The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Tunde Ogunsakin

  • Ogunsakin as Rivers Police Commissioner

    Ogunsakin as Rivers Police Commissioner

    SIR: Many Ikere-Ekiti sons and daughters have greeted with a generous outpouring of congratulatory messages the just-announced posting of Tunde Ogunsakin as Commissioner of Police to Rivers State.

    That’s how it should be.

    But many of these messages, in the main, have been full of hackneyed prayers and sentimental greetings. These are not enough.

    Let us all wake up to the fact that Ogunsakin’s posting is not just another routine arrangement. He is being sent to a virtual battleground in a state where a costly but absolutely unnecessary war has been waged for the past many months, a senseless war that has shown no signs of abating.

    You don’t require a soothsayer to tell you that, from the way things are going, the fate of Nigeria’s present democracy may well depend upon how the delicate war in Rivers State is handled. We are seeing in this state the acts of arrant stupidity, intolerance, and misuse of the so-called federal might that have been the bane of Nigeria’s several unsuccessful attempts at democracy. Once again, the monster is at our door. But as usual, we do not seem to see it.

    People of our land, shine your eyes…

    Ogunsakin will need all the courage, wisdom, hindsight and foresight he can muster to succeed in his new assignment. He must display a vital measure of that virtue that is in short supply in contemporary Nigeria: Integrity. A healthy dose of the proverbial positive stubbornness and moral nerve that typified Ekiti character in the past will be an absolute must in the new assignment.

    So, compatriots, I say: mushy felicitations and ethnic back-slapping will not do for the new Rivers Commissioner of Police. He will need the benefit of our wise counsel, honest admonition, candid comments, and objective appraisal. And, yes, our goodwill too – which he cannot afford to take for granted.

    So to Ogunsakin, our new Commissioner of Police to Rivers State, I say: please be careful of the incubus called the Nigerian Factor. Never forget to think about life after power/ after office. Remember the town from which you come.

    May your baton be brave but kind. May your medals shine without blinding the people. May your gun only respond to the extermination of evil. May you prove a true descendant of AJOLAGUN (the Ikere Hero who danced through battle and emerged unscathed).

     

    Niyi Osundare

    New Orleans, USA

     

  • Police redeploy Mbu, 12 others

    Police redeploy Mbu, 12 others

    The Police Service Commission (PSC) has announced the redeployment of the controversial Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    He has been replaced with the Commissioner of Police in charge of Special Fraud Investigation Unit, Lagos, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin.

    The opposition and other stakeholders in Rivers have been unrelenting in the call for Mbu’s removal from Rivers, owing to his alleged partisan role in the festering political crisis in the state.

    Under Mbu’s watch, opponents of the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, had a field day disrupting public events organised by the state government.

    Senator Magnus Abe was, a few weeks ago, shot at one of the state organised public events in Port Harcourt, the state’s capital, allegedly by the police.

    He was flown to London for treatment and returned to the country only a few days ago.

    Mbu has now been redeployed to the Federal Capital Territory as Commissioner of Police.

    The PSC said the redeployment was in line with the recommendation of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.

    Also affected by the redeployment, as released by the PSC on Thursday are – Ambrose Aisabo who is now the Commissioner in charge of Kwara State; Felix Uyanya is new Commissioner for Ekiti State and Abdulmajid Ali moves to Imo State as Commissioner.

    Similarly, Benjamin Onwuka is new Commissioner of Police in charge of Kebbi State; Ibrahim Maishanu moves to Osun State as Commissioner of Police; Adamu Ibrahim has been moved to Abia.

    Adenrele Shinaba moves to Katsina State Command as Commissioner; Umaru Shehu has been moved from Nasarawa to Kaduna as Commissioner of Police and A. J. Abakasanga is now in charge of Adamawa State Command.

    Kalafite Adeyemi and Ibrahim Idris have been moved from the Force Headquarters, Abuja to Taraba and Nasarawa States respectively as Commissioners of Police.

    Chairman of the PSC, Sir Mike Okiro, admonished the newly redeployed officers to put in their best in their new commands to ensure secure environment for the businesses and lives of the citizenry.

     

  • Ex-Lagos Deputy Governor Ojikutu for trial today

    Ex-Lagos Deputy Governor Ojikutu for trial today

    The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) yesterday arrested former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinatu Aderoju Ojikutu, who was declared wanted on June 19, last year.

    Ojikutu, who was seized in her home on Lagos Island by detectives of the unit, was declared wanted for allegedly obtaining N130million from a man, Cajethan Okekearu, under false pretences.

    Ojikutu, 67, allegedly connived with her son, Samson Adebisi Ojikutu Jnr, who is currently in USA, to commit the fraud.

    The suspect and her son were parties to the sale of a land and both signed the agreement given to the complainant and obtained N130 million from him.

    Ojikutu, who claimed it was a genuine plot identification error, refunded N50 million to the complainant and promised to refund the balance as soon as she disposed of her two properties, which she had put up for sale. She said she had injected the said money in her business.

    Police said before the case was reported to the unit, Ojikutu had made an undertaking and payment plan at a police station which was billed to run from September, 2012 to November 2012, but according to them, she defaulted owing to lack of fund.

    The Commissioner of Police (SFU), Mr Tunde Ogunsakin, said: “The whole illicit deal got blown open when the complainant began developing the land and was on the verge of completion when the bona fide owner of the land surfaced and indeed it was discovered that the land that the suspect sold does not belong to her. She actually sold Plot 23 Block 4, while Plot 24 Block 4 already has a property on it.

    “Investigation revealed that the land she sold did not belong to her; it belonged to one Mr. Afolabi. It was also discovered that the Plot 24 Block 4, which actually belonged to the late Samson Adebisi Ojikutu Snr, the suspect’s husband, who died in 2008, was sold by him in 1995 and the suspect was a living witness who appended her signature to the sale of the land. A financial institution, which was in possession of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) after payment, also tendered the original C of O which the former Deputy Governor of Lagos State had earlier declared missing and even sworn an affidavit to.”

    The suspect sued the Inspector-General of Police, the Commissioner of Police (SFU) and the complainant at the state High Court, Igbosere, Lagos, with suit M/581/2013, praying the court to restrain the police from any further investigation into the matter and the violation of her fundamental human rights.

    Justice Obadina on December 17, 2013, dismissed the suit for lack of merit, ruling that the police has the power to prosecute the applicants, Alhaja Sinatu Aderoju Ojikutu and her son, Sampson Adebisi Ojikutu (Jnr) since police investigation revealed that there is prima-facie case of obtaining money by false pretences against them. She added that the court would not restrain the police from carrying out their statutory functions.

    Ogunsakin, who said the SFU had made futile efforts to arrest her after the Justice Obadina’s ruling, said she would be arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos, today.

  • Alleged N2b subsidy scam: Police declare oil firm MD wanted

    The Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi in Lagos, Mr Tunde Ogunsakin, has declared wanted the Managing Director of Fargo Petroleum Limited, Seun Ogunbambo, for alleged fuel subsidy payment fraud.

    Ogunbambo was declared wanted following a petition by the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments.

    The police said the businessman “fraudulently arranged forged documents” with which he applied and received payment of over N2 billion as subsidy claims.

    The petition alleged that Eurafric Oil and Coastal Services Limited was granted permit to import PMS (petrol) between 2010 and 2011. The company allegedly claimed that it imported 85,519,068 litres of petrol in six transactions.

    It was gathered that it applied for payment and was given N6,130,006,149.30 by the Federal Government.

    The police said it was discovered that Eurafric did not execute the transaction. Rather, it allegedly traded off the permit to a third party, Tubbs Marine Services Limited, for N65 million.

    Ogunbambo, who allegedly operated with the licence of Tubbs Marine Services, reportedly failed to import any product.

    The police said Ogunbambo was on the run and that efforts were unsuccessful to contact him at his 2, Olamijuyin Avenue, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, and 95 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    Ogunsakin said: “He is wanted by the Office of the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit at 13 Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    “Anybody with information should contact the SFU, 13 Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.”

  • Lawyer held for ‘defrauding’ friend

    A lawyer and car dealer has been arrested by operatives of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU)in Lagos for allegedly defrauding his course mate in the university.

    It was gathered that the suspect converted to personal use the money he got from his colleague to buy a car for him.

    In a petition sent to the officer in charge of the SFU, commissioner of Police (CP) Tunde Ogunsakin, the petitioner alleged that in May in Abuja he met the suspect, who told him he was into car dealership.

    “He told me he can assist me to get a good car and since we had known for long, I trusted him and gave him money to get one for me”, he said.

    The complainant said he gave the suspect N1,035,000 out of N1.2million agreed upon for a Mercedes Benz ML 320 Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), with an understanding that the balance will be paid when the vehicle is delivered.

    The petitioner said the suspect prevailed him to sell the only car he had to complete the money for the SUV.

    After collecting the money, he said, the suspect stopped picking his calls.

    The Nation learnt that following the petition, detectives swung into action and arrested the suspect. On interrogation, he allegedly confessed to crime.

    Police said the 40-year old suspect from Edo State is licensed to import vehicles.

    SFU spokesperson Ngozi Isintume-Agu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the suspect admitted that he used the complainant’s money to solve his personal financial needs. He claimed to have deposited N180, 000 for the vehicle in a car shop in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

    The suspect told investigators that he had financial challenges following the seizure of two of his vehicles by the Customs, adding that he used the petitioner’s money to solve his problems.

    He admitted that he treated the complainant shabbily, adding that he scanned pictures of the said vehicle with colour and chassis number to deceive him. The suspect said he did all this to buy time and to know if he can get money to complete payment for the car which is still in Cotonou.

    Isintume-Agu said investigation showed that the suspect intended to defraud the complainant from the onset since the money he collected was diverted to other use.

    “He also forged some vehicle documents and purportedly issued a fake number plate “DGL 724 CC” for the said vehicle just to deceive the complainant”, she said.

    Investigation, she said, is ongoing, adding that the suspect will soon be arraigned in court.