The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police parade woman for ‘setting husband ablaze’

    The police in Ekiti State yesterday paraded a woman, Bukola Ogidiolu, who allegedly poured petrol on her husband, Abimbola, and set him ablaze.

    Also paraded was a farmer, Moses Ofega, who allegedly shot a Fulani herdsman on his farm after a scuffle.

    Speaking to reporters, Mrs. Ogidiolu (36) claimed she had a quarrel with her husband following his alleged nonchalance to their childlessness.

    She denied torching her husband for refusing to take her out on Valentine’s Day, which happened to be her birthday.

    The incident occurred at the couple’s residence in Idolofin in Odo-Ado, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    “We had an argument following his nonchalance to my barrenness and we were fighting. Our neighbours tried to plead with him but he never listened to them.

    “He ran inside and destroyed my property. But he had forgotten that we have petrol inside and when he was about lighting his cigarette, the keg containing the petrol exploded and my husband caught fire.”

    Abimbola, who has first-degree burns with his manhood badly burnt, is receiving treatment at the State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), Ado-Ekiti, where doctors are battling to save his life.

    Ofega (30), after killing the Fulani, was said to have poured charcoal on the body at Iyemero-Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area, on March 4.

    He claimed he shot at the herdsman mistakenly after fighting over the destruction of his farm by the deceased’s cows.

    Police spokesman Alberto Adeyemi said members of the Fulani community reported the murder.

    Adeyemi said detectives from the State Criminal Investigation Department traced Ofega into the bush, where he fled.

    Ofega said: “I didn’t kill him intentionally. I went to the farm that day because I am a hunter.

    “When I saw that my farm had been destroyed, I had to challenge him and during a scufle, my gun went off  and hit him.”

     

  • Police lay ambush for abductors of 87-year-old American woman

    The Kogi State Police Command said it has spread its dragnet to

    ensure that the kidnappers of the American woman, Rev. Phyllis Sortor, are arrested.

    The 87-year-old missionary, who was kidnapped two

    weeks ago from her school premises at Emiworo in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State, was freed by her abductors last Friday.

    She was released about 8:30pm and sighted at the Kogi State Police Command headquarters, Lokoja, about 11pm.

    Police spokesman Sola Collins Adebayo told our correspondent that the command would arrest the kidnappers.

    He said: “She has been handed over to the U.S. embassy by the police.

    She’s safe and healthy. We have cordoned off the area suspected to be the kidnappers’ hideout to ensure their arrest.”

    A police source described the American’s kidnap as an embarrassment.

    The source, who spoke in confidence, said the incident put the command under pressure.

    According to him, “the American’s kidnap was a big embarrassment. Imagine an 87-year-old woman, a missionary, being kidnapped. Everybody was on our neck.

    “We’re happy she has been released and in good health. It was a joint effort, I must say. The suspects will be arrested.”

    Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said no ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

  • Police lay ambush for abductors of US missionary

    The Kogi State Police Command says it has spread its dragnet towards ensuring that the kidnappers of the American missionary,  Revd. Phyllis Sortor are arrested.
    The eighty seven year old American missionary who was kidnapped two weeks ago from her school premises in Emiworo, in Ajaokuta LGA of Kogi State was freed by her abductors last Friday.
    She was released around 8.30pm and later sighted at the Kogi State Police Command headquarters, Lokoja, around 11pm.
    The Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sola Collins Adebayo told our correspondent that the
    command would track the kidnappers.
    His words, “She has been handed over to the U.S embassy by the police. She’s safe and healthy. Meanwhile, the police maintained cordon of the area suspected to be her kidnapper’s hideout to ensure their arrest and adequate sanction”.
    The Kogi State Commissioner of Police (CP), Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said no ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

  • Police, candidates sign peace accord

    The Abia State police command in conjunction with security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have convened a meeting where all the political parties in the state and their governorship candidates as well as senatorial and House of Representatives contestants have signed a peace accord ahead of the general elections.

    Speaking at the meeting, the AIG Zone 9, Gwuari Akila who chaired the occasion, said that this type of situation had earlier taken place in other states across the country and that this is the turn of Abia state.

    Akila said that the day is a great one for the command with the peace accord which all the political parties and their candidates in the state have come to signed to ensure peace before, during and after the forthcoming general elections.

    The AIG said that the meeting was called to appeal to the parties and their candidates to ensure that the political terrain in the state is not over heated, especially during their political campaigns.

    He urged the political stakeholders to conduct themselves, while their political activities should be conducted according to the laws of the country to usher in the next democratic dispensation.

    Akila said, “This meeting has been called to remind them to conduct themselves before, during and immediately after the general election to avoid any political motivated violence.

    “The politicians and the political stakeholders in the state are being reminded to avoid going astray and I’m happy with the number of political stakeholders in the state that attended this meeting. This shows that all of you want peace in the state.”

    Responding the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Chineye Nyerere Anyim, thanked the security agencies in the state for organising the meeting, adding that his party is against any violence and assured that they will abide by the accord.

    Anyim said that they need a level playing ground for all political parties in the state irrespective of those in power and those that want to take over power and decried the ban by the state government on other parties from using state property for their campaigns.

    He urged security agencies in the state especially the police not to be bias and not to allow themselves to be used by the party in power to subvert the will of the people during the elections.

    In his contribution, the senatorial candidate of the APC for Abia Central senatorial seat, Hon Acho Obioma said that there is need of the security agencies in the state to be up and doing and not to be seen favouring any particular party.

    Obioma said that all political parties should be given equal opportunity in terms of security coverage before, during and after the general election, even as he pledged to go home and educate his supporters and urged other candidates to do same if the accord is to stand the test of time.

    In his response, the state chairman of the PDP, Senator Emma Nwaka said that his party will abide by the peace accord to the letter, adding that all they knocks his party has received from other party candidates is a normal one for a party in power.

    In his speech the deputy governor of the state, Sir Emeka Ananaba commended the police for organising the peace meeting and urged the political parties to go beyond the accord by educating their supporters to avoid violence during the elections.

    The partieswhich attended the meeting were APC, PDP, ACPN, APGA and the PPA, with the governorship candidates and their national assembly candidates, some of them like PDP and APGA governorship candidates were represented by their running mates.

  • Police arrest woman for attempt to sell PVCs

    Kaduna State Police Command has arrested a 30-year-old woman (name not ascertained), a mother of two children, for attempting to sell Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), including hers, to a party chieftain.

    Spokesman for the Police Command, DSP Abubakar Zubairu, confirmed the development to reporters in Kaduna yesterday.

    He said the woman was arrested when attempting to sell PVCs at the Kabala ward in Kaduna North local Government.

    Abubakar said upon interrogation, she confessed to the crime, saying she attempted to sell the PVCs because she needed money to pay her father’s hospital bills.

    The spokesman, who said the woman is in detention at the state CID, added that the command is investigating the matter.

    It was learnt that the woman attempted to sell the PVCs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Women Leader, Hajiya Hajara Mairiga, who alerted the police.

    She told the police that the suspect, whose name could not be ascertained at press time, came to her house on Monday and told her that she wanted to sell her PVC and those of others.

    The PDP women leader, who spoke to our reporter at Kabala Doki Police Station, said for sometime, electronic media have linked her with buying of PVCs from residents, an allegation she refuted.

    She said: “What has happened today has vindicated me because I have never asked anybody to sell his or her PVC to me. I know this is the handiwork of my opponents and the fact that Kabala ward is the ward of the Vice President. We have been victims of blackmail but I thank Allah that I’ve been vindicated.”

    For weeks in Kaduna, there have been unconfirmed rumour of the buying and selling of PVCS.

    Until now, no person has been arrested.

    The public have been advised to desist from either buying or selling PVCs.

  • We won’t go on strike, say police

    Policemen in Ondo State have disassociated themselves from the rumours that police officers are planning to embark on strike over poor welfare package.

    The officers, who spoke at a briefing by the Commissioner of Police, Isaac Eke, also passed a vote of confidence on the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba and Eke.

    A statement by the spokesman, Wole Ogodo, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, said the IGP’s determination to prioritise police officers’ welfare was sacrosanct.

    The statement reads: “Reacting to the rumoured strike, the officers and men ranging from constable, corporal, sergeant and inspector ranks, declared that they were not part of the purported action.

    “They pledged their support for IG Abba and Commissioner Eke, thereby committing to maintaining peace in the state.”

  • Gunshot victims now to be treated without police report, say Reps

    Victims of gunshot wounds will henceforth be treated without Police report, the report on a Bill for an Act to make Provisions for the Compulsory Treatment and Care for the Victims of Gunshot and Other Matters Connected Therewith has said.

    House of Representatives members adopted the report last Thursday.

    The report, which was sponsored by Nkiruka Onyejeocha (PDP, Abia), Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, was passed and adopted after consideration at the Committee of the Whole.

    Mrs Onyejeocha,  arguing the bill, said: “The issue of conditional access to medication by victims of gunshot in Nigeria has generated thorny arguments among scholars, policy makers, medical practitioners and the general public.”

    “The central thesis of the argument from all sides revolves around the issue of saving lives vi’s-avis the provision of the extant law”.

    According to her, the misinterpretation of the provision of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act, Cap 398 of 1984 has been largely responsible for the refusal of medical practitioners to attend to gunshot victims which often time leads to loss of innocent lives.

    The lawmaker said passing the bill will give unrestricted access to medical services by victims of gunshots; as well as strengthen legal provisions and guarantee peoples’ fundamental rights to life and dignity of their persons.

    A legislation with 18 clauses, the bill covers all aspects of gunshot injuries and the circumstances thereto if signed into law will make it mandatory for medical facilities to attend to individuals with such injuries without recourse to police report or approval for the purpose of saving lives. However, immediate notification must be made to the police regarding such cases.

    “Despite the Act providing that, it shall be the duty of any person, hospital or clinic that admits, treats or administers drug to any person suspected of having bullet wounds to immediately report the matter to the police, medical institutions in Nigeria have severally refused to attend to victims of gunshot requesting such victims to produce police report.

    “The refusal of hospitals and other medical facilities to attend to gunshot victims amounts to a negation of the fundamental human rights of those victims to life as enshrined in the relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”, she said.

    Clause 1 of the bill states: “As from the commencement of this Bill, every hospital in Nigeria whether public or private shall accept or receive for immediate and adequate treatment with or without clearance any person with a gunshot wound.

    According to Mrs. Onyejeocha, the refusal to treat victims of gunshot also amounts to a negation of the ethics and oath of the medical profession (to save lives) which practitioners swore to keep.

    Hospitals denying the provision of medical care and attention to gunshot victims until police report is produced, as it is the practice in Nigeria is not supported by cross-country experiences in places such as the United Kingdom and Canada,” she noted.

    Clause 4 of the bill states:  “It shall be the duty of any hospital that receives any person with gunshot wound to report the fact to the nearest police within two (2) hours of commencement of treatment”.

    While Clauses 5 and 6 of the bill give the police power to immediately begin investigation into the circumstances surrounding the gunshot upon receipt of a report from the hospital authority; and must not take the victim away from the facility until it is certified by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital that the victim is fit enough to leave and is in no further need of Medicare.

    A penalty of six months imprisonment is stipulated by clause 7 of the Bill for doctors who fail to notify the police of such cases and a fine of N100,000 (hundred thousand) on any erring hospital. Clause 9 recommends five years imprisonment with a N50,000 (fifty thousand) fine on anyone who willfully withholds information from the police authority.

     

  • Access Bank, police partner on fraud control

    Access Bank, police partner on fraud control

    Access Bank Plc and the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday reiterated their joint commitment in effective fraud investigation and control.

    Speaking yesterday at a training organised by the bank for compliance officers and PSFU officers in Lagos, the Chief Compliance Officer, Access Bank Plc, Pattison Boleigha reassured the Police of the lender’s continued support for the police during its investigations.

    He said that criminals have gone ahead of internal control officers and that it is only through effective collaboration with the police that their activities can be checked. He also said that Know Your Customer (KYC) policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the foundation of banking that should be followed.

    “KYC is the foundation of banking. You need to know who the customer is, before you will be able to meet his or her needs. Proper customer due diligence should come naturally in financial institutions. In Access Bank, KYC and extended due diligence processes, form a major cornerstone of our anti-money laundering and tracking financial terrorism programme,” he said.

    Bolegha explained that customer due diligence and knowing the beneficial owners of an account has been placed as a primary objective for every bank internal control system to achieve proper control within the system.

    He said the bank carries out a customer due diligence risk assessment to know the type of customers it wants to deal with and the right risk management system that would apply. “So, if we know that we don’t have the right risk management system to deal with a customer, we will not carry out transaction with such customer. This helps us to reduce the risk of KYC failure,” he said.

    The Deputy Commissioner of Police at PSFU, Ikoyi, Zubairu Muazu said the training for its officers is part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) implemented by the lender, aside several support extended to the lender last year.

    “Today’s training will enhance our job interface of preventing fraud and financial crimes. We believe that we need to come together and understand ourselves better to improve partnership between both parties,” he said.

    Muazu explained that effort of the police in fraud control is yielding positive results as fraud cases are declining. “Fraud cases are not rising. The cooperation between the police and the financial sector is getting better, and we are doing our best to reduce fraud in the system,” he said.

  • IYC kicks as police shoot Ijaw youth leader in Bayelsa

    IYC kicks as police shoot Ijaw youth leader in Bayelsa

    AN unidentified policeman has shot Kombowei clan’s Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mr. Bekikeme Oyinkuro, at a checkpoint on Igbogene Road in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.

    It was gathered that Oyinkuro and his fiancee were in a vehicle when they were shot at the checkpoint.

    The unidentified fiancee escaped but Oyinkuro was reportedly hit in the neck.

    Police spokesman, Asinim Butswat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the driver did not die as he was quickly rushed to the hospital.

    The spokesman said the victim was responding to treatment, adding that the police had arrested the corporal who shot him.

    He said the incident occurred on Sunday at 5pm, when the anti-crime patrol team at Igbogene was conducting a stop-and-search.

    Butswat said the team flagged down a Toyota Camry car, whose number plate was covered with a black wrapper with the inscription of the IYC’s Kombowei clan’s chairman.

    According to him, Oyinkuro refused to stop.

    The spokesman said the policeman, who suspected the occupant, attempted to shoot the tyre of the vehicle but missed his target. The bullet reportedly hit the driver in the neck.

    But IYC Worldwide, in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, condemned the shooting.

  • Suspected robbers kill one in Benue

    Suspected robbers kill one in Benue

    •Disarm police, attack bank

    Suspected armed robbers have invaded Vandeikya in Benue State, disarming a police officer and robbing a first generation bank.
    A witness said they blocked Vandeikya-Obudu Road, deflated the tyres of the vehicle of a security outfit, ‘Operation Zenda’, took a strategic position to avert any eventuality and headed for the bank.
    The suspected robbers disarmed the police officer on duty and carted away huge sums of money.
    It was learnt that during the operation, which lasted for over an hour, the suspected hoodlums shot dead one person and injured another, who has been hospitalised.
    A man, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that the bandits later drove towards Vandeikya-Korinya City Road to Konshisha Local Government.
    Residents converged on the bank premises to discuss the incident.
    The police in the Vandeikya Division and the bank manager refused to comment on the incident.