The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Suspect

  • Court remands suspect for impersonation 

    An Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court in Osun State has remanded a 53-year-old man, Tajudeen Bamigbola, in Ilesa Prison for alleged impersonation to secure freedom of a monarch on trial.

    The Magistrate, Mrs. Olubukola Awodele, ordered the remand of the man after he pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of impersonation and false testimony.

    Awodele described the offences as grievous and ordered that the convict remains behind bars until September 25 for sentencing.

    The prosecutor, Joshua Oladoye, told the court that the accused committed the offences on September 5, about 10 am., on the premises of Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court 2.

    He alleged that the accused falsely presented himself as Bamigbola Azeez (deceased), to secure the freedom of Oba Akadiri Okanola and four others on trial in a land dispute.

    Oladoye said the accused intentionally committed the offences by giving false testimony to secure the freedom of Oba Okanola.

    He said the offences contravened sections 117 and 484 of Criminal Code Cap 34, Vol. 11, Laws of Osun State, 2003.

    Counsel to the accused, Mr. Abimbola Ige, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing the convict.

  • I smuggle marijuana because I cannot engage in robbery – Suspect

    A 43-year-old man Okafor Secopter has told police that he ventured into smuggling of marijuana (Indian hemp) in Lagos, because he could not do armed robbery.

    Police sources said the suspect was arrested by the Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) while on routine patrol at Isheri Berger area of Lagos, on August 28, 2017.

    It was learnt that Okafor was intercepted with a Ghana-must-go bag at Isheri Berger area which contained Indian hemp weighing over 20 kilogramme.

    The suspect allegedly confessed to the ownership of the hard drug.

    Confessing, Okafor said:  “I am a smuggler. I was into smuggling business. I used to smuggle marijuana because I cannot do armed robbery job. Smuggling is the only business I know how to do well.

    The country is too tough and rough. I cannot kill my fellow human beings to get money. Leave matter for Mathias. I cannot do armed robbery and I cannot do kidnapping. I do not have the mind to do obtaining by false pretense aka 419 or big fraud. I cannot operate dangerous gun.

    I am hustling to get what I and my family will eat. It is not a crime. I have to take care of my family.

    “I was buying and selling foreign rice before the government banned foreign rice importation. As if that was not enough, the bags of rice in my shop were seized and for me to survive I started smuggling marijuana. I used to buy it from Benin, Edo State. It was when I was carrying the bag of Indian hemp to Lagos that police on patrol saw me at Isheri Berger area and stopped me. When they opened the bag to know what I was carrying they saw marijuana and they said I was under arrest. It is not my fault. The country is tough.

  • RRS nabs wanted robbery suspect

    RRS nabs wanted robbery suspect

    A Rapid Response Squad (RRS) has arrested a 20-year-old man, Ahmed Lateef, who has been on the police wanted list for armed robbery. He was arrested on Saturday morning while returning from an alleged robbery in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Lateef, a.k.a ‘Ajona’ was said to have confessed that he participated in robberies in Lagos, Oyo and Ogun states.

    The suspect, who is from Osogbo, the Osun State capital, was quoted by RRS as saying that he participated in two robbery operations twice a week in company of Enu–Ose, his associate.

    Lateef, according to RRS, said they went to Kuto in Abeokuta to burgle a computer and phone retail outlet. He was arrested with a motorbike marked OGUN:MEK 339 WM, which he also confessed to have stolen in Kuto.

    The suspect said there was ready buyers for every stolen item such as jewellery, phones, motorcycles and lap tops.

    His gang, he allegedly told interrogators usually hired metal cutters in Mushin for N10,000 per operation.

    He listed other gang members as Noah, Segun, Lekan, Ishan– Idi, Rilwan, Shile, Ege and Jandor.

    Two of his gang members, Seyi Adebayo, 26 and Saheed Funsho, 23, and two receivers of stolen items have been moved to the Lagos State Task Force at Oshodi for prosecution.

  • Policemen sold guns to me, says suspect

    Policemen sold guns to me, says suspect

    A 52-year-old United States of America (USA) based Nigerian arrested for illegal possession of firearms yesterday said some policemen sold the guns to him. The suspect, Mr. Ailabojie Aikpaojie, was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja after he was found with three pump action rifles. According to the police, he was arrested by the Area D Commander, Mushin, on Tuesday for illegal possession a Beretta pistol. The police said he was arrested around 3pm on June 22, at block 52, plot 19m, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. They said: “He was arrested with a Parabellium Baretta pistol with nine 9mm live ammunition.

    He could not give a satisfactory account of where he got them from. Another search in his house led to the recovery of three long single barrel pump action guns with 250 cartridges. The suspect would soon be charged to court for unlawful possession of firearms.” According to the suspect, he bought the pistol in the US and brought it to Nigeria in error while shipping some personal effects.

    Aikpaojie said the three pump action rifles were sold to him by policemen attached to the command headquarters, adding that he also bought ammunition from the command’s armourer. He said: “I don’t know why the police are parading me like a common criminal. I applied to the force for three rifles. The officers who facilitated the purchase of the riffles called the seller and he came to meet us at the Command Headquarters, Ikeja. “He sold each one for N150,000.

    The police asked me to apply for a permit for the rifles which I did. They gave me the permit and I went away with the three rifles. “I bought the rifles because we had crisis in my village and as a businessman, I found it necessary to arm myself. I am into haulage. Whenever I am in the country and travel to the village, I often go with some policemen. “I bought the pistol found on me in the US. I am an American citizen, I mistakenly shipped the pistol found on me on the day I was arrested along with some personal effects. “I came into Nigeria nine days ago. I found the pistol tucked under a sofa in my house in Lagos and I was on my way to the station to find out from the police what to do with it.

    If I can keep it or not. “What happened was that I stopped over somewhere at Mushin to buy plantain and I did not know that the Area Commander was standing behind me and he was asking me to stop. As I made to reverse my car, some policemen pounced on me. “It was then they found the pistol strapped to my trouser. They asked me all manner of questions and I told them how I got it. They took me to my house where the found the other three guns, I have valid license for the three rifles. The Area Commander had taken the license from me.”

  • Prosecutors: Dortmund bus attack suspect acted out of greed

    A 28-year-old German-Russian citizen took out a five-figure loan to bet that Borussia Dortmund shares would drop, then bombed the soccer team’s bus in an attack he tried to disguise as Islamic terrorism in a scheme to net millions, German officials said yesterday.

    The suspect, identified only as Sergej W. in line with German privacy laws, was arrested by a police tactical team early yesterday near the southwestern city of Tuebingen, federal prosecutors said.

    “We are working on the assumption that the suspect is responsible for the attack against the team bus of Borussia Dortmund,” prosecutors’ spokeswoman Frauke Koehler told reporters.

    She said the man came to the attention of investigators because he had made “suspicious options purchases” for shares in Borussia Dortmund, the only top-league German club listed on the stock exchange, on the same day as the April 11 attack. We had taken out a loan of “several tens of thousands of euros” days before the attack and bought a large number of so-called put options, betting on a drop in Dortmund’s share price, she said.

    “A significant share price drop could have been expected, if a player had been seriously injured or even killed as a result of the attack,” according to prosecutors, though Koehler said the precise profit W. might have expected was still being calculated.

    Ralf Jaeger, the top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, said the suspect had hoped to earn millions.

    “The man appears to have wanted to commit murder out of greed,” Jaeger said.

    Investigators found notes at the scene claiming responsibility on behalf of Islamic extremists, which Germany’s top security official, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, said was a “particularly perfidious way to toy with people’s fears.”

    He said the suspect had been under close surveillance for about a week and that the evidence against him was significant.

    “The fact that someone wanted to enrich himself by killing people to influence the stock market is particularly reprehensible,” he said.

    The suspect faces charges of attempted murder, causing an explosion and serious bodily harm, and was due to appear before a judge yesterday  to determine if there was enough evidence against him to keep him in custody, Koehler said.

  • Pickpocket suspect held

    Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives have arrested a pickpocket suspect who claimed to be an expert in stealing.

    ‘Dayo Skippo’ reportedly told the RRS decoy team after his arrest that he has been in the illicit trade for long.

    He told RRS that it is the current economic situation that led him into the crime.

    The suspect, a secondary school dropout, explained that his victims lose their valuable at the slightest contact with him.

    “I can use my head to remove anything from your body. I will just pretend as if I know you somewhere and in the process of giving you salutations, your item is gone,” RRS quoted him as saying.

    He said he worked in a group, which comes to his aid if the victim becomes suspicious.

    A victim, who narrated his encounter with the suspect, said: “I went to Ikeja Computer Village’ to see a friend. After seeing him and on my way to the bus park, someone hugged me from behind and later apologised to me when I told him I didn’t know him. Before I could look around again, I discovered my phone was gone already and the guy was nowhere to be found.

    “I went back to my friend’s shop almost immediately to track my iPhone and the location I saw was that my phone was already on Lagos Island.”

    Police spokesperson Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent (ASP), said the suspect had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) at Panti, Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

  • Suspect denies raping girl, 13

    • ‘She’s my fiancée; I’ve paid part of her dowry’

    A 42-year-old man accused of defiling a 13-year-old girl, yesterday said he planned to marry her and had paid part of the bride price.

    According to him, he had paid N64, 000 of the N84, 000 dowry.

    Lucky Emmanuel, a trader, who lives at Ilaje in Ajangbadi, Lagos, was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command yesterday by Police chief Fatai Owoseni.

    The suspect said he had been dating the victim for eight months, adding that she told him that she was 18-years-old.

    Emmanuel was arrested after the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) informed the command about the teenager’s predicament.

    The victim, said to be a primary school pupil, at Ajangbadi, according to Owoseni, was taken to a hospital for check-up.

    Emmanuel, who claimed he was arrested for rebuffing her relatives move, to extort him, said he had given her money to undergo pregnancy test.

    He insisted that the girl’s mother was in the know of their relationship, but couldn’t state the woman’s residential address when asked to do so.

    The suspect said: “We have been dating for eight months and she told me she was 18 years. I have fulfilled some of the traditional rites required to marry her. I paid N20,000 for introduction and gave her father N64,000 out of the N100,000 demanded for other traditional rites. Her parents know that I have been taking care of the girl.

    “I was surprised when I received a call that the police were looking for me after the girl’s school authorities said that she is too young to get married.

    “It became clear to me when I found out that it was one of their relatives, who wanted to extort money from me that reported me to the school where my wife was attending.

    “I have met elders in her family three times. Her mother’s clothes which she gave me to mend because she wants to travel are still in my shop. I just feel sad that I am being treated this way after all I have done for the family.”

    A source said the girl’s parents denied knowing the suspect, adding that the victim usually sold plantain to the suspect.

    The victim, she claimed, went to sell plantain to the suspect when she was defiled and given N500.

  • I was misled to kidnap my mistress’ daughter, says suspect

    I was misled to kidnap my mistress’ daughter, says suspect

    A KIDNAP suspect, Grace John, yesterday alleged that she was deceived into kidnapping her mistress’ daughter by a man who claimed to be the child’s biological father.
    John, apprentice of Mrs. Oluwatobiloba Adebiyi, mother of Oluwasemilore, who was kidnapped in Lagos but found in Abia State, said one Samuel told her that the baby is his.
    John was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command yesterday with two other women, Rita Eze and Ugochi Nweke, who allegedly bought the girl from her.
    According to the apprentice, Samuel told her that Mrs Adebiyi got pregnant for him before marrying another man.
    She said in January, Samuel took her to the woman’s shop at Alagbado from where she took the child to a woman said to be her grandmother.
    John denied kidnapping other children across the state, insisting that she is not a kidnapper.
    The police said the child was sold to three persons for N500,000 and N600,000 before she was rescued in Aba, Abia State.
    But John said: “Samuel told me the woman is his former girlfriend who married another man and that he wanted to take his child from her for proper care. Samuel took me to the woman’s shop in Alagbado. I pretended that I wanted to learn bead making from her and we agreed on the modalities.
    “After seven days, I told the woman I was going to buy Gala and I took the girl with me to Kola Bus Stop where I met Samuel, who instructed me to take her to his grandmother in Onitsha, Anambra State, because he is in school.
    “The following day, I boarded a bus to Onitsha and met the woman (Rita Eze). I handed over the child to her and she gave me N60,000 for transport.
    “I never knew the child was not Samuel’s and I have never thought what I did was kidnapping. I just wanted to help a man who cried to me that his child is not being properly taken care of. I have not done it before.”
    Eze said she knew Samuel through an old classmate of hers, who told her they needed someone to take care of his child.
    She claimed after taking delivery of the child, Samuel told her to sell the girl and she did.
    The suspect said: “I met my old friend at an event in December and she told me her nephew (Samuel) has a child and that they needed someone to take care of the child.
    “She gave Samuel my number and he called to say his girlfriend will bring a child from Lagos. When Grace brought the girl, Samuel told me to sell the girl which I gave to Ugochi.
    “Ugochi gave me N500,000. I gave Grace N60,000 and took N40,000. I sent the rest to Samuel. I never knew him before, I thought the child was his. I never knew the child was kidnapped. I only accepted to help sell the child because I needed money to pay my house rent.”
    Nweke denied knowing the baby was kidnapped, adding that she did not collect a dime from the deal.
    She said she accepted to buy the baby for a friend of hers who has no child.
    Nweke said: “I told Rita if she has or knows any motherless child that I have someone who is in need of a child to adopt and she told me she will get back to me.
    “When she called me that she has the child, I asked if it is genuine and she said yes. I informed my friend who provided the money. I never took anything from the money. I handed everything to Rita.”
    Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni said the suspects would be prosecuted.

  • Surety arraigned over alleged failure to produce suspect

    A 50-year-old surety, Okechukwu Amaefuna, who allegedly aided the escape of a theft suspect, on Thursday appeared before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on a three-count charge.

    Amaefuna, whose residential address was not given, is standing trial for conspiracy and perversion of the cause of justice.

    The prosecutor, ASP Eshiet Eshiet, told the court that Amaefuna conspired with others at large to aid escape of one Kehinde Adetola for whom he stood as surety in  a case of theft of two trucks worth N30 million.

    Eshiet said that the surety committed the offences on Feb. 5, 2014, at 4:00p.m, at Zone 2 Police Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos.

    He said that Adetola was under investigation for stealing  at the police headquarters.

    “The accused stood as surety for Adetola at the police headquarters, and promised to produce him whenever he would be needed.

    “The accused failed to produce the suspect on Feb. 6, 2014 and subsequent dates,” Eshiet said.

    According to the prosecutor, the allegedly stolen  trailers, marked KRD 827 XD and KRD 828 XD, belong to Alhaji Jimoh Ibrahim of Jay Jibs Ventures.

    Eshiet submitted that the accused would be required to forfeit N10 million to the Lagos State Government or show why he would not forfeit the sum.

    He said that the offences contravened Sections 97, 132, and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The surety, however, pleaded not guilty.

    The magistrate, Mrs S. K. Matepo, admitted him to N1 million bail with two sureties in like sum.

    She said that the sureties must be blood relations of the accused and gainfully employed.

    The case has been adjourned till March 6 for mention.

  • I organised robbers to attack customs chief because I needed money for Xmas Suspect

    I organised robbers to attack customs chief because I needed money for Xmas Suspect

     A 33-year-old robbery suspect, Humphrey Aimodu, has confessed that he organised the armed robbery gang that recently robbed and killed an Assistant Superintendent of Customs, ASC Aliyu Adamu at Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos.

    The Edo State-born clearing and forwarding agent said he took the decision because he was broke and  needed money to “have a good time during the last Xmas and New Year celebration”.

    Aimodu’s atrocity came to light shortly after the kingpin of  the robbery gang he connived with,  was apprehended by the police.

    Police sources said the kingpin, Lucky Williams,  gave out Aimodu’s name as the mastermind of the attack on the customs chief during interrogation.

    He was also said to have confessed that one of his gang members, Bolaji, killed Adamu for not cooperating with them when they wanted to collect his bag containing money.

    Four other suspects: Fayero Egbato, Bolaji Taiwo, Samuel Akinjoye and Abraham Lots were also arrested in connection with the incident.

    In a chat with newsmen, the mastermind of the robbery incident, Aimodu said  he only contracted the robbers to rob the custom officer and not

    to kill him, adding that he told the boys not to use guns while robbing the officer. He said: “ It all started on December 20, 2016 when I was having a conversation with one of my colleagues, Edet Bassy, a clearing agent. I told him how broke I was since we weren’t working the way we used to as the price of Dollar has affected the volume of importation.

    I told him I had no money to celebrate the Christmas with my family and he suggested we could rob ASC Aliyu working at the Second Gate, where he checked and signed clearing documents. He told me that the man normally took N8million home daily and he had been monitoring the officer for a long time. He also said that sometimes, he observed that the man also changed the money to dollar so that it will be easy for him to carry. “He told me that he could not do the job because the man knew him and I also told him that the man knew me as well.

    Then, we settled that I should arrange some boys from outside who would do the job. I then called one of my friends known as Samson, an Ilaje boy, who lives in Tolu area of Agegunle, and I know that he is familiar with bad boys operating around Tolu. He then linked me to one Abraham Lots, who he said could do the job. By the evening of the next day, Lots sent two of his boys to me and he asked me to take them to the gate where the officer worked. I took them there and showed them the man.” He added: “After some hours, they told us that they could carry out the operation as they weren’t fully prepared. Then I told them not to use guns when they wanted to rob the man.

    On December 22, around 9pm, they called me and said that they had robbed the man and they asked me to meet them in Adidas field, Tolu . When Edet and I got there, we saw more than eight persons and I learnt that they made use of gun during the robbery incident. Then, I asked why they fired the man and they told me that the man tried to struggle with them when they wanted to snatch the bag and they shot him on the leg. “When they opened the bag, I saw N500,000, I took N50,000. The next day I heard that the customs officer was dead and he was killed by armed robbers.

    I sensed trouble and I stopped going to work.Then on the December 28, 2016, Samson called me and said some of the boys who carried out the robbery had been arrested by the police and he said I should not go to Tin-Can, that the police were looking for me. I went back home and moved my wife and children to Mowe Ibafo where I was eventually arrested on January 2017.

    It was the devil that led me into this.” Before Aimodu ended his statement, another suspect, Samuel Akinjoye, said: “I am a local fisherman and I am also into oil bunkering and that was where I met Lucky. I stay at Mogaji area of Ajegunle with my wife and children. Abraham Lots, who we normally call Ibro, called me and told me about the job then I called my friend, Lucky, and we all met Samson who gave us three days to do the job but I told them that I did not have a gun. When they took us to the man, I discovered that we could not rob the man with bare hands, we needed a gun.

    The next day, Lucky brought one Bolaji who had a gun and I took them to Samson and Lots and they told us not to kill the man that we should just collect the money from him and that I should get a motorcycle, while Lucky and Bolaji should get a speed boat which we would use for our escape. I took the bike to Second Gate and Humphrey asked us to wait for the man while he came out. While we waited, Humphrey informed us that the man was coming and I alerted Lucky, Bolaji, Ibro and Ochuko, who attacked the man. But before I got to where they were, I heard a gunshot.

    I didn’t know that the man was killed.” Another suspect, Lucky Williams, who was alleged to have snatched the bag containing the money from the customs officer, said: “ When we held the man, he was struggling with us and was fighting everyone. Bolaji was the one holding the gun. I didn’t know what came over him and he shot the man who then released the bag immediately. I ran with the bag and we all escaped through the waters to Tolu where we shared the money.

    I also got N50,000 as my share.” Contacted, NCS Public Relations Officer, Tin- Can Island Command, Uche Ejesieme, said the officer, until his death, was attached to the Ashaye exit gate of the port and was killed at about 10pm on his way home from work. He said:” The officer was blocked while on a bike around National Filling Station close to Tin- Can and the late officer had a little scuffle with the assailants while they attempted to snatch his back pack.

    His body has been transported to his home state in Kastina, for burial according to Islamic rites.” The Nation’s investigation revealed that following the report of the death of the customs officer, the Inspector General of Police, Idris Ibrahim, swiftly deployed his operatives at the IRT to trail and apprehend all the suspects involved in the killing. Sources disclosed that a mobile phone belonging to the deceased was trailed to Tolu area of Ajegunle and found on one Lucky Williams, who eventually confessed during interrogation to have taken part in the operation.