The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Suspected killers

  • Command nabs suspected killers of police officers

    About eight persons, who were allegedly involved in last Tuesday’s attack and killing of four police officers at Afuze, the headquarters of Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State, have been arrested.

    Gunmen had used Improved Explosive Devices (IED) to bomb the police station and set some vehicles ablaze.

    They took the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the station, Ojo Kosenami and three others to a room, stripped them naked before killing them.

    Other police officers killed were Sergeant Justina Aghomon, Inspector Sado Isaac and Corporal Glory David.

    Police sources told our reporter that the gunmen invaded the police station to release one of their gang members, who was arrested and detained by the late DPO.

    The sources said the leader of the gang offered money to the DPO for bail, but he turned it down and insisted that the case be transferred to the police headquarters for further investigation.

    Read also: Lagos demolishes 13 buildings

    Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media and Communication Strategy Mr. Crusoe Osagie said the feat achieved in arresting the suspects was based on the order to the Edo State Police Command by the governor to fish out the culprits.

    He said the suspects would be paraded today.

  • RRS nabs Uber driver’s suspected killers

    Two of five suspected killers of an Uber driver, Sunday Obasi, murdered on February 1, have been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad (RRS).

    The Nation gathered that the suspects, Humble Peter-Robert, 33, and Gideon Achibong, 36, were nabbed on February 4, at Aboki Estate, Lekki, three days after they allegedly committed the murder.

    The suspects and others identified as Emma, David and Dolapo were alleged to have killed the driver about 11pm while he was taking them to Ikate.

    They were said to have flagged down the driver, who was in his Hyundai Elantra car with registration number EPE676EC. He billed them N1,000.

    But midway into the journey, the suspects told the driver to park, saying they wanted to urinate. As soon as he obliged them, they hit him with a stone and killed him. They threw his body off the vehicle and drove away.

    It was learnt that the suspects went to Aboki Estate where they dismembered the vehicle and wanted to sell its parts to a scrap dealer when they were caught.

    A source said Police Commissioner Zubairu Muazu has directed RRS Commander Olatunji Disu to arrest other fleeing members of the gang.

    Peter-Robert, an ex-convict, confessed that they hit the driver with stones, despite his pleas that he was not feeling well.

    He said they planned to steal and sell the vehicle, adding that they had to swap the number plate of the deceased’s car with that of a Volkswagen Passat on Beach Road, Lekki, where they hid the stolen vehicle for two days.

    Peter-Robert said: “I was sitting in front of the car with the driver. We seized and hit him with stones several times. He complained that he was ill. We pushed him off the car, a wine colour Hyundai Elantra, and went away with the vehicle.

    “On the Beach Road where we parked the car, we swapped its number plate with that of a Volkswagen Passat car (FKJ 708 CA) parked close to it. We left it for two days hoping to contact a buyer.

    “Emma, also an UBER driver, is our leader. He noticed that the driver was operating offline and he decided that we should steal the car from him. The following day when one of us visited the scene where we stole the car, he noticed the man’s remains were already in police body bag.

    “We contacted Archibong to assist us in disposing of the car. The buyers we invited indicated that they could only buy the car parts. It was in the process of dismantling the car that RRS patrol vehicle spotted us and arrested two of us. Emma, Dolapo and David are on the run.”

    Confirming the incident, police spokesman Chike Oti said investigations were on to arrest other suspects.

  • Suspected killers of police officers held

    •Human part dealers nabbed

    Taraba State Police Command has arrested 25 suspects for crimes and recovered arms and ammunition.

    Three of the suspects are alleged killers of the three police officers and two members of a vigilance group, who were murdered on August 6.

    ASP Kilobas Iliya, SGT John Dogo and PC Joel Saleh with two members of a vigilance group were killed while responding to a distress call at Baum village in Lau Local Government of the state.

    Police Commissioner David Akinremi yesterday paraded the 25 suspects in Jalingo.

    The suspected killers of the policemen are Adamu Bakari, 23, Haruna Buba, 40 and Ali Musa, 40.

    The suspects confessed that about 20 of them were recruited by the Sarkin Fulani of Abari, Alhaji Ahmadu Baka, who gave them arms which they used to kill the deceased under the guise that they wanted to steal his (Baka’s) cows.

    One Berretta rifle, locally made pistols, cutlasses, charms and AK47 rifle stolen from the deceased officers were recovered.

    The police commissioner said efforts were being made to arrest the suspected sponsor and other members of the gang.

    Also paraded were three human part dealers, Kabiru Abubakar, 30, Abubakar Abdulmalik, 31 and Yahaya Danjuma, 35.

    Akinremi said the suspects were residents of Labdo in Jalingo.

    They were reportedly arrested when they approached a mortuary attendant at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jalingo, Umar Yunusa “and desperately requested for women’s private parts and hair for rituals.”

    “The suspects even deposited money. Detectives were informed, leading to their arrest”, the police boss said.

    Among the suspects was Hassan Isah, who was nabbed for impersonating a policeman.

    He was paraded in police uniform. He gave his (fake) number as 114653 and rank as constable.

    The suspect collected N400,000 from Auwalu Musa and N550,000 from two others, promising to help them recruit their children into the Nigeria Police Force. It turned out to be a scam and the matter was reported.

    Two brothers, Ungwanen Orhena, 22 and Mark Orhena, 18, were arrested for alleged vandalism of electricity cables at Sibre Alingora village.

    Akinremi said another suspect, Maldu Kwani, 45, was arrested for terrorising the residents of Bali, Ardo-Kola and neighbouring towns and villages through armed robbery, kidnapping and other crimes.

    Five suspected rapists were paraded.

    The police said they gang-raped women on the farms and little girls sent on an errand.

    Among the suspected rapists paraded was Victor Joshua, 23, who defiled a five-year-old girl.

    The police commissioner said the suspects would be arraigned after investigation.

     

  • Police arrest suspected killers of pastors

    Abia State Police Commissioner Anthony Ogbizi yesterday paraded the suspected killers of Pastor Blessed Iwuanyanwu of the Wind of Glory International Church, Ohokobe, Ndume, Abia State.

    They are Prosper Akachukwu, Ikechukwu Nnadi and Fidelis Akubuokwu.

    Items recovered from them include three gold plated wristwatches, seven ATM cards, three plasma TV sets, shoes and clothes.

    Ogbizi, addressing reporters, said Akachukwu, a childhood friend of the late Iwuanyanwu, was arrested through the efforts of the combined team of police operatives from the Abia State Police Command and Zone 9 Police Headquarters in Umuahia.

    Police operatives led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Patrick Edung, on October 20 found the decomposing bodies of Pastor Iwuanyanwu, his assistant, Pastor Ambassador Ikeagu Kalu and Pastor Ruth Andrews, the woman leader.

    Ogbizi said Sweeney Andrews reported the disappearance of one of the deceased (Pastor Andrews), her mother, at the Zone 9 Headquarters on October 16, after she had left their home with Pastor Iwuanyanwu on October 12 in his Infinity Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) registered  as RSH 583 HZ, for an unknown place.

    Ogbizi said: “Sweeney called her mother’s two mobile numbers, but they were unreachable. Somebody later phoned her that her mother, Pastor Iwuanyanwu and his assistant, Pastor Kalu had been killed. The police then began investigation.”

    The commissioner said a combined team of operatives from the zone and command, acting on a tip-off, traced the late Iwuanyanwu’s vehicle to Ohia mechanic village where the suspects took it to for repairs and nabbed Chubuike Peter, who was working on the SUV.

    He added that while Peter was in detention at Umuokpara Police Station, Akachukwu came to bail him and he was arrested.

    Akachukwu, who hails from Mbaise in Imo State, said Iwuanyanwu from Mbano in the same state was his childhood friend, adding that they both attended the same secondary school and started together as preachers.

    The suspect, who confessed to killing Iwuanyanwu, claimed that he once operated an evangelistic ministry in Aba before relocating to Abuja last year.

    He said he killed Iwuanyanwu because he allegedly abandoned him after helping him to grow his church through diabolic means.

    Akachukwu said: “Iwuanyanwu was my childhood friend. We were co-pastors. When he had challenges in growing his church, I took him to a juju doctor in Ondo State to get charms to attract members to his church and perform miracles. I also gave him N100,000 to support him during the trip.

    “When the charms started working and Iwuanyanwu started making money, he forgot me. That was why I killed him and stole his belongings.

    He said he hired three hoodlums from Aba to execute his plans.

    “I hired three boys from Aba to attack the pastor. We trailed him to his house and hid in the vicinity, with the intention to attack him at midnight.

    “I was outside his house when the boys started the operation. They invited me in when they finished. I found out that they had killed Iwuanyanwu and the two other people in the house,’’ Akachukwu said.

    The police commissioner said the suspects would be charged with murder after the arrest of the other suspects.

  • Police nab suspected killers of poultry farmer

    Oyo Police Command has arrested five suspected kidnappers for allegedly abducting and killing a poultry farm owner, Sunday Aladeniyi, after collecting ransom from the family.

    The body, according to the police, was recovered in a forest on Ijebu-Ode Road where the kidnappers dumped it.

    Commissioner Abiodun Odude, who yesterday paraded 24 suspected criminals at the Eleyele Police Headquarters, Ibadan described the suspected kidnappers as sons of Lucifer.

    He vowed to rid the state of criminals.

    The five suspects, Odude said, were arrested following a report made at Idi-Ayunre Police Division.

    He added that the Anti-Kidnapping Squad was mandated to arrest the suspects and rescue the victim, who, before then, had been killed by the suspected kidnappers.

    The suspects, who the police boss said would soon be arraigned, are Abdullahi Musa, 37; Isah Tambaya, 20; Yuguda Yusuf, 35; Aminu Ahmadu, 24 and Ojo John, 34.

    One of the suspects, Musa, who confessed to the crime, begged for leniency.

    Others narrated their roles in the kidnap and murder of the poultry farm owner.

    Musa said an employee of the victim, who was very close to him, invited other members of the gang, who are suspected herdsmen, to kidnap his boss, adding that they were given N20,000 each out of the ransom collected from the family.

    According to him, they had no intention to kill the poultry farmer until one of them raised the alarm that if allowed to go, he (Aladeniyi) would reveal their identities.

    Odude said the suspects were arrested on September 7 about 1830 hours by the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the command.

    The police also paraded nine students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, who were said to be suspected cultists allegedly involved in the killing of a fellow student, Olatunji Hammed, in Apete, Ibadan on August 27.

    Odude said a locally-made cut to size single barrel gun, two axes, cutlasses and charms were recovered from the suspected cultists.

  • Police kill two suspected killers of IG’s men

    The Kaduna State Police Command said yesterday that its officers killed those suspected to have killed men of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT) in Sabon Birni, Igabi Local Government.

    Acting Commissioner of Police Ahmad Kontagora, who addressed a news conference, said there had been a manhunt of the perpetrators.

    He said: “The success recorded in the fight against crime shows that on August 16, the IGP Special Tactical Squad (STS), with operatives from Operation Yaki, acted on intelligence and raided a robbers’/kidnappers’ hideout in Sabon Birni.

    “After a fierce gun duel with the bandits, two of them sustained injuries and were rushed to Barau Dikko Hospital for treatment, but were confirmed dead on arrival.

    “One AK-47 rifle and five live ammunition were recovered from the scene. Investigations show that the suspects belong to the gang of criminals terrorising Birnin Gwari, and are responsible for the death, last year, of Inspector Felix Yohanna attached to FSARS, who was killed at Walawa forest, and the four IGP- IRT personnel killed in an ambush at Jankasa.”

    Kontagora added that the command’s anti-kidnapping and FSARS squads, as well as the SIB, arrested seven kidnap suspects; eight robbery suspects; four suspected fraudsters and three burglary suspects.

    “Three AK-47 rifles, three magazines with 20 rounds of ammunition, two cars – Golf Wagon (ES 904 FST) and a Toyota Corolla (RBC 04 MQ) were recovered.”

    The police chief said the suspects made useful statements, are being investigated and would be prosecuted.

  • NURTW chief hails police for arrest of suspected killers

    NURTW chief hails police for arrest of suspected killers

    Lagos State Council of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has praised the police for arresting those believed to be behind the killing of some of its members.

    Its Chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, in a statement spoke on the parade of his  predecessor, Rafiu Akanni Olohunwa and Ade Lawyer by the police in connection with the killing of Ganiyu Ayinla (a.k.a. Piero) at Idumota.

    He thanked the police for doing their job, urging them  not to relent in their efforts to get to the root of the case. Agbede implored the police to ensure that those at large are also caught.

    According to him, Olohunwa had been expelled from the union following series of unlawful activities traced to him in the past.

    “You see, Olohunwa and some others got into our union through the back door, but after some time, their mission to cause confusion in the union was exposed and he was expelled from the union. His plans and that of his friends were to create tension and to force the state government to descend on the union.  We thank God that their mission has been exposed. We appeal to the Inspector-General of Police to go after all those suspended to be involved in the killing of our people. Police should help us get to the root of the matter. Our election is coming up next year and these people if allowed to remain in our midst would continue to cause more havoc,” he said.

  • Suspected killers of UNIBEN don remanded

    Three suspected robbers, who allegedly killed Prof. Paul Otasowie of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of Benin (UNIBEN), have been remanded in prison custody.

    The suspects, Okhumode Best popularly called Sexy, Osaze Oghogho known as Soul Taker and Okoro Junior aka Happy were arraigned at an Egor Magistrates’ Court.

    They were alleged to have robbed the professor of his white Samsung phone before killing him.

    The Magistrate, Mrs. Patricia Igho Braimah, declined jurisdiction over the matter and remanded the accused in prison custody.

     

  • Suspected killers murder husband, wife, four children

    Suspected killers have murdered a family of six – husband, wife and four children- in a dawn attack in their home at Atiba, Odogbolu, Ogun State.
    It was not clear last night what caused the killing of the man identified as
    Sheik Yusuf Abdulsalam Tanimola, his wife and four children.
    The Nation learnt two of the children were two-year-old twins.
    Neighbours were shocked to see the victims in a pool of blood, a source said.
    Police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi said he was yet to get the victims’ names, adding: “They were killed overnight.”
    He said the divisional police officers in Odogbolu and neighbouring towns have been mobilised to the victims’ home with the operatives of the Federal Special Anti- Robbery Squad (FSARS) and the Homicide to unravel the motive behind the killing.

  • Police parade suspected killers of American soldier

    Police parade suspected killers of American soldier

    The police in Imo State yesterday paraded the suspected killers of an American veteran soldier, Oscar Okebata, who was robbed and murdered in Atta, Ikeduru Local Government Area on January 12.

    Also paraded was a police sergeant, Iseke Koradam, who was arrested at a hospital in Oke – Uvuru in Aboh, Mbaise Local Government while attempting to steal a baby.

    The Commissioner of Police, Taiwo Lakanu, said Osondu Chukwu (29), Uchechukwu Stanley (30), Onyekachi Kelvin Nwoke (28) and Uchendu Promise (40) were apprehended with evidence  showing they murdered the veteran, who was in the state for the Yuletide.

    The police commissioner said the suspects allegedly sold the victim’s Samsung Note 5 phone at N125,000, which led to their arrest.

    He said: “The suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of Oscar Okebata of Achi Mbieri in Mbaitoli Local Government Area, an American veteran solider who returned home for the Yuletide.

    “The victim’s Samsung Note 5 phone was sold at N125,000, leading to the arrest of the suspected masterminds.”

    The police commissioner said Koradam and his gang had confessed and would be charged to court soon.

    “On February 22, Rev. Erancisco Emeh, Chinedu Ubah (30) and Ifeoma Joseph (27) were arrested at Orient Hospital in Oke-Uvuru Aboh Mbaise Local Government while trying to steal a baby from the hospital.

    “They have since confessed to the crime, alleging that they planned to steal the baby in connivance with a police sergeant, Iseke Koradam.

    “On February 18, Emeka Onyema (19), Nduka Chekwube (22) and Dera Ebuka (22) attacked a recharge card dealer, Ubahaeze Awo, in Idemili Orsu Local Government and stole recharge cards valued at N300, 000, his car key, one phone, one Qlink 150 motorcycle and N150, 000.

    “The suspects have made useful statements and are helping the police in its investigation.

    “On February 8, operatives arrested a notorious robbery syndicate which trailed the victim after he had withdrawn some money from a bank at Amakohia in Owerri North Local Government.

    “They were apprehended as they used a master key to damage the driver’s side door of the victim’s black Toyota Land Cruiser in an attempt to remove the money from the car.

    “The suspects are Chibuzo Amankwe, Prince Igbo Williams, Enwereazu Ibe and Uchenna Ononugbo all of Agwa in Oguta Local Government.

    “They are helping the police in their investigation.

    “On February 14, following a tip-off, operatives arrested Okwudiri Aluo (35) of Obiti in Ohaji Local Government while on a robbery operation with his gang members.