The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Task force

  • Task force moves to re-arrest directors of failed banks

    Task force moves to re-arrest directors of failed banks

    THE Task Force on the Implementation of the Failed Bank Act has decided to re-arrest directors and officers of licensed banks, who committed banking malpractices and absconded from prosecution.

    A statement from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) said the decision to re-arrest and prosecute the directors was because “the task force noted that some of those accused persons had sneaked back into the country in the hope that their prosecutions might have been terminated”.

    It is against this background that the task force gave the notice that such accused persons would be re-arrested and prosecuted to serve as a warning to other bank offenders.

    The statement added that the body will leave no stone unturned to ensure that erring bank offenders were brought to book.

    The task force, at its 38th meeting on March 13, reviewed two cases of closed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) involving their former directors.

    One of the closed cases under prosecution was FRN vs. Prince Adekunle Adeyeba & Ors. The accused persons, who were erstwhile directors of the closed Gulf Bank of Nigeria Plc, were facing trial over banking malpractices involving N15.1 billion of depositors’ funds.

    The task force also reviewed about 16 criminal cases being prosecuted under the Failed Banks Act in which prosecution had been stalled because the accused persons jumped bail and absconded from the country in the heat of their investigation and prosecution. The sureties that took them on bail had also disappeared.

    It would be recalled that the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act 1994 (Failed Banks Act) was promulgated to recover debts owed to failed banks, which had remained outstanding as at the date the banks were closed or declared failed.

    It was also aimed at prosecuting directors and officers of licensed banks, who had committed banking malpractices.

    On December 28, 1998, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice constituted the task force.

    The objective of the task force was to co-ordinate the different agencies involved in implementation of the criminal aspects of the Failed Banks Act to achieve heightened police investigation and prosecution of suspects under the Failed Banks Act.

  • Task force arrests fake soldier at Lekki

    Task force arrests fake soldier at Lekki

    Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) operatives have arrested a man Mr. Usman Yaya described as a fake soldier, for allegedly obstructing them from performing their duties around Lekki.
    Its chairman, Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said the suspect was arrested on Monday evening during the demolition of shanties used by miscreants and hoodlums around White Sand School, Lekki.
    Egbeyemi said Yaya assaulted a para-military officer attached to the agency.
    The suspect, he said, wore an army cap on mufti and impersonated a Staff Sergeant.
    Investigations, he said, revealed that the suspect had been terrorising people around the area.
    The suspect has been charged to court.
    According to Egbeyemi, Yaya, 27, from Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State confessed that he stole the army cap from his brother in Abuja. The suspect, he added, claimed to have been extorting money from people since he came to Lagos in February.

  • Reps task Buhari on herdsmen attacks in Benue herdmen, Ife

    Reps task Buhari on herdsmen attacks in Benue herdmen, Ife

    The House of Representatives has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately set up a Task Force to disarm herdsmen that attacked Buruku communities in Benue State that led to loss of lives and destruction of property last week.

    In addition, the Presidency was advised, to as a matter of urgency investigate the reason behind the Ile Ife clash between Hausas and their Yoruba host that also led to loss of lives.

    The lawmakers urged the Federal government to advise Osun State to pay compensation to the victims in addition to cleaning up arms in the community and withdraw unlicensed weapon in the country at large.

    While condemning the 10th March, 2017 attack on Buruku, the lawmakers opined that the attackers may have been encouraged by lack of action on the part of the Federal government over past attacks.

    As a consequence, the House is setting  up an ad hoc Committee to meet with heads of security agencies to explain the reasons behind their inability to stop the attacks.

    The decision followed the adoption of a motion by Emmanuel Oker-Jev (APC, Benue) and 10 others, who expressed concern that on Friday 10 march, 2017, the invading herdsmen became violent and destructive, created fear and tension which forced residents of most communities in Binev Council Ward to flee their homes.

    According to him, the herdsmen destroyed farms, plundered yam barns and looted houses deserted by innocent and armless villagers.

    He said: “On Saturday 11 March, 2017 the marauding herdsmen started indiscriminate attacks and killings of anybody they encountered around the communities of Ber Awuna, Dogo, Ortese – Mbashian, Tse Igyu, Tse Gebe, Anbighir, Tse Iwa, Gbaikyo, Agudu, Nyorum, Shonto and Abuku in three major kindreds of Mbade, Mbagoho, Mbashian, Mbaboor and Wuav.

    “These violent attacks continued unabated without any intervention from any security agency throughout that Saturday and 20 people were reported killed by these armed herdsmen, out of which 10 bodies have so far been recovered and deposited at the local Government”.

    According to him, the strange herdsmen, who were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons, seemed to be operating or supported by a killer squad of mercenaries that arrived the communities on Friday night on motorcycles and unleashed the mayhem the following day.

    “The worst part of it is the attitude of security agencies once the crisis starts. They stand afar and they seem not to be interested.

    “Now, we have reached the stage where it seems the Nigerian State is asking us to defend ourselves”, he added.

    Tarkihgir Dickson (APC, Benue) condemned the Presidency for not not reacting to past attacks, saying the attackers were encouraged by that silence.

    “The president has said nothing and in my place, silence means consent. When we set up a committee we shouldn’t only send them to Benue State. The committee should go and ask the President what he is going to do”, Dickson said.

    Mark Gbilah (APC, Benue), who said it was Fulani herdsmen that carried out the attack however regretted that the Nigerian military failed in its responsibility to protect the citizens.

    He said going by the claims of a government officials that foreign herdsmen were responsible for similar attacks around the country, then Nigerian military has been
    irresponsible by failing to check the invasion of Nigeria by the foreigners disguising as herdsmen.

    However Baballe Bashir (APC, Kano) said it would be unfair to blame Fulani herdsmen for the attacks without sufficient evidence linking them to the violent acts.

    On his part, Magaji Aliyu (APC,  Jigawa) urged that all criminals acts be categorised as such, saying, “We must refer to these people as hoodlums and find out which interests are behind these groups and who arms them”.

    In its resolution, the House also urged the National Emergency management Agency (NEMA) to send food and other relief materials to the affected communities.

    Similarly, Sani Zorro (APC, Jigawa) in his motion on the Ife clash noted that concerted efforts must be made to stop a reoccurrence.

    In their contributions, while Israel Famurewa (APC, Osun) said past Ife/Modakeke clashes have militarised the area and there is a need to clean up the arms in the area, Egho Oghene (PDP, Lagos) nited it has become necessary that the Inspector General of Police  (IGP) be engaged and advised on the need to set up quick response team that will react to distress calls within six hours.

    Albert Adeogun (APC, Osun) it was wrong to classify it as a communal clash because it was  an incidence that was misinterpreted.

    According to him, the relationships between the two have made it difficult to differentiate between them due to their deep cultural affinities.

    He cited the case of the Seriki of Sabo that was born in Ife and now over 60 years of age, adding that intermarriage is common between the two groups.

    Ali Madaki (APC, Kano) said the unfortunate clash was as a result of failure of the  leadership that could not deliver on their responsibilities of protecting the  lives and property of the citizenry.

    Saying that action must be taken immediately to check the exodus of Hausas from Ife, the lawmaker said the incidence might have been averted if mainstream media had provided  adequate coverage.

    The two motions were unanimously adopted after being put to voice vote by the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Yussuff Lasun.

     

  • Task force arrests four in Oshodi raid

    Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) operatives yesterday arrested four persons with a laptop suspected to have been stolen.
    In a statement, the task force said the suspects were arrested at Oshodi Under Bridge by its monitoring team.
    They are Ojo Olaomo, 21, Damilare Balogun, 20, Ola Akinwunmi, 25, and Nurudeen Okiki, 22.
    According to the agency, the suspects specialised in dispossessing people of their valuables, such as phones, laptops, necklaces, wrist-watches and ear-rings.
    It said they were arrested after snatching a laptop from a woman who simply identified herself as Mrs Adebambo at Oshodi Under Bridge.
    The agency said the suspects would be charged to court.
    It warned the public to be wary in buying stolen items as fairly used.
    It quoted Akinwunmi as saying that he is a member of “a four-member gang” which sells stolen items as fairly used at either the Computer Village in Ikeja or Obalende.
    Okiki, it added, said he did not partake in stealing goods, claiming that he only coordinates how every stolen items would be supplied to Computer Village at Ikeja or Obalende.

  • Plank sellers cry out over task force ‘invasion’

    Plank sellers in Akowonjo, Lagos, yesterday cried out over what they called “incessant harassment” by task force officials

    They alleged that the officials came to their Sawmill again on Wednesday to remove numbers-plates of cars parked at Pako bus stop.

    The Nation reported on Monday that the officials stormed the area on January 15 and removed the car number-plate of Mr Adebayo Fowosere whose vehicle broke down on the road-side.

    Fowosere and Sawmill, Ona Ara Black Market Vice Chairman, Mr Tunde Olatieye were arrested. They reportedly paid N66,000 to bail themselves.

    The plank sellers said they did not move close to the operatives during the operation, which lasted for about 30 minutes to avoid the Fowosere and Olatieye experience.

    A victim, Mr. Colomobus Ogbe, alleged that the officials removed the number plate of his parked at a bus stop on Shasha Road.

    “I just came back from the market when the task force officials blocked our vehicles, removed our number plates and went with them. We were afraid to talk to them because we didn’t want to be put inside the Black Maria, like they did to two of our people the last time they came around,” he said.

    Mr Opeyemi Ajide, said six car number plates were removed, with one of them belonging to his brother.

    “The task force officials removed the number-plates from two cars, two buses and two pick up vans.  The vehicles were parked where we normally park our cars at Pako bus stop. But the task force officials came to the area around 9am and just started removing the number-plates. After removing the number-plates, they drove off. They said we should come to their office to claim our number-plates. They were in the area for about 30 minutes. We did not confront them while they were removing the number-plates because we did not want them to beat, injure, or arrest us like they did in January. Due to this, we all left them hoping that when they remove it, we will spend N20,000, the payment for the return of each number plate, instead of being arrested, beaten and get bail of almost N70,000,” he said.

  • How task force assaulted me, by driver

    How task force assaulted me, by driver

    A truck driver, Adebayo Fowosere, has alleged that he was beaten up by some Lagos State task force officials on January 15.
    Fowosere, who operates in Sawmill area of Akowonjo, Lagos, said he and Tunde Olatieye, Vice-Chairman of Sawmill, Ona Ara Black Market, were assaulted because his truck broke down on the road side.
    Fowosere told The Nation that he paid N66,000 bail after they spent about seven hours in the Black Maria. He said the officials of the Lagos State Mobile Court (Task Force) also damaged his phone, which he repaired for N15,000.
    He said: “On January 15, I was driving my truck in Road, Pako Bus stop, Sawmill area of Lagos State. I parked the truck because it was over floating; I opened the bonnet and went to get water to pour into the carburettor. The next thing I saw was that the task force officials and the Black Maria parked in front of my truck, and asked why I parked that way. I told them that my truck was over floating, so I had to park to fix it. The next thing was that they slapped me; they said I should bring my car keys, which I did not want to.
    “Olatieye came to the scene and asked them to leave me having explained what happened to the vehicle. They pushed him inside the gutter, slapped and beat him. They also beat me and damaged my phone which I bought for N45,000. I had to fix the broken screen for N15,000. The back cover of the phone which they also broke is yet to be fixed because I don’t have money. They took us inside the Black Maria, released tear gas, beat me again and used their gun to injure my leg. They just threw me inside the Black Maria like a goat and hit my head on the vehicle We were there from 9am to 4pm. I was the one that paid the N66,000. My vice only told them to leave me and they put him in the Black Maria. They removed my number-plate. The beating was too much.
    “While in the Black Maria, they gave me my phone. I called some of my friends to borrow me money. They all gathered the money for our bail. They carried us to the mobile court. They charged me N16,000 and my vice N50,000 for doing nothing. From the mobile court, they took us to the Local Government office at Akowonjo area and later to the task force office in Oshodi. We spent about another N4000 to transport ourselves back to Sawmill and to transport myself to Oshodi the next day to collect my number plate,” he said.

  • Idi-Oro residents, task force trade words over attack

    Idi-Oro residents, task force trade words over attack

    The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) has drawn the ire of some Idi-Oro residents for its alleged arbitrariness.
    The residents criticised the task force for alleged brutality and unjust treatment of the community by some of its officials.
    They claimed that the task force destroyed their personal effects, their businesses and brutalised them at gun point. But, the task force denied the allegations, saying it went after miscreants and not those doing their lawful business.
    The residents are still counting their losses over the task force’s raid on the community last Monday.
    They claimed that the task force attacked innocent people following a disagreement with National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) members at Olosha last Monday.
    Things got to a head when a driver simply named Otoriona was shot. His death on the way to the hospital sparked his colleagues’ anger.
    The task force was said to have besieged Ido-Oro inner streets of Akala, Anifowose and Buraimo, among others, and arrested people under the guise of looking for those who destroyed its van.
    A food vendor, Mrs. Yetunde Lawal, popularly called “Iya Ikimo” on Anifowose Street lost about N200,000 to the attack.
    “They came here on Monday when I had just finished cooking different types of fish, rice and soup. Then we suddenly heard they were fighting on the main road. Shockingly, they besieged my tent and began throwing my goods into the gutter. They wasted a big cooler of rice and poured stew on it. The 25litres of palm oil I wanted to cook with was thrown away. The meat I fried to sell that day was whisked away. In summary, all I had was destroyed that day. The thrift collection of N20,000 cash that I just received was taken with a bag and phone. They pointed their guns at me and ordered that people be shot. I laid flat on the floor begging God to save my life. The government should please save us from them. This is where I get money to send my four children to school. I don’t have a husband or any assistance from anywhere,” she said.
    A woman who simply identified herself as Alhaja Rafiat said she fell unconscious when tear gas was released around her house.
    Reliving her ordeal, she said: “My children had barely gone to school when people began to run helter-skelter and we stayed indoors. In less than five minutes, the task force officials stormed here and started destroying our things. The tear gas released in front of the house left me unconscious. At that time my generator was working because I was ill and I’m a hypertensive patient. They went there and disconnected my generator. That was when I felt intense heat within my system. Along the line, they went to the other windows and released another tear gas. I woke up at the hospital. The same manner I fainted at home was exactly how my child also fainted in school. If I knew it would be this bad, I would have taken the picture of the official who released the tear gas and destroyed my things.”
    A teacher at Sanni Thomas Memorial School where about five pupils fainted, claimed he was brutalised when he challenged the task force.
    Abel who teaches basic four pupils said: “We were about to write our mid-term test around 9:15am when we heard noise. We suddenly saw an explosion of tear gas. We tried to get the children out of the school but the place was very bad. I confronted the officials telling them there is a school here and throwing of tear gas is very bad. They said our people caused it. I was very mad but they refused to hear me out. They arrested me saying I was trying to teach them their job. I was beaten. Everywhere was turbulent. But some people came to help rescue the kids especially those that fainted.”
    A trader on Akala Street, said: “The fight was between commercial bus operators and the task force. First of all, the bus operators do not operate within inner streets. So what is their problem? I lost two generating sets. We didn’t even flee but were trying to make them understand that we don’t have any business with what happened but instead, they unleashed anger on us.”
    Denying the allegations, the task force Public Relations Officer, Taofik Adebayo, said: “We were there to enforce the law that day but the boys in that area met us with full resistance. They destroyed our vehicle. Nobody was shot in the process, if not it would have been everywhere by now. Many of the guys in that area are very notorious and in fact pose a threat to the public. You cannot move around that area between 11pm and 12 midnight without being harassed. There are times our men go about their lawful duties and these boys would confront them with machetes, bottles and all sorts of arms. They unlawfully station themselves at junctions to extort drivers, which Governor Akinwunmi Ambode does not approve. We were not there to arm lay men but the miscreants. We didn’t shoot nor use tear gas.”

  • Task force arrests eight miscreants in Idi-oro

    Task force arrests eight miscreants in Idi-oro

    Lagos State Envitonmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) operatives yesterday arrested eight miscreants for attacking its operational vehicle around Idi-oro, Mushin, Lagos.
    Its Chairman, Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said in a statement that, the miscreants and hoodlums attacked the agency’s enforcement team and vandalised its operational vehicle.
    He said the miscreants usually attacked the agency’s enforcement team with dangerous weapons, such as broken-bottles, cutlasses, stones and iron-rod whenever it tried to enforce the Lagos State Road Traffic Law of 2012 around Akala and Idi-oro.
    Egbeyemi said Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni had directed that the miscreants be charged to court.
    The miscreants’ activities, he said, had become worrisome, adding that no government would allow innocent citizens to be terrorised.
    Those arrested include Ahmed Gafar, 31, Onuoha Cajetehan, 35, Lateef Hamsat, 40, Femi Adebayo, 34, Bello Olasukanmi, Yusuf Kazim, 2, Olalekan Alleluyah, 24 and Obina Emgba, 39.

  • Electrical engineer accuses task force of assault

    Electrical engineer accuses task force of assault

    •Mobile Court Coordinator: he fought our men

    Was an Electrical Engineer maltreated by Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Task Force) and its mobile court?
    Mr Ettu Mohammed claimed that he was assaulted by the government officials, but the mobile Court Coordinator, Mr Femi Alabi, denied the allegation.
    Mohammed, who lives on Akowonjo in Alimoso Local Government Area of the state, claimed that he was dragged on the road, beaten, injured in the eye and detained at the mobile court for over eight hours. He said he paid N50, 000 to bail himself.
    He said: “On January 25 around 7.45am, my wife called me that she was involved in an accident while taking my son to school in Akowonjo area. It was a multiple accident which involved five cars. I drove to the scene and parked my car about 20 metres from the scene and proceeded to evacuate my wife and son.

    IMG-20170212-WA0040
    “Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were on hand to clear traffic caused by the accident. After about an hour, some officials of the Lagos State Environment and Special Offences Enforcement Unit, drove to the scene, some of the officials jumped down from their car, moved towards my car and removed my car number-plate. I know my car was parked on the road side, but it was because I needed to be close to the accident scene to get my family into the car. I could not have parked far away from the scene.
    “I proceeded to meet the officials, tried to explain why I parked on the road side but they gave me no audience. My problem with the officials started when I took a snap shot of them with the different number plates they have removed from cars. Some of the officials immediately came down from their car; they ran into me and started beating me. I noticed my eyes were swollen and my phone was seized, they treated me like a criminal. I was later ordered to be detained by the Mobile Court judge in the Black Maria, leaving my family helpless at the accident scene. I was battered the second time and tear gassed, I was assaulted and I almost lost my life. We were about six people in the Black Maria.”
    According to him, there were three judges, two lawyers and a court clerk, in the Black Maria, “who will force one to plead guilty to charges or one goes to jail if one pleads not guilty.”

    the accident (2)
    Mohammed said: “I was coerced to plead guilty of whatever they accused me of, threatened with jail by the mobile court officials if I pleaded not guilty, and fined the sum of N50,000 which I paid before I was granted bail. They told me my fine was initially N250,000 or two years in jail or both. They were deliberating on my case as if I killed someone. I was coerced by almost 20 people to plead guilty to charges I never committed despite the fact that my wife and son were involved in a terrible accident which they were aware of.
    “I noticed they drove me to different parts of the state and removed car number plates. When they got to Iyana-Ipaja, the hoodlums in the area chased and prevented them from removing number plates of cars in the area, so they ran away. They later drove to Alimoso Local government.”
    “It took the intervention of LASTMA General Manager, Musa Olawale, the Sole Administrator of Alimosho Local Government and a member of the state executive council to release me after paying N50,000 for bail. They also deleted all the pictures on my phone.”
    Mohammed demanded justice, saying he wanted to know why a mobile court will force people to plead guilty or be jailed.
    “My offence is a traffic offence and I should not be charged with assault. I want to know why I was treated like a criminal. Was I wrong to have come to the accident scene with my car to rescue my family? Why was I taken away from the scene of the accident at the expense of my family’s safety?” He asked.
    The Public Advice Centre said it was working on the case.
    Denying Mohammed’s claims, Alabi accused him of fighting with the Task force officials “and he is therefore liable to imprisonment or bail.”
    Alabi said Mohammed was not forced to plead guilty.
    He said: “Lagos State Mobile Court, an initiative of the state government, normally goes out on the enforcement of traffic laws to decongest the road and not to cause hardship to people. On that day, our officials went to Akowonjo based on traffic request. There is always serious traffic jam in the morning in that axis. They were trying to free the road when this guy came and in the course of explaining that his family had an accident, it resulted into a fight with our officials. He hurts the enforcement officials which is an offence. He was furious, and really assaulted them. This carries punishment under the road traffic law.
    “Nobody will force him to plead guilty. He later apologised. For somebody to fight with our officials, he we arraigned before the Customary Court proceeding in the mobile court. They did not take him to a cell, they took him to a local government where they sat and he apologised and chose to get bail rather than go to prison.”

  • Task force arrasts 210 suspects at Oshodi

    Task force arrasts 210 suspects at Oshodi

    Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit (Task Force) has arrested 210 miscreants in Oshodi during a raid. They were charged to court last Friday.

    A statement by its Public Relations Officer, Adebayo Taofiq, quoted the task force Chairman, Olayinka Egbeyemi, a Superintendent of Police, as saying that the hoodlums were raided along the railway line, markets and under bridge.

    An ex-convict, who just left Potoki Prison at Badagry, the statement claimed, was among the suspects.

    The ex-convict, according to the taskforce, said he was just released from Potoki Prison last Monday after serving a six-month term for robbery.

    He said he was arrested by the task force last September for snatching a ‘Samsung’ phone under Oshodi bridge.