal and resident of Rukuba Road, Jos, who had been on the wanted list of the police over alleged criminal conspiracy and armed robbery.

    He said the suspect was arrested on Tuesday with one locally made revolver pistol with ten rounds of live ammunition and fifteen rounds of rubber ammunition.

    According to him, the suspect is under investigation and would soon be charged to court.

    Tyopev called on members of the public to report any suspicious movements around their areas to the security agencies.

  • Police arrest herbalist for killing woman

    A Herbalist, named Femi Emmanuel is currently in the custody of the Kwara state police command for allegedly causing the death of a 45-year-old woman.

    Deceased, a mother of two was named Tawakalitu Mukaila.

    Tawakalitu was said to have died in the house of Emmanuel in Ila-Odo-owa, in Oke-Ero local government area of the state.

    Senior police officer at the Ilofa police station in Oke-Ero, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the incident.

    He said the case file of the suspect, the body of the victim and her niece had been transferred to the police Headquarters in Ilorin for further investigation.

    The source said it took the intervention of the policemen in the command that prevented the suspect from being lynched by an irate mob that had gathered at his house during his arrest.

    Tawakalitu, a trader and resident of Ago-Oru area of Omu-Aran, it was gathered was said to have been accosted by Emmanuel while hawking rice and beans inside Omu-Aran market few months ago.

    During the encounter, it was learnt that Emmanuel claimed that Tawakalitu and her family were under some spell which needed urgent deliverance.

    Emmanuel was said to have corroborated his claim by narrating with exact precision some past negative incident in the family of the deceased, Tawakalitu, who hailed from Isale-Oyo in Oyo State.

    Tawakalitu’s husbsnd, Mukaila, a driver who hailed from Oke-ode in Kwara state had been a victim of a ghastly motor accident some four years ago. The accident rendered him incapacitated making him resort to use of crutches.

    It was gathered that after constant pressure allegedly by fetish means, Emmanuel was said to have met the deceased inside the same market on Thursday March 21, in Omu-Aran and ordered her to his house in Ila-Odo-owa.

    Tawakalitu was said to have immediately left her wares and headed for Emmanuel’s place along with her 17-year-old niece, identified as Azeezat, an SS1 student.

    Mukaila while narrating the circumstances of Tawakalitu’s death said she was an honest, trustworthy and caring woman who had never involved herself in any indecent acts.

    “She was the breadwinner of the family, trustworthy and very caring even after my accident left me incapacitated. Her sudden death this way remained a mystery to me.

    “On that fateful day, few months ago Tawa told me about what one Emmanuel, a spiritual told him while hawking inside Omu-Aran market and I told her to ignore such fake antics from the said spiritualist.

    “But after then my wife will always complain about the pressure from the same Emmanuel and I cannot stop her from doing her legitimate business which she has been using to feed us, more so I’m not that fit.

    “Not until Thursday March 21, that she disappeared with her nice, Azeezat and we became worried and all efforts to locate her by a search party proved abortive.

    Narrating further Mukaila said it was on Sunday morning that Azeezat suddenly appeared looking pale and exhausted and narrated to them what transpired between the deceased and the spiritualist at Ila-Odo-owa.

    “Azeezat told us that she and Tawakalitu slept in the house of the spiritualist on Thursday and Friday nights and that on Saturday morning he gave Tawakalitu a concoction to drink with pap.

    “She said after drinking the concoction Emmanuel gave her (Tawakalitu) a bowl where she vomited some liquid portions which the spiritualist took away.

    “Azeezat said it was after vomiting that Tawakalitu became very weak, exhausted and unconscious and died few minutes later.

    According to Mukaila, Azeezat claimed that after she died Emmanuel bundled her body inside a room, locked them together with a warning that she too would die in the same manner if she dared narrate what happened to anybody.

    “Azeezat told us that it was on Sunday morning, tired and

  • Police arrest kidnapping syndicate, recover AK 47 in Katsina

    The Katsina state Police command on Thursday announced the arrest of a notorious Cattle rustling and kidnapping Syndicate, recovering in the process an AK 47 riffle with breech no. 1977

    A press release which was signed by the Public relations Officer in the state, Superintendent Gambo Isa said the arrest was based on a tip-off

    He listed those arrested to include: Umar Usman alias “ORI”, aged 45, of Garin Dan –Gambo village, Rugu forest, Safana LGA, alleged to have been terrorizing Safana and Batsari LGAs of Katsina state.

    He said’’ In the course of investigation one AK 47 rifle with breech No. 1977 was recovered in his possession. Suspect is assisting the police with useful information that may lead to the arrest of other members of his syndicate’’.

    In a related development, the State Command has also announced the recovery of one Ak 47 rifle breech no.89-11825 with two rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, a fire woodcutter, from one Aliyu Sani, aged 25 of Sabon Layi village, Faskari, who was reported to have been attacked by armed bandits in the forest.

    The release further stated that the Police patrol team was immediately dispatched to the scene and engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel, with the team succeeding in dislodging them and recovering one AK.47 rifle with breech number 89-11825 and two rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition abandoned by the hoodlums.

    Also the Command arrested the duo of Sanusi Sani, aged 30 of Landan-Ketare village, Kankara LGA of Katsina state and one Bello Abdullahi, aged 30 of the same address, who while armed with dangerous weapons, blocked Tashar Kawu – Unguwar Zaki feeder road, Kankara and robbed one Abbas Halilu, aged 25 of Bada’u village, Kankara of his Techno Handset valued at ten thousand naira and another unregistered motorcycle Bajaj valued one hundred and eighty thousand naira (180,000:00K) after beating him to a state of coma.

    The release disclosed that In the course of investigation, the suspects confessed to have sold the motorcycle at the cost of one hundred thousand (N100,000:00K) in Kano state, and also confessed to other series of armed robbery incidents, terrorizing Kankara and its environs.

    The PPPRO assured that all the arrested suspects will be diligently prosecuted in a law court

  • Police arrest 22-yr-old man for beheading his brother in Jigawa over cattle

    The Police Command in Jigawa has arrested a 22-year-old man, Gambo Sa’idu of Badakoshi village in Gwaram Local Government Area, for allegedly beheading his brother during an argument over cattle.

    The command Public Relations Officer, SP Audu Jinjiri, who confirmed the incident to NAN in Dutse, said one Gambo killed his brother Haladu,40, using a cutlass.

    He explained that Gwaram Local Government police station received the report around 2. 45 p.m. on Wednesday in Badakoshi village in Gwaram Local Government Area of the state.

    Jinjiri said the police has visited the scene of the crime.

    “The suspect attacked the deceased in the bush while rearing cattle,” Jinjiri said.

    He explained that the deceased was confirmed dead by a medical doctor in Gwaram General Hospital.

    The spokesman added that preliminary investigation shown that the suspect allegedly killed his brother for possessing more cattle than him.

    “The suspect is also a drug abuser and is suspected to have committed the offence after taking some drug,” the spokesman said.

    He said that the case would be transferred to the State Criminal, Intelligence and Investigation Department in Dutse, for further investigation. 

  • We’ll investigate complaints against Taskforce – Police

    Lagos Police Commissioner Zubairu Muazu on Wednesday assured that allegations of corruption, extortion against policemen attached to the state’s Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation will be investigated.

    He stated this while responding to questions from reporters after his brief on recent arrests recorded.

    Acknowledging that he had also received such complaints about the agency, Muazu said he had invited the Taskforce Chairman Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) for a meeting.

    Noting that the Taskforce was a state government agency despite having police components in it, Muazu assured that a positive result will come out of the meeting.

    “I have recently received complaints about the operations of the Taskforce and I want to assure you that this afternoon, we are hosting the Commander of the Taskforce here. We are going to have a meeting with him.

    “Though there are police officers in the Taskforce, we should know that it is an outfit created by the state government and so, we must collaborate with the Commander in handling any issue about officers there. I assure you that something positive will come out from today’s meeting,” he said.

    On armed gangs terrorising Amukoko, the Commissioner said he received the report and immediately took charge of the situation by directing the Area Commander and Divisional Police Officer to move in their men there.

    “Our police officers moved in there and made sure peace was restored to the area. We have not gotten report from the DPO yet, I will let you know how many arrests were made as soon as we get it.

    “What the command is doing is not different from the general strategy we have taken against the operation of cultists in the whole state. We have identified areas in the state where these cult activities are prevalent and we have mounted an operation with Area Commanders and the DPOs to ensure that these activities are totally wiped off.”

    Confirming the dismissal of the drunk policeman who shot a school girl at Ikorodu, Muazu said he had been handed over to the legal team for prosecution.

    He said the command will not tolerate cases of professional misconduct of policemen, urging residents to come forward with information on any cop found drinking at beer parlours or any other unethical behaviour.

    “I want to call on you to assist us. Where you see this misbehaviour, please let us know, we are here for you and with your cooperation we can sanitise those around us. If you see any please let us know, we are always here to listen to you, and always ready to take those police officers through orderly room procedures and show them the way out of the police force.”

  • Police arrest soldier for allegedly stealing phones

    The police in Lagos have arrested a soldier, Lance Corporal Shedrack Christopher for allegedly stealing two mobile phones at a hotel in Ijanikin.

    Christopher was arrested on March 19, around 6am at Express View Hotel following complaints from the management of the facility on the alleged theft.

    Parading the suspect Wednesday, Police Commissioner Zubairu Muazu said he stole two mobile phones worth N86,000 from the bar and hotel, adding that the phones, an axe, a cutlass and knife were recovered from the suspect.

    “We also recovered Nigerian Army Warrant Card, a Honda accord car with registration number Lagos SMK846 and army uniform. He confessed to have deserted from the Nigerian Army in 2017 at Maiduguri that he participated in killings at Igando Lagos and Edo State in 2017 after deserting the army. We have written the military to verify his claims and are awaiting response on.”

    But Christopher denied he was a dismissed soldier, refuting police claim that he confessed to being a cultist.

    The suspect also denied stealing the phones, insisting that he only took them from the bar where he saw them for safekeeping.

    “I did not steal the phones. I went to the hotel to meet my friend who lodged there. I got into the hotel around 11pm and as I was walking in, I saw two phones at the bar. There was no one there and so, I took the phones and kept them in case the owners looked for them.

    “I did not steal the phones. My plan was to return them once anyone started looking for them. I am still a soldier. I have not been dismissed and I am not a cultist. I never admitted to killing anyone.

    “The dagger was what I used in Maiduguri. I collected the cutlass from a group of boys who were fighting and put it inside my car. I collected the axe from hoodlums under the Mile Two Bridge.

    “The police people at Ijanikin Division tortured me. They said they’ll use the knife to cut my ear. They beat me but still I did not admit to any of those things they are claiming.”

    The suspect whose Driver’s license had another name from his army identity card, said he changed his name to Shedrack John when he joined the military.

    He said he stayed back in Lagos and was engaged in frozen turkey smuggling from Benin Republic into Lagos in order to feed his family.

    Similarly, the police arrested 45-year-old vigilante member, Johnson Abolo for allegedly impersonating the police and possessing prohibited firearms.

    Abolo was said to have had in his possession, rifles and police vest, which he used to fleece residents of Ijanikin.

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    According to the Commissioner, the suspect belonged to a three-man armed robbery gang, two of who fled when detectives swooped on them.

    “Three guns namely, one pump action rifle, one locally made rifle and one English rifle were recovered from him. Effort is on to arrest the fleeing members,” said Muazu.

    However, Abolo said he was arrested with just one if the rifles claiming that the other two were abandoned by his colleagues who fled.

    He claimed he was a member of the National Community Policing group and they were employed by the community to provide security against armed robbers.

    The suspect claimed his group was trained by the police and that whenever they arrested criminals, they usually handed same to the police.

    Asked why he was in possession of firearms, Abolo said they used the rifles to guard the community and protect themselves from armed robbers.

    “The operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) came and arrested us where we were on duty.
    However the two of my colleagues escaped and I was the only one brought here. It was the two that own the two rifles while I own only one.

    “I am married with two children and I am from Isoko in Delta State.

    “Police saw us on duty and arrested me while two of my colleagues ran away while we were at an estate in Ijanikin. I don’t remember the name of the estate. I am paid N20, 000 monthly. I am not an armed robber and I didn’t impersonate police.”

  • Gunmen abduct policeman, others in Edo

    A police officer simply identified as DSP Godwin and four other persons have been abducted by gunmen at Ubiaja, headquarters of Esan South East local government area.

    DSP Godwin was travelling to Asaba when the vehicle he was travelling in was stopped by the gunmen who were on the road apparently for kidnapping.

    Police sources said DSP Godwin and others were taken into the bush.

    Read Also: Gunmen abduct former Jalingo NBA Chairman

    The source said a Pastor who was travelled along the same route was shot and is receiving treatment in a hospital.

    It was gathered that the police have mobilised tactical team to forest reserves around the Ewatto, Ubiaja, Okhuessan with the view to rescuing their colleague.

    Edo Police spokesman, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the incident and said good news would soon emerge from the tactical team work in the forest.

    He added the Command is doing something to locate the tactical team at Ubiaja division.

  • Gunmen abduct former Jalingo NBA Chairman

    Unknown gunmen in the early hours of Wednesday abducted the immediate past Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Jalingo branch, Mr Joel Ubandoma.

    Ubandoma was picked in his house in Mayo-Dassa area of Jalingo at about 1:00am on Wednesday, a family source told newsmen in Jalingo.

    Confirming the development, the Publicity Secretary of NBA in the branch, Mr Boniface Iorkumbur, said the association received the news of the abduction with shock and prayed for his quick release.

    “We woke up this morning with the devastating news of the abduction of our learned colleague, Ubandoma Esq, the immediate past Chairman of our branch.

    “He was reportedly kidnapped last night at his house in Mayo- Dassa area of Jalingo.

    “In the interim, we urge our members to pray for his immediate and unconditional safe release from his captors.

    “We also urge the security agencies to intensify efforts to ensure his immediate release,” he said.

    ASP David Misal, Taraba, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, promised to provide more information regarding the incident and the efforts by the police to rescue the victim.

    At the time of filing this report, a family source said the kidnappers had yet to establish contact with the family.

  • Teenager raped to death in Enugu

    A teenage girl, Ngozi Eze, has been allegedly raped to death by unknown persons at Imufu community, Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.

    The deceased’s body was found in a bush behind Community Secondary School, Imufu.

    She had gone for her JAMB lessons in preparation for the forthcoming UTME.

    The body was found several hours after her family declared her missing.

    The deceased’s father, Jonathan Eze, had earlier dropped her with his motorbike at the lesson centre.

    Eze told the crowd that gathered in the bush where his daughter’s corpse was found that he took her on his motorcycle to the Township School, Ogrute, Enugu Ezike, where she went for JAMB lessons in the evening of Tuesday.

    According to him, he went back later to pick her only to be informed that somebody had given her a lift.

    “I left Township School, Ogrute and went home straight, hoping to see her but she wasn’t there. We waited till 8 pm and started looking for her.

    “She was not the type that normally socialise. We did not sleep as her telephone number was switched off. It was only this morning (Wednesday) that we got information that her corpse was found here.

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    “She was to enter the university last year when she completed her secondary education but we prevailed on her to exercise patience for her elder brother to graduate, because we cannot afford to train two persons in the university.

    ‘’Since then, she has been working hard to gain admission this year, but this is what has now happened.”

    Rev Father Johnson Nwanonenyi, the parish priest of the area, who said a short prayer for the repose of her soul at the scene, amid wailing and sobbing by sympathisers, shortly before a team of police detectives took the body away for further investigations, said that human beings would always reap the bad seeds they sowed while on earth.

    “The perpetrators of this heinous crime will be exposed. God will not allow His creation to be humiliated this way, without punishing them adequately,” the priest said.

    The police who arrived the scene said a close observation of her corpse showed lacerations around her neck and ankles, suggesting she must have been strangled by her rapists.

    Her books and writing materials, handkerchief and shreds of her clothings were scattered around the scene.

    Spokesman of Enugu state command of the Nigeria police, Superintendent Ebere Amaraizu said they were yet to receive full report of the incident.

  • Police confirm release of abducted cleric, others in Katsina

    The Police in Katsina State have confirmed the release of the Kano-based cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Suleiman and five other persons, abducted in Katsina State 12 days ago.

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, Gambo Isa, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Katsina.

    He disclosed that Suleiman, a renowned Qur’anic reciter, and other victims, were released at about 4 a.m. on Wednesday.

    Read Also: Why police remain ineffective, by IGP

    Isa said that the victims communicated to their relatives and were later evacuated by the police and reunited with their families.

    The police spokesman said that no ransom was paid to the kidnappers before their release.

    It would be recalled that the cleric and other victims were kidnapped 12 days ago along Sheme to Kankara road, on their way back to Kano State, after attending a religious activity in Kebbi State.