The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police arrest Ogun labour leaders

    Police arrest Ogun labour leaders

    Schools, hospitals and the secretariat at Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, remained deserted yesterday as the indefinite strike by civil servants entered the second day.

    The striking workers, who are protesting the non-payment of their pensions and deductions, said they would not resume until “there is evidence of payment”.

    Three labour leaders – Chairman of National Union of Printing Corporation, Kayode Wemimo; Chairman of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Recreation and Technical Employee (AUCPTRE) identified as Ojeleye and an unidentified person- were arrested at the south end gate of the secretariat.

    The Secretary of the Joint Negotiating Council, Adebiyi Olusegun, said the police arrested the three leaders, who were monitoring the strike, shortly after the arrival of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Taiwo Adeoluwa.

    “It was peaceful initially until the SSG arrived. We exchanged banters and just a few metres away, the police told us that we had only five minutes to leave the area.

    “Then from nowhere came tear gas. They dragged the three leaders, handcuffed them and drove them to the Trade Fair Complex Police Station.

    “Thereafter, we got in touch with our state leaders, who came to intervene. They wanted them to write statements but we told them that would be done before the media.”

    The state chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Akeem Ambali, said the arrests would not affect the workers’ resolve.

  • Police arrest labour leaders as Ogun workers remain adamant

    Schools, hospitals and the state Government Secretariat, Oke – Mosan in Abeokuta remained largely deserted as the indefinite strike embarked upon by civil servants Ogun state entered the second day on Tuesday.

    The striking workers who shunned their duty post on Tuesday over non-payment of pensions and deductions, said they would not resume until there is convincing evidence of payment of their deductions and other entitlements.

    But three labour leaders – Chairman of National Union of Printing Corporation, Kayode Wemimo, Chairman of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Recreation and Technical Employee (AUCPTRE) identified as Ojeleye and another were arrested.

    They were tear – gassed and arrested at the South end gate of the government Secretariat at Oke Mosan, in an apparent move by the state government  to break the resolve of the workers.

    The government had on Monday through a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, asked the striking workers to return to work, dismissing the strike as misguided but the workers were adamant.

    Adeoluwa stated: “we are at a loss as to what this small and unpopular group of workers in the state civil service really wants to achieve as Ogun is currently one of the few states in the federation that is able
    to pay workers salaries as and when due, in spite of the current economic downturn.

    “Despite the current financial crisis affecting the country, salaries have been paid up to February 2016 for all categories of workers in the state. In spite of the fact that Ogun is one of the states that
    receives the least allocation from the Federation Account, it pays the highest wages to workers in Nigeria.”

    Regarding the arrest, the Secretary of the Negotiating Council, Adebiyi Olusegun told reporters on Tuesday  that the Police accosted the three of their  leaders who were monitoring the strike at the main
    gate and were arrested shortly the arrival of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Taiwo Adeoluwa at the Secretariat.

    “It was peaceful initially until the SSG arrived. We exchange banters and just few meters away, the Police came telling us that we have only five minutes to leave the area. Then, came from nowhere there
    was tear gas. It was in that process that they drag the three leaders from the car and handcuffed them and drove them to the Trade Fair Complex Police station.

    “Thereafter, we got in touch with our state leaders and who came to intervene. They wanted them to write statement, but, we told them that would be done before the media.”

    The state chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Akeem Ambali who addressed reporters  briefed newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat, Abeokuta,  said the arrest of their
    members would not in any affect the dampen the resolve of the workers to continue with the strike.

    “We are not going to be intimidated by government move to arrest of some of us. We have told the Police that no statement would be written except his briefing at Iwe Irohin. We condemn the arrest and I can tell you that the strike is still on,” Ambali said.

    The Nation however  gathered that the arrested leaders were later released by the Police.

  • Police parade man for ‘kidnapping’ niece

    Police parade man for ‘kidnapping’ niece

    A 37-year-old man, John Chima, has been arrested by the police in Oyo State for allegedly kidnapping his niece at Bodija Market in Ibadan and demanding a ransom of N2.5 million.

    The suspect and his partners in crime reportedly kidnapped Ijeoma, 13, on February 29 at 8pm and took her to Apata, where she was unlawfully imprisoned.

    Parading  the suspect yesterday at Eleyele in Ibadan, the Commissioner of Police, Leye Oyebade, said the suspects had gone to the victim’s father’s shop at Bodija Market, “pretending to be customers”.

    “After buying some foodstuffs, they requested that the victim be allowed to assist in carrying the items to their waiting vehicle. The victim’s father, acting in good faith obliged them.

    “The little girl never returned. After a few minutes, the kidnappers called to inform him that his daughter had been kidnapped and N2.5million ransom should be paid.

    “The suspects threatened to kill the victim should her parents report the matter to the police. The threat notwithstanding, the victim’s father, Ogbonnaya Okoro, reported the case at the Bodija Market Police Station.

    “Following the report, the Anti-Kidnapping Squad was mandated to rescue the victim and arrest her abductors. However, through dint of luck and divine intervention, the victim escaped from her abductors unhurt.

    “The credible information given by the victim and painstaking investigation by the Special Squad led to the arrest of the principal suspect, Chima Obinna John (37), who masterminded the dastardly act,” Oyebade said

    In a chat with reporters, Ijeoma said the suspects came to her father’s shop to buy some items, adding that she recognised the principal suspect, Chima, who “is my brother”.

    She had large open wounds on her knees, which she sustained the injury when her uncle dragged her in the bush and beat her when she did not want to “cooperate”.

    Ijeoma said she did not eat the food offered her by the suspects, but she prayed that God should rescue her.

    The suspect was said to have connived with two others at large to use the victim for money rituals should her father fail to pay the ransom, hence she was purportedly taken to an herbalist at Awotan.

    Chima said he just wanted to extort money from his brother. According to him, he would be okay if he got N200,000 from the N2.5million ransom he demanded.

     

  • How to revive the Police CCTV project

    No much has been said and written lately about the National Public Security Communication System (NPSCS) which most Nigerians erroneously referred to as the “Lagos, Abuja CCTV Project”.  Initiated in 2008 by the Late President Umar Yar’Adua, the $400 million (not $470 million) project was designed to upgrade the Nigerian police and other security agencies to the digital age, equipping them with modern surveillance systems, secured mobile communication architecture and other integrated technologies necessary for modern policing.

    On January 29, the House of Representatives began a probe of the project with an elaborate opening session that had in attendance past and present ministers, senior officials of government agencies among others. The current probe, it should be noted makes the third time the project is being subjected to some level of scrutiny by parliamentarians only that earlier probes have ended up with no known indictments.

    But, the current probe has unearthed diverse perspectives in what looks like a carefully engineered web of actions by agents of the immediate past administration with the ultimate aim of jeopardizing the project so that it could be easily transferred to private hands. For them, this would justify the award of another contract while unsuspecting Nigerians cheer on like drunk cheerleaders.

    “It is erroneous for anyone to call the project a CCTV project because the Video Surveillance System (VSS) is even less than eight percent of the project. There were five components and they were all completed”; former Managing Director of the Nigerian Satellite Communications Limited (NigComsat), Tiamiyu Ahmed-Rufai told the probe committee.

    Apart from the sophisticated VSS, Ahmed-Rufai went further to elaborate that the remaining four aspects of the project  include the deployment of GOTA subsystem which operates two main switch centers, 12  Base Station Controllers and 675 base stations spread across the 36 states and Abuja. The GOTA  we are now told supports 1, 500,000 subscriber lines which the former DG said is even bigger than the entire Visafone network. The base stations are also capable of providing Internet Protocol (IP) cloud for the various applications to which the project can be deployed.

    There is also the E-policing subsystem which is to facilitate the deployment of E-policing databases; the Video Conferencing subsystem to provide for video conferencing by all Commands of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) with the Force Headquarters (FHQ) and the Coalition Emergency Response subsystem, to empower emergency response and provide a national platform for emergency calls by citizens to the Nigeria Police nationwide.

    The Chinese firm that handled the project; ZTE has consistently maintained that it fully completed the project and that Acceptance Certificates were issued.  Ahmed further corroborated what the contractors said by saying that “The project is like someone who bought a brand new car but refused to fuel it.”

    Hopefully, the House of Representatives will provide more answers as to why the project was deliberately left wasted while the security situation of the country nose-dived. That a project of that magnitude was condemned to rot merely because nobody provided diesel to power the base stations can only happen in a country like Nigeria.

    The real question remains what next for the NPSCS? And to me, this is where President Buhari comes in. It was clear that some top officials of the Jonathan administration had self-seeking plan for the NPSCS asset now valued to be over $500million.

    It is heartwarming to see contractors handling federal roads back on site at the Abuja airport roads and on other roads initiated by past governments. Government is a continuum. President Buhari needs to set up a technical committee including the contractor that handled the NPSCS to quickly come up with a plan for its resuscitation. The cameras in Lagos and Abuja should be immediately restored to functionality while efforts should be made to increase the number of cities under VSS coverage since the backbone to support that is already in place.

    For a start, there is the need for the Buhari government to reactivate the VSS in Abuja and Lagos immediately extend its coverage to Kano and Port Harcourt while other cities can follow later.

     

    Musa Aliyu,

    Zaria.

  • “How we kidnapped Lagos school girls”

    “How we kidnapped Lagos school girls”

    Prime suspect in the abduction of three school girls in Lagos, Emmanuel Arigidi has revealed that twelve people were involved in the operation.
    Speaking to journalists on Sunday after they were arrested and the girls recused, Arigidi said the operation was planned at Majidun area of Ikorodu.
    “We went to Maya bridge to enter Canoe and went to the school around 8pm. After we gained entrance into the school, we took away three girls and we took them to our hideout,” he stated.
    ” But along the line, we had disagreement between ourselves and I was actually the one that started it. I told other members of the gang that what we have done is not good and that I don’t like it.
    “I know that security in Lagos State is now tight and I was telling others that there was no way we would get away with this kind of job considering the level of security in the state. When I told them that we should end the assignment, other members of the gang threatened to kill me and then I took Canoe to run away.
    “Three days after I ran away, operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) then arrested me somewhere in Majidun and that was how I told them how we planned the attack. One thing I will like to say is that if not for the fact that I was arrested, they would not have seen the girls because I was the one that revealed everything to the police,” he narrated.

  • Police, NEMSA to join force on technical enforcement

    Police, NEMSA to join force on technical enforcement

    The Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Mr. Solomon Arase has promised that he would direct state Commissioners of Police to support the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) when the agency requests for protection during technical enforcement.

    He spoke at the Force Headquarters, Abuja while playing host to the visiting team from the agency led by the Managing Director, Engr. Peter Ewesor.

    Arase said: “You can be assured that we will put our access at your disposal across the length and breadth of the country. And I will give my directives to my colleagues on the field to say whenever your people have any challenge just feel free to go to any of the commissioners in the states, where the challenges are and you can be assured that they will assist you.”

    NEMSA boss also told the police boss that in carrying out the mandates and roles of the company, the agency would occasionally require to issue enforcement orders and sanctions which might require the assistance of the law enforcement agencies, especially the Police Force while carrying out its enforcement notices/orders.

     

  • Police investigate man’s death after night vigil

    Lagos State Police Command is probing alleged suicide committed by one Taofik, who hung himself on a tree after an all-night prayer vigil in Iju-Isaga area of the state yesterday.

    Spokesperson for the command, SP Oladapo Badmos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the surname of the deceased was yet to be ascertained.

    Badmos said the Police Division at Iju received a report of the incident brought by Pastor Odunike Abiodun of King of Kings Church, No. 45, Taju Bello Street, Iju Isaga.

    “The pastor brought the report on Saturday (yesterday) at 7.50 a.m. that the man was found dead at about 5.30 a.m.

    “The deceased hung himself on a tree in a valley close to a river, near the King of Kings Church,’’ he said.

    The police spokesman said that it was reported that the deceased had earlier participated in an all-night prayer at the Church.

    She said that the scene of the suicide had been visited by detectives from the division.

    “Investigation is ongoing to unravel the cause of the death and the corpse has been deposited at a morgue for autopsy,” Badmos said. 3 of 253

  • Fire raze officers’ quarters in Panti, Lagos

    Fire raze officers’ quarters in Panti, Lagos

    An inferno Friday razed the officers quarters at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Panti, in Yaba, Lagos mainland.

    The fire which affected five self-contained apartments on the topmost floor of a two storey building was said to have started at about 2:45pm.

    Unconfirmed reports stated that the inferno was caused by a power generating set belonging to one of the officers.

    It was alleged that the unnamed officer had left his generator on while he was on duty.

    However, no life was lost neither did anyone sustain injury.

    The Nation gathered that five fire trucks were deployed from Alausa, Ilupeju, Sari Iganmu, Yaba LCDA and federal fire service.

    Confirming the development, the director, state fire service, Rasaq Fadipe said the cause was yet unknown, adding that investigations will be conducted.

  • Police may prosecute Yunusa’s father

    Police may prosecute Yunusa’s father

    Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase has said that Yunusa’s father will be prosecuted, if investigation found him wanting.

    Arase however noted that Yinusa’s father is not the person at the centre of the “abduction” and dismissed claims by Yunusa’s father that his son committed no crime.

    The police chief spoke in Benin City at a one-day awareness workshop on sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria, organised by the police, in collaboration with Cleen Foundation and Ford Foundation.

    Represented by the Gender Officer, Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, Mrs. Mairo Adebalogun, Arase noted that Bala’s claim of innocence was irrelevant and insisted that Yunusa would be prosecuted.

    A child protection specialist with the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Mr. Tatenda Makoni, called on state governments to strengthen their campaigns against sexual and gender based violence, as part of efforts to address the prevalence of the menace in the country.

  • Police join fight against malaria, zika in Cross River

    The Nigeria Police Force has donated over 600 Insecticide Treated Nets and drugs worth millions of naira to the Police Secondary School, Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State to help protect the students and staff from mosquito bites and prevent the spread of malaria, zika and other diseases caused by mosquitoes.

    The nets and malaria drugs were presented to the School Management on behalf of the Police Authority in Akpabuyo by the Commissioner in Charge of Police Medical Services, CP Wilson Akwiwu in the presence of the Commandant, Police Secondary School, Superintendent of Police Peter Austin and the Officer in charge of the Police Medical Clinic in the School, Inspector Baba Enoch, as well as other management staff of the School.

    Commissioner Akwiwu said the donation was part of the Inspector General of Police’s commitment to support healthy living within Police formations across the country.

    He said the human body can only function properly in a healthy environment and urged the students to maintain good hygiene in order to be healthy to pursue their studies diligently and compete favourably with their counterparts in Lagos and Abuja.

    The Police Medical Services Commissioner pointed out that the Police Secondary School, Akpabuyo was specially selected as one of the beneficiaries of the program because it is the only Police school with a Medical Centre in the country.

    He emphasized that malaria is a killer disease that has affected many families in Nigeria and called on the beneficiaries to judiciously use the drugs and the insecticide treated nets to achieve desired results.

    He lauded the staff and students of the school for their high level of discipline and commitment to work, assuring that their problems, including inadequate accommodation, expansion of the school Medical Clinic to meet increasing health needs, would be taken to Abuja for possible positive response from the Inspector General of Police.

    Commandant of the Police Secondary School, Akpabuyo, Superintendent of Police Peter Austin, thanked the Commissioner for the gesture, assuring that the drugs and Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets would be properly put to use by the students.

    Mr. Austin appealed to the Police high command to look into the challenges facing the school especially accommodation and expansion as well as improvement of facilities in the School Medical Clinic to meet increasing health needs of the people.

    The Officer in charge of the School Medical Clinic, Inspector Baba Enoch, also praised the efforts of the Commissioner in tackling their health needs, noting that the Clinic requires expansion and well equipped facilities in order to meet growing health challenges of the student.

    Enoch said the items donated would help a great deal in checkmating the spread of malaria, zika and other Mosquito causing Diseases in the school and its environs.