The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police parade 162 suspected cultists, 29 ‘robbers’ in Rivers

    •Nine ‘robbers’, two ‘cultists’, two ‘kidnappers’ killed

    The Rivers State Police Command has said it killed 13 suspected criminals in gun battles last month.

    Its spokesman Ahmed K. Mohammed, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, during the parade of over 200 suspects, including four women, at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit.

    The suspects are being held for various crimes, including cultism, robbery and kidnapping.

    The police said 162 suspects were arrested for alleged cultism and related activities; seven for alleged kidnap and 29 for alleged robbery.

    They also said nine suspected robbers, two suspected kidnappers and two “cultists” were killed in a gun battle within the period.

    The police said they foiled five kidnap attempts and rescued five kidnap victims.

    A statement yesterday said 34 firearms, 174 ammunition/cartridges, 15 stolen vehicles, four tricycle/motorcycles and N296,760, including N10,000 suspected fake currencies and various shapes and sizes of charms were recovered from the hoodlums.

    The suspects were arrested mainly from Rumuekini, East-West Road, both in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area and Chokocho, in Etche Local Government Area.

    The police hailed the public for its cooperation, which it said led to the arrest of the suspects.

    The command called for more assistance for the police.

    It reiterated its commitment to ridding the state of hoodlums.

    The command warned criminals to have a change of heart or face its wrath.

     

  • Police kill suspected robbers in botched attack on herdsmen

    The Delta State Police Command has said it shot dead two suspected robbers after a botched attack on some herdsmen.

    Police spokesperson Tina Kalu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident yesterday in Asaba, the state capital.

    She said the four hoodlums attacked herdsmen in a bush at Okpara waterside, Ethiope East Local Government Area.

    Kalu said the police station at Isiokolo, the local government’s headquarters, got a distress call from a man simply identified as Alhaji Ibrahim, that some gunmen attacked his herdsmen.

    The spokesperson said operatives from the police station rushed to the scene.

    She said the hoodlums alighted from their operational vehicle and engaged the police in a shootout.

    According to her, the gunmen fled into the bush when the police nearly overpowered them.

    Kalu said the police pursued the suspects into the bush, where two of them were shot.

    The others escaped, she added.

    The spokesperson said the two injured suspects died on the way to the hospital.

    Items recovered from the suspects include six cut-to-size guns, two Nokia handsets and a Honda Accord salon with number plate (Lagos) SE858AAA.

    Kalu said the police had begun a manhunt for the fleeing suspects.

     

  • Biafra Day celebration: Police arraign 62 in Imo

    Biafra Day celebration: Police arraign 62 in Imo

    The police in Imo State have arrested 68 members of the pan-ethnic militia group, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) for alleged breach of public peace during the Biafra Day celebration in Owerri.

    Thousands of MASSOB members converged at the home of the leader of the group, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike to mark this year’s Biafra Day.

    Police spokesman Austine Evbakhavbokun said 68 members were arrested and 62 have been charged for disrupting public peace and being in possession of Biafra insignias, including flags, identity cards and military camouflage.

    He warned that the Police will not watch while members of an outlawed group undermine the nation’s sovereignty.

    “We cannot have two flags in one nation. Nigeria is a sovereign nation and the sovereignty will be jealously guided.

    “On Saturday, MASSOB members disrupted public peace in Owerri in the name of celebrating Biafra Day. We will not allow the existence of any illegal group and henceforth we are going to descend on them massively,” Evbakhavbokun said.

    The arrested members include: Sunday Chigbo, Ebere Basil, Nchita Boniface, Okeke Francis Kelechi, Martin Ozodikere, John Nkemjeme and Chijioke Nhuegwu.

    Others are Charles Chukwunedom, Emeka Obi, Chukwudi Otukegwu, Goddey Igbokwe, Ngobidi Livinus and Emmanuel Ugwuekemba, among others.

     

  • NYSC to police: unravel Corps member’s death

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) yesterday urged the Kwara State Police Command to unravel the mystery behind the death of a corps member, Idowu Shukurat Yetunde.

    The corps, in a statement by the Director, Public Relations, Abosede Aderibigbe, said the deceased was last seen on May 23 when she informed her colleagues that she was going to Shoprite on Fate Road, Ilorin after which the news of her death was broken.

    Aderibigbe said the NYSC handled issues concerning corps members seriously, especially when it bordered on death and would unravel the mystery behind the death of the corps member.

    She said the Director- General, Brig.-Gen. Johnson Bamidele Olawumi, had sent a delegation to Ilorin, headed by the Director, Corps Welfare and Inspectorate, Mr. Michael Ahile; Head of NYSC Legal Unit, Ibrahim Tijani Ahmed and Assistant Director, Protocol & Publicity, Mr. Eddy Megwa, to, among others, express his pains about the sudden death.

    Aderibigbe urged the security agents and monarchs to unravel the mystery behind Yetunde’s death.

    The statement said: “NYSC will not tolerate the abuse, harassment, intimidation and brutal killing of corps members deployed to serve their fatherland.

    “The management wishes to stress that it is the responsibility of Nigerians to ensure that corps members deployed in all parts of the country for the one-year mandatory service are assisted regarding their security and well-being. Efforts should be made to protect them.

    “Having visited the State Security Service, the Police Commissioner and the Emir of Ilorin, the management of NYSC is confident that all hands will be on deck to ensure that the culprits are brought to book.

    “We take this opportunity to express our heartfelt sympathy to the family and relatives of the deceased.

    “We console the corps members serving in Kwara State and the entire country. It is our prayer that this unpleasant development will not reoccur.”

     

     

  • Police probe Corps member’s death in Ilorin

    Police probe Corps member’s death in Ilorin

    The Kwara State Police Command has begun investigation into the death of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Yetunde Shukurat Idowu, in Ilorin, the state capital.

    The deceased was a member of the 2014 Batch “B”.

    Her body was said to have been found last Sunday night near the GRA in Ilorin.

    She was said to have gone shopping at a popular shopping mall the previous Saturday.

    The late Miss Idowu lived at Tanke on University Road.

    It was learnt that the Corps member might have been given a free ride.

    But the police said it was too early in the day to make such a conclusion because they were still probing the death.

    It was learnt that her family had been contacted while her body would be released today to the family.

    The late Miss Idowu served with the State Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio Kwara.

    Police spokesperson Okasanmi Ajayi, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said: “We are still investigating. We cannot conclusively say it is a case of abduction or ritual killing because no part of the body was missing. It could be a case of a hit and run by a careless driver or an accident.

    “I can’t confirm that she was raped because all the examinations conducted on her do not show any sign of rape. We are still investigating. So, I cannot say exactly what happened.”

    On the likelihood that she might have been given a lift, Ajayi said: “All that is guesswork. Nobody has volunteered any statement to us. If anybody has any information, maybe they would get to us.

    “As far as we are concerned, it was a reported case of someone ‘found dead’ with a broken skull and bruises. For now, I can’t tell you whether it was a case of whether rape, abduction or kidnapping.”

    He said the body would be released today while the police investigate the death.

    The State NYSC spokesperson Oladipo Morakinya confirmed the incident.

    He said: “A corps member died and her death is a natural phenomenon. We have done the needful by contacting her family.”

    “It is only a medical expert that can diagnose what actually killed her. This is beyond the scope of our scheme. The most important thing is that a corps member died and the NYSC has done the necessary thing that we are expected to do. We have contacted her family.”

  • Police rescue kidnap suspect

    A 25-year-old kidnap suspect was yesterday rescued by the police in Ondo State.

    Peter Oyeyemi was about to be lynched by some youths after “ he attempted to kidnap some primary school pupils”.

    Eyewitness said the suspect was “arrested” by passers-by, who accused him of trying to lure the kids.

    It was learnt that some items were found on the suspect.

    The items include passport-sized photographs of various people, picture of a teenage girl, phone, cash, dresses, Holy Bible and Quran.

    The suspect was stripped, beaten and almost set ablaze before the police rescued him.

    Police spokesman Wole Ogodo said the suspect was a psychiatric patient.

    Ogodo said Oyeyemi’s parents have confirmed that he escaped from a psychiatric hospital in Akure, where he was receiving treatment.

    He said: “The suspect was mistaken for a kidnapper.  He is a psychiatric patient and his parents have shown the police the documents of his health status.”

    He urged the people not to take laws into their hands.

  • Police arrest robbery suspects in Ibadan

    Police arrest robbery suspects in Ibadan

    OYO State Police Command has paraded five suspected robbers who tranquillize their victims with chemicals before robbing them.

    Parading the suspects, the State’s Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Katsina said the suspects operate in a unique manner, saying it is erroneous to regard them as house breakers and burglars.

    “They do not go with guns but they use something more lethal than weapon which can be called chemical weapon. It is in form of a sleep-induced liquid. When you retire to bed at night and you leave your windows open, they sneak to your window and put a little quantity of the substance in your room and you will sleep away for 30 minutes. This will put their victims in a state of unconsciousness and after the effect; they will enter the house and take away all valuables. When you wake up in the morning, you discover an empty house.

    “We have been on their trail through the intelligence report we received from our ambush squad and we thank God that we were able to track them down,” he said.

    •From left: Mr. Katsina returning one of the stolen items recovered from the robbers to its owner
    •From left: Mr. Katsina returning one of the stolen items recovered from the robbers to its owner

    Katsina also said the suspects had led them to all the houses they had robbed and they were able to identify the owners of the properties, adding that they are there to hand over the exhibits to the owners because he does not believe in keeping them.

    One of the suspects, Oladele Olaitan, 22, said: “We are robbers and we do this to survive. We were arrested when we were robbing a house around Bodija axis. We go to our victim’s houses around 11:00 p.m. and pour the chemical into their houses and after they have slept, we break into their house and pack away all properties that are valuable to us.

    Another member of the gang, Azeez Muideen said: “We went to break into a shop at Bodija and this is the first time I had joined them in this act because I am jobless.”

    One of their victims’s who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn’t want to be identified ýsaid his house was robbed at Bodija and it was just like a dream when he woke up and saw that all his electronics and other gadgets were gone.

    “It was just like a magic or a dream because none of members of my family was at home that night. I turned off the television and locked the door properly before I went to bed. But on waking up around 6:10 a.m., all my electronics were gone. I reported the incident to police. After some weeks, the police called to tell me that the robbers have been arrested and some of my properties recovered. I am grateful to the police for a good job done,” he said.

     

  • Inauguration: Police to deploy 7,000 men in Niger

    Inauguration: Police to deploy 7,000 men in Niger

    The Niger State Police Command has said it will deploy about 7,000 policemen for Friday’s inauguration Governor-elect Abubakar Sani Bello in Minna, the state capital.

    In a statement yesterday in Minna, Police Commissioner Olusola Amore said adequate arrangements were in place to ensure a hitch-free inauguration.

    The police chief personnel are to be dispatched to man different and strategic areas of the venue of the ceremony to ensure adequate security coverage of the event.

    The Commissioner called for the support of the people that will attend the inauguration by co-operating with his men in order to have a hitch free event.

    The Police boss in the statement also commended the media for the role played before, during and after the 2015 general elections in the state.

    “Your professional conduct contributed immensely towards the peaceful conduct of the elections. The elections are over and we are looking forward to a peaceful transition of government, come Friday, 29th May 2015,” Amore stated.

  • Police to strenghten security

    Police to strenghten security

    THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase has ordered Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police and Command Commissioners of Police to beef up security around all key and vulnerable points nationwide.

    Explaining the reason for the directive in a statement yesterday, the Force Spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, stated that it became imperative in a bid to ward off possible plans by insurgents to carry out widespread violence and coordinated attacks on installations and public places.

    The areas where security is expected to be beefed up are infrastructure like mega filling stations, major hotels, National and State Houses of Assembly, Eagle Square and others.

  • Police arrest nine robbery suspects in Lagos

    The Lagos State Police Command on Thursday said it had arrested nine armed robbery suspects around the metropolis, recovering two locally made double barrel pistols, charms and two Honda motorcycles.

    A statement by the command’s spokesman, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, said policemen attached to Ikeja Division, acting on information arrested three male suspects in their operational vehicle.

    “The policemen had on Sunday at about 1 a.m. stopped a Mazda 323 car with registration number FKJ-21-DA along Opebi Road in Ikeja and recovered two locally made double barrel pistols.

    “The case is under investigation at the Department of Criminal Investigation in Yaba, Lagos,’’ the statement said.

    In the same vein, some robbery suspects were also arrested on Tuesday at about 1 a.m. by the police anti-robbery team attached to Ogombo Division.

    According to the statement, the police anti-robbery team arrested some suspected robbers at Okun Aja.

    “The five suspects included the gang leader. Items recovered from the hoodlums are charms and two Honda motorcycles.

    “The case is under investigation at Ogombo division,’’ the statement said.