The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • 12 injured in Ashipa/Ipetumodu clash

    12 injured in Ashipa/Ipetumodu clash

    No fewer than twelve persons have been injured in a violent communal clash between Ipetumodu and Ashipa in Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State.

    Trouble reportedly started on Wednesday when youths of the two communities clashed at an inter house sport competition held of the Community High School, Ipetumodu, a few meters from Ashipa.

    Dangerous weapons like cutlasses, clubs, knives, broken bottles, axes were allegedly used by the youths before the police came to disperse them and bring the situation under control.

    It was gathered that by Thursday night the Ashipa youths allegedly set the Akinola Market in Ipetumodu on fire and simultaneously shooting sporadically into the air to scare the residents of Ipetumodu.

    An Ipetumodu chief, Adedeji Asalu, accused the Ashipa of initiating the clash.

    But a community leader in Ashipa, Chief Julius Ogerinde, said it was not true that the clash was started by the youths of Ashpa

    According to him, the people of Ipetumodu was not happy because result of the white paper released by the government on the ownership of the land where the Akinola market was contructed was not in their favour.

    Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, Folasade Odoro, said normalcy jas returned to the two communities.

     

  • Police recover N1.3 million cash, arrest robbers in Bayelsa

    Police recover N1.3 million cash, arrest robbers in Bayelsa

    The Bayelsa Police Command said on Friday that it recovered  N1.3 million cash from robbers following a distress call by members of the public in Opolo area of Yenagoa.

    Mr Asinim Butswat, a Deputy Superintendent of  Police (DSP) and  Public Relations Officer of the command, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the suspects who were arrested in the act operated with a tricycle for an easy escape.

    “On the 30 March 2017, at about 1500hrs, one Wero Paul 32 and Innocent Uche 34, broke the window of a Nissan Xterra at Market Square Premises Opolo.

    “They stole about N1.3 million belonging to one Pastor Andy Sese,” he said.

    Butswat said that the Police responded swiftly and arrested the thieves.

    “The sum of N1.3 million and their get-away tricycle with REG NO. ASK 540 QO  were recovered,” he said.

    “Investigation is ongoing,” the Police Spokesman said.

  • Headmaster gets 14 years jail term for raping two pupils

    Headmaster gets 14 years jail term for raping two pupils

    A Kano state High Court sitting at Miller Friday sentenced a private school headmaster, Ahmed Tarsus Bello to 14 years imprisonment for having canal knowledge of two of his pupils.

    The convict, who resides at House no 223 Kabuga quarters, Kano, while serving as the headmaster of De Emirates Academy lured two of his pupils,  Hanifa Nasir, and Zaharau Idris, 6 and 7 years-old respectively into his office.

    According to the charge sheet, the convict, sometimes around September 2015 and February 2016 after succeeding in luring his victims into his office proceeded to insert his finger into their virginal.

    Kano state, principal counsel, Barrister Bashir Sale Esq informed the court that, the convict  acted in manner tantamount to  gross indecency, noting that, the act  committed by Bello, contravene the provisions of section 285 of the Penal Code Law of Kano state as amended in 1991.

    The prosecution counsel summoned seven witnesses, who testified against the convict, before the court.

    According to the charge sheet, the devilish act was unveiled, when one of the victims reported   to her mother, what had transpired between her and the headmaster, the mother of the victim, in turn reported the matter to the authorities, the court heard.

    Dr I A . Oricha attached to Muritala Muhammad specialist Hospital, Kano, who examined the defiled pupils, reported that their hymen were ruptured.

    Inspector Maryam Nurudeen of the Sexual and Other Related Offences of the Nigeria Police force told the court that, she recorded the statement of the convict, adding that, she led the team of police officers assigned to investigate the matter.

    The convict denied all the allegations levied against him, before the court.

    Justice Nasiru Saminu while delivering his verdict, pronounced the accuse guilty as charged.

    The court ordered Bello to proceed to serve 14 years in jail without an option of fine.

    The court further ordered, the convict to pay N50,000 as compensation to each of the victims, further ordering, Bello to pay N50,000 fine to the state, failure to comply, he should  proceed to serve another  six months in jail,  the court held.

     

  • Police nab suspected killer of chief imam

    Men of the Edo State Police Command have arrested the suspected killer of the Chief Imam of Egbeta Mosque in Ovia North East Local Government, Mallam Saka Afolabi.

    He was killed on March 4 in the presence of his three children by three gunmen while on his way to farm.

    The suspected killer is Ajetena Adebayo Moruf.

    Parading the suspect yesterday, Police Commissioner Haliru Gwandu said: “We combed five states before the suspect was arrested.”

    He said two other suspects were at large.

    Gwandu urged criminals to change.

    He said: “The principal suspect in the killing of the chief imam of Egbeta Mosque has been arrested. Three people killed the cleric. Others are on the run. The deceased’s sons witnessed the killing.

    “After the incident, the suspect went into hiding. We combed more than five states before we nabbed him. We trailed him to Shagamu in Ogun State.”

    The deceased’s son, Wahid, said his father and farmers had a dispute with the suspect since 2014.

    He alleged he saw the suspect and two others with guns on a motorcycle on his way to farm.

    Wahid said his three brothers, who were with their father at the time of the killing, ran away.

    The suspect, however, denied involvement in the killing of the chief imam.

    He urged the police to check his call logs to determine where he was on the day of the killing.

  • Police parade former DSS personnel for ‘kidnapping, robbery’

    Police parade former DSS personnel for ‘kidnapping, robbery’

    The police in Abuja yesterday paraded a former personnel of the Department of State Service (DSS), and ten others, for alleged kidnapping and robbery.

    The suspects were arrested after they kidnapped Managing Director of Nigeria Paper Mills, Jebba and Chairman, Gateway Insurance, Alhaji Isa Salami.

    The victim was rescued from the kidnappers’ hideout, a two-bedroom apartment in the remote side of Suleja, Niger State.

    Those paraded are Kelvin Emeka, Ndubushi Prince Uzor, Abdulraheed Maigari, Sunday Travnor, Zayor Alfred, Avah Joseph, Gabriel Friday, Rajab Baba Ishiaka, Ali Sani, Nuhu Sule and Mohammed Abubakar.

    Items recovered from them included one AK 47 rifle, three AK 47 magazines, 90 rounds of 7.62 live ammunition, two pistols, 14 rounds of 9mm live ammunition and two bedroom flats at different locations in Suleja.

    The police said the former DSS personnel was dismissed for his alleged involvement in a N310 million foreign exchange scandal, belonging to the Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Force spokesman Jimoh Moshood said operatives of IGP’s Intelligence Response team, together with the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of FCT Police Command, swung into action following Salami’s kidnap.

    “Kelvin Eemeka, 28, is the overall gang leader. He was earlier charged to Gwagwalada High Court in October 2016, with three others, for kidnapping and robbery. They were released in August, less than eight weeks after their arraignment.

    “Ndubisi Prince Ozor, the second-in-command, was also charged for robbery in November 2016 and was released in January.

    “Abdulrasheed Maigari, 35, native of Donga council in Taraba State, a 2006 Political Science graduate of Bayero University, Kano,  recruited into DSS as a Graduate Officer, dismissed and charged to court for stealing  N310 million with some dismissed Army officers in Abuja.

    “He was also released and he immediately joined the gang. He rose to become the coordinator and rented the two houses where victims are kept,” Moshood said.

    Others paraded are Sunday Tyavnor, the arms dealer who sold the AK 47 Rifle for N470,000 and the two pistols for N60,000 each. He was arrested in Nasarawa State.

    “Mohammed Abubakar, 21, native of Mokwa council in Niger State, supplier of pre-registered sim cards to the kidnappers”.

    Other members of the gang were guards responsible for guarding and securing victims from escaping.

    Moshood said the suspects will be prosecuted after investigation.

  • Gunshots heard near U.S. Capitol Hill: police

    Gunshots were heard near the U.S. Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning after a person tried to ram a police cruiser, Capitol police said.

    A police spokeswoman said the incident, which had happened between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. local time (1330-1400 GMT), appeared to be criminal, not a terrorist act.

    The driver then leaped from the car and escaped on foot before being taken into police custody.

    The spokesperson said that no one was struck by the bullets.

    It was not immediately clear who fired the shots.

    One picture spread on Twitter shows police officers hunched over something on the ground with more police rushing to join them.

    Twitter user Scott Ferson said: “Cops ran to base of hill. Sounded like three shots fired.”

    The Capitol Hill and nearby U.S. Botanic Garden have been on lockdown following the incident.

    NAN reports that authorities temporarily closed roads Tuesday near the White House after the discovery of a “suspicious package” outside the grounds of the presidential residence.

    The U.S. Secret Service, which protects the president, his family and other top officials and visiting dignitaries, said that officers had established a perimeter, and moved pedestrians outside the White House a safe distance away, as a precaution.

    The package appeared to have been found on the north side of the grounds, with some television crews moved off the White House north lawn.

    NAN also recalls that on March 11, Jonathan Tran, 26, scaled an outer-perimeter fence on the White House complex on Friday night.

    Tran climbed a White House fence on Friday night and gained access to the complex’s south grounds before being arrested by the Secret Service.

    The service said the incident occurred at about 11:38 p.m.

    The intruder was carrying a backpack and purportedly got close to the White House’s south portico residence entrance, near the Washington Monument.

    No hazardous material was found inside the backpack, and a subsequent search of the complex grounds resulted in “nothing of concern to security operations,” the Secret Service said.

    The agency also said that the suspect had no “previous history” with the agency.

    Tran, who reportedly had a California driver’s license, told Secret Service officers that he was at the White House to see Trump.

    “No, I am a friend of the President. I have an appointment,” the suspect said when approached by an officer, according to a report released on Saturday by the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.

    Asked how he got there, the suspect told officers: “I jumped the fence”.

  • Notorious phone thief jailed

    Notorious phone thief jailed

    A Grade 1 Area Court in Karu, Abuja, on Wednesday sentenced a notorious phone thief, Ikechukwu Emmanuel to 21 months imprisonment.

    The judge, Mr Hassan Ishaq, did not give an option of fine to Emmanuel, who pleaded guilty to two separate charges.
    Ishaq sentenced Emmanuel to nine months imprisonment on the first charge bordering on stealing a Nokia phone.

    He sentenced him for one year imprisonment for the second charge which bordered on conspiracy, trespass and theft which contravene Sections 79, 348 and 257 of the Penal Code.

    Ishaq held that Emmanuel was a notorious thief, and ordered him to pay a compensation of N 15, 000 for the Nokia phone he stole from Mr Kelechi Ogbasa’s on March 26.

    The phone is worth N15,000, according to the prosecutor, Mr Mamood Ismail.

    The prosecutor submitted that Emmanuel stole the phone while Ogbasa was sleeping.

    According to the second charge sheet, the convict, on the same day, trespassed into Mr Gospel John’s room and stole his HTC phone worth 50,000, also while he was sleeping.

    The judge held that Emmanuel conspired with a person still at large to commit the offences also on March 26.

    He ordered Emmanuel to pay a compensation of N 50, 000 to John.

    The prosecutor had also drawn the attention of the court to its Jan. 25 record which showed that Emmanuel was convicted and sentenced to seven months imprisonment with option of fine for stealing a phone.

    He said that the offences contravene Sections 79, 348, 287 and 102 of the Penal Code.

  • Ife Crisis: Police unfair to Yoruba, says Afenifere

    Ife Crisis: Police unfair to Yoruba, says Afenifere

    The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere has criticised the Police over the manner they handled the recent Hausa/Fulani crisis in Ile-Ife.

    It emphasised that the Police are not fair to the Yorubas.

    At its meeting held Tuesday at the residence of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State, Afenifere condemned the action of the Police, especially the arrest of 20 Yoruba people.

    The group accused police of bias and sectional in the way they handled the matter.

    The Publicity Secretary of the organization, Yinka Odumakin, who read the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said “Afenifere becomes worried with the way the Police handled the Ife crisis, especially considering the fact that the leadership of the presidency and that of the Police are from one of the sections involved in the crisis.”

    Afenifere therefore urged the Police to investigate the crisis with utmost fairness and in line with the ethics of the profession.

    It insisted that the suspects arrested in connection with the crisis must be returned to Osun State where the offence was allegedly committed, rather than being tried in Abuja.

    Afenifere advised the Police to stop further dehumanizing of the suspects, warning them against further sectional judgment.

    The group noted that the office of the state Attorney General should be given roles to play in the constitution, stressing that on Ife crisis, the office of the Attorney General of Osun State and the Ministry of Justice as a whole should be the one to advise the Police on the matter.

    On Fulani herdsmen, Afenifere said a seven-member panel has been set up to move round all the communities in the South West to ascertain the level of damage done by the Fulani herdsmen.

    Besides,it charged the Governors the northern states to build ranches within their states to avoid invasion of farm land by cattle.

  • Police parade kidnappers, others in Abuja

    The Federal Capital Territory Command (FCT) police command has arrested four kidnappers linked to the abduction of a 12- year old Fulani girl at Wumi village, Abuja.

    The police also arrested other suspects for various crimes across the nation’s capital.

    The Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Musa Kimo, while parading the suspects on Tuesday in Abuja, said the suspects’ arrest was part of the command’s quest to ensure adequate protection and lives and properties in the FCT.

    He said: “What you are witnessing today is the fruit of hard work, dedication and the drive in the command to fulfill its constitutional mandate of protecting lives and property in the Federal Capital Territory.

    “I would state without any iota of doubt that the increased visibility policing, enhanced intelligence gathering, robust and round the clock patrol, massive deployment of police personnel at strategic points and bumper to bumper supervision of the men deployed on duty is indeed yielding the desired result.”

    Kimo listed the suspected kidnappers as Abdullahi Sanda, Abubakar Muhammad, Shehu Usman and Usman Abubakar.

    He said the suspects were members of a notorious kidnapping syndicate laying siege at Fulani settlements and taking their victims hostage in exchange for money.

     

  • Three feared dead as rival gangs clash in Mushin

    Three feared dead as rival gangs clash in Mushin

    A dead body was recovered and two other persons were feared dead Monday following a clash between two rival gangs late Sunday and early Monday morning.

    It was learnt that scores of the hoodlums and residents were also injured and many shops were looted in the clash which lasted for more than five hours before the police restored normalcy.

    Heavy gunshots reportedly pervaded the entire Akala area as hoodlums from Akala engaged their counterparts from Alamutu.

    It was gathered that the Alamutu group was holding a candlelight procession for a bus conductor when fighting broke out between they and their Akala counterparts.

    Broken bottles and other dangerous weapons were reportedly freely used in the mêlée and more than five people were reportedly injured.

    It was gathered that that the candlelight procession team had barely returned to Alamutu, after the confrontation at Akala, when the Akala gang mobilized and invaded Alamutu.

    Heavy shooting began and a passerby, who was struck by a stray bullet, died instantly, while other passersby were robbed of their money, mobile phones and other valuables.

    A resident of Alamutu, who identified himself simply as Awoko, said: “The two groups used to be together until the Alamutu boys pulled out.

    “They used to form a gang to fight other people around Mushin and Somolu but the Alamutu boys complained about not being ‘properly settled ‘during sharing of money and other things.

    “Sunday’s crisis started when the Alamutu boys were having a candlelight procession for one of their members, a conductor, who died in an accident.”

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Olarinde Famous- Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) confirmed the death of one person.

    He said the police responded to a distress call of a clash between two gangs of area boys and that a dead body was recovered.