The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police nab three suspects for alleged highway extortion

    Police nab three suspects for alleged highway extortion

    Police operatives attached to the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone II, Onikan have arrested three persons who allegedly engage in illegal revenue collection and extortion.

    The suspects, Ajala Kabiru, Olasunkanmi Popoola and Kazeem Hassan were arrested around Berger on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on Saturday following petitions from commercial motorists on their activities.

    It was gathered that transport unions petitioned the zonal command, lamenting the illegal toll charged by the suspects who pretend to be officials of government.

    In response to the petitions, the zone was said to have directed its Criminal Investigation and Intellignce Department (ZCIID) to investigate and arrest the culprits.

    Confirming the arrest, the spokesman for the zonal command, Muyiwa Adejobi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said his boss, AIG Abdulmajid Ali wants government revenue agencies to provide their agents with a means of identification to assist security operatives.

    “AIG Ali has challenged government revenue agencies/agents and departments to always issue marks of identification or personal identity cards to their staff or operatives for easy identification, so as to assist the police and other security operatives in the course of their duties of law enforcement and maintenance of law and order.

    “He assures the public of thorough cleansing of the zonal command and provision of adequate security of lives and property for all and sundry. He urges members of the public to reach him on his mobile line, 08055885544, whenever the need arise,” said Adejobi.

  • Police warn vehicle owners

    The Lagos State Police Command has warned owners of abandoned vehicles parked at Igando and Iju Divisions, Lagos to come with their original documents or lose them to the public through auction.

    The vehicles are: Toyota Camry marked-CA 771 KTU, Mazda bus – IND 345 XH, Volvo saloon car-AP 53 TTD, Chrysler space bus-AG 787 AYE, tricycle – AGL 79 QC, tricycle-AGL 81 QC and tricycle chassis no MD6M14PKSF4E73662 unregistered.

  • Police officers dismiss allegations against Idris

    Senior police officers have dismissed as baseless, report by an online medium that the Acting Inspector General of Police  (IGP) Ibrahim Idris was involved in massive looting, illegal auctioning of 30 police vehicles and breach of public trust.

    The Nation learnt that a video recording where some aggrieved retired assistant inspectors general of Police (AIGs) met to strategise on how to ‘bring the IGP down’ has been availed the President.

    The online platform accused the IG of unlawfully selling off of 30 cars to fictitious claimants, embezzlement of public funds, frequent abandonment of his post, and sexual liaisons with subordinates preceding his time as commissioner in Kano State.

    But the officers, who berated the ignorance of the online platform, insisted that no command officer has a hand in the auctioning of police vehicles.

    To them, should the medium had done due diligence, it could have realised that auctioneers take care of such issues on behalf of the police, at the expiration of deadlines given to owners to claim their abandoned vehicles.

  • Pickpocket leader, 21 others arrested in Lagos

    Pickpocket leader, 21 others arrested in Lagos

    The operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command, have reportedly arrested a self-acclaimed Chairman of pickpockets in Oshodi, Lagos, Ibrahim Kasali, and 20 other suspects alleged to be involved in stealing and robbing innocent members of public in the area.
    During the arrest in the early hours of last Friday in Mosafejo, Bolade, Oshodi Oke, and Oshodi Under Bridge, hoodlums and social miscreants waiting for early rush to pickpocket passers-by and passengers were nabbed.
    The lead suspect who is popularly known as Ibrahim Babangida of Oshodi, was arrested while being chased by passengers of a bus which he boarded to pickpocket.
    It was gathered that Kasali is feared by his colleagues for his ruthlessness and popularity. “Some of his colleagues earlier arrested gave him out as their leader, and that he is the one that goes around to collect items stolen or snatched from passers-by to sell and share the proceeds to all of them,” our source added.
    Kasali, the source noted has been to prison four times while one of his accomplices also arrested, Ibrahim Yusuph, 18, from Ogun State, was just out of prison for the eighth time.
    According to the RRS, upon completion of preliminary screening, four out of 21 arrested suspects, who could provide satisfactory information about their identity, were released.
    Amongst the suspects arrested were, Bello Fatai, Oladimeji Ajisafe, Hassan Adeyemi, Jubril Olamilekan and Babalola Ahmed. Others were, Junior Vincent, Rilwan Oyinsola, Sadiq Taofeek, Kazeem Taiwo, Mutiu Rasheed, Ayodele Adeeko and Sola Omonije.
    While confirming the arrest, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Superintendent of Police, Dolapo Badmus, re-assured people of Lagos, of maximum security in place in the state, adding that the suspects would face the full wrath of law.
    The suspects have been transferred to the Lagos State Taskforce on Environment for prosecution.

  • Police kill ‘warlord’ , five others in Rivers

    Police in Rivers on Saturday night reportedly killed a notorious cultist, identified as Igbudu.
    Igbudu, who was described by his acquaintances as a criminal warlord was reportedly killed together with five of his men near the Popular NNPC filling station along East-West road of Ahoada area around 9:pm, while trying to rob a Port Harcourt bound passenger bus.
    An eyewitness said, the six victims were chasing the bus owned by one of the popular transport companies(Godfrey Agufere), motors, in their SUV Jeep, but their vehicle summersaulted and crashed into the bush.
    The Police van which was on their trail came after them before they could escape and killed them, including their kingpin who attempted to escape into the bush.
    The Spokeman of the state police command, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP), who confirmed the incident said the criminals faked amnesty offer of the state government, but went back to criminality.
    Omoni assured other criminals whose repentance are not genuine that they will also end up the same way these ones have gone.

  • Why police ransacked my residence, Dickson’s aide

    Why police ransacked my residence, Dickson’s aide

    Ritchie Etonye, an aide to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, yesterday said the police ransacked his house located at Brass Road Yenagoa, following  a tip-off that he stockpiled arms and cash.

    He in a statement by his lawyer, Doueyi Dominic Fiderikumo, that a team of 50 policemen conducted the search but found nothing.

    Fiderikumo in the statement said Etonye had briefed him and asked him to sue the Nigeria Police and an online medium, Sahara Reporters, for damages.

    Narrating the incident, the statement said: “Our client’s home was invaded and ransacked on Wednesday, August 24, 2017 by a team policemen numbering 50 without probable cause, and in the process, several valuable property worth were damaged.

    “Mr. Ritchie Etonye was not in Bayelsa when the incident occurred. Indeed, he travelled out of the state with the governor on official assignment.

    “Upon inquiry, he found out that the police were acting on a false tip-off that he had stockpiled arms and cash in his residence. After several hours of the operation, the police did not find anything incriminating and they left thoroughly disappointed.

    “Expectedly, as part of the plot to incite the unsuspecting public against the government and his principal, some disgruntled politicians have twisted and concocted their usual falsehood from the police invasion of his house as has been widely reported by Sahara Reporters.

    “The invasion and the online report have caused untoward embarrassment to our client and were intended to tarnish his hard-earned image as a reputable chartered accountant. Our client is not a politician and should not be dragged to the arena of politics.

    “Consequently, our client has instructed us to sue the Nigerian police and Sahara Reporters for damages

     

  • Police Committee for ISS World American Conference

    Police Committee for ISS World American Conference

    Director General of Police Assistance Committee (PAC), Dr. Martins John-Oni, is leading  executive members of the group to participate in the International System Security (ISS) World American Training Conference and Exhibition holding in Washington DC, USA from September 13 to 15.

    The ISS World programme is the premier lawful interception, cyber crime investigation and terrorist intelligence gathering training conference where law enforcement and intelligence analysts and telecom technology experts from various countries gather to brainstorm and present latest technologies on cyber and other crimes investigation techniques.

    According to programme schedule signed by Mr. Tatiana Lucas, ISS World Programme Director, there will be presentation on lawful interception and criminal investigation; automation for threat detection, deep and dark wed monitoring; defence and intelligence, analyst training and product demonstrations, amongst other topics.

    Speaking on the programme, Dr. John-Oni  said participation in the programme will further expose members of PAC comprising zonal coordinators and chairmen/secretaries to modern technique and technologies in cyber intelligence and information gathering.

  • Police rescue five-year-old girl caged for five months

    Police rescue five-year-old girl caged for five months

    A FORTY-two-year-old lady, Mrs. Mary Matthew, was yesterday paraded by the Police in Akure, the Ondo State capital, for allegedly maltreating her late younger sister’s five-year-old daughter, Precious Michael.

    Mary, who is a mother of six, was accused of chaining and caging the little Precious in a kiosk for five months for allegedly being possessed and suffering from an incurable disease.

    Mary, an indigene of Enugu State but a resident of Imafo in Akure North Local Government, was said to have travelled to their home town last December, when she was informed of  her younger sister’s death.

    She later returned to her base with little Precious.

    It was learnt Precious was put in the cage when Mary and her husband accused her of being possessed and suffering from a disease.

    The five year-old girl fed, defecated and urinated in the cage for five months before she was rescued last month by the police.

    Precious’ condition was said to have been pathetic, forcing an Assistant Superintendent Police (ASP), Special Children Centre at Akure “A” Division, Mrs. Olayemi Ojumu, to donate blood to her when the medical team said she needed blood transfusion.

    But Mary, who denied caging the little girl, said she always lock her in a shop when going to the farm until she comes back.

    Mary said she locks her up after she observed that one of her legs was swollen.

    She said: “Immediately, I called my mother in Enugu that Precious’ leg was swollen, and she said she must have contracted the disease that killed her mother.

    “I became perplexed, and in the cause of preventing her from infecting my other six children, I put her in a shop when going to the farm and when I return, I always remove her from that place. God is my witness.”

    Precious accused her aunt of chaining her two legs and hands and flogging her before putting her in a cage.

    She added that sometimes, she would not be fed by her foster parents.

    Police Commissioner Mrs. Hilda Ibifuro-Harrison said the police came to the kid’s rescue when their neigbours told his officers about the girl’s situation.

    The commissioner said when she saw the kid in her anaemic state, she could not control her emotion.

    She hailed her officers, particularly the one who donated her blood, for the survival of the girl.

    The police commissioner promised that the suspect and others apprehended in connection with the case would be charged to court.

  • Imo police and insecurity in Ohaji

    SIR: The sister oil-producing communities of Assa, Obile, Awarra and Ikwerrede in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State have been under serious siege in recent months resulting from the incessant attacks on and killings of innocent indigenes by suspected cultists in the area. These incidents were widely reported in some national dailies early this week.

    In the reports, the Nigeria Police through the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, claimed to have deployed riot policemen to the troubled area. He also said that the police were working with the military to deploy troops to the area claiming that the “terrain” of the area was posing a great challenge to fighting the cultists. How long this will take to materialise is unknown to anyone.

    However, contrary to Lakanu’s claims, Ohaji generally and the communities in the old Awarra Court Area in particular have a level topography.  The terrain is not as swampy as what we have in the Niger Delta area or as mountainous and arid as the Sambisa Forest, yet military operations are still going on against the Niger Delta Avengers and the notorious Boko Haram respectively.

    Besides, as we speak, there is no single policeman in any of these communities. The claim by the state police boss is not only false but misleading. As if that was not enough, he was quoted as saying that the crisis was not as serious as it was being portrayed. More than 10 people have lost their lives in the last one week alone; the communities have been deserted by their inhabitants leaving the apprehensive aged men and women to the mercy of these unrepentant cultists. The people of the area can no longer go to their farms, their source of livelihood, and hunger has set in. Schools, markets, churches in the communities have been closed down yet the police said that the issue was not as “serious as it was portrayed”. One begins to wonder if the police are waiting for the entire indigenes of the communities to be killed before they can know that we have a serious security crisis in these oil rich communities.

    From the state capital, Owerri, to these communities is less than 30 minutes’ drive by car. The most recent attacks on these communities have lasted for more than one week and the police are still on the level of “mobilisations” and working out the logistics.

    The Governor Rochas Okorocha-led government in Imo State has not helped matters. The state government has been indifferent to the plight of the people of the area. One would have expected Okorocha to come to the rescue of the people who decided, in his favour, his fate of becoming the state governor in 2011 in the so-called supplementary election after the main election was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission.  Governor Okorocha should be reminded that if he could not fulfil the many campaign promises to provide social amenities to the people of Assa and Awarra communities, contributing immensely to the state’s revenue,  he is under obligations to protect the lives and property of  not only the people but also those of other Imo indigenes. This is why they gave him their mandate. That is the essence of the social contract he entered into with the Imo people.

    Remarkably, it takes the state government and security agents less than an hour to mobilise security personnel to the area in the event of suspected attacks on the oil and gas installations but when it is about the lives of the people of the area, the government and the police in particular become insensitive and slow to act. Which is more important: human lives or oil facilities?

    The primary duty of government is to protect lives and property. This is the legitimate demand of the traumatised oil producing communities of Assa, Obile and Awarra on the Nigerian state personified by the police.

     

    • Chamberlin Okechukwu,

    Ohaji, Imo State.

  • One killed in Damaturu gas explosion

    A welder was Wednesday morning  killed and a soldier critically wounded in an accidental explosion that occurred at a  welder’s shop close to the central roundabout along Potiskum road in Damaturu, Yobe State capital.
    One petrol hawker close to the scene of the explosion was also wounded in the process according to an eyewitness, Ibrahim Imman.
    Ibrahim disclosed that the welder’s body was shattered from the heated pipe which also hit the soldier who was monitoring the work.
    Another eyewitness Adamu Haruna who hawks close to the scene of the incident said the soldier may not make it to the hospital.
    “I saw the soldier on the ground. All his intestine were outside his stomach, but he was very brave, still holding unto life. Only Allah will save him at the hospital”, Haruna said as he shook his head and left.
    Spokesman of 127 Taskforce Brigade Lt. George Okupe confirmed the incident to The Nation on phone in Damaturu.
    According to him, “troops from Goniri in Yobe State brought a pipe to be welded to increase the height of the antenna on one of their hilux car to the welder and the unfortunate incident occurred in the process of the job.”
    He said that the accident occurred at about 10.30 am at the shop of the welder, adding that, “one of our soldiers was wounded in the accidental explosion with one civilian.Both have been taken to the Gen. Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital Damaturu”.
    Speaking on the cause of the explosion, Lt. Okupe dismissed claims of any link of the explosion to Boko Haram but said  “we  are waiting for the Police Explosive Ordinance Device(EOD) investigation to know the true cause of the explosion”.
    He called on the people of Yobe State, especially Damaturu residents not to panic as the army are equip enough to provide adequate protection for everyone.