The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Wilson Inalegwu

  • Kogi gets new police commissioner

    Kogi gets new police commissioner

    Mr. Ali Janga on Monday took over as the new Commissioner of Police in Kogi State.

    Kogi
    Kogi State

    He replaced Mr. Wilson Inalegwu who has been transferred to the Police College, Jos, Plateau State.

    Janga was the head of Scorpion Mobile section of the Nigeria Police Force until his redeployment to Kogi.

    The outgoing police commissioner commended the people of Kogi for their support during his stay in the state.

    “With their cooperation and support,  the state police command has been able to curtail kidnapping and other crimes,” Inalegwu said.

     

  • Kogi: Police kill suspected robbery kingpin

    Kogi: Police kill suspected robbery kingpin

    The Commissioner of Police in Kogi State, Wilson Inalegwu, said on Monday that a notorious armed robber in the state has been killed by policemen.

    Inalegwu said the suspect, identified as Lukman, was killed on Sunday by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Obeiba, Ihima local government area of the state.

    He said the suspect was shot during an encounter with a team of SARS operatives.

    The police commissioner said Lukman was shot dead during a cross -fire with SARS men who came from Abuja to arrest him.

    He said the suspect and some of his gang members on sighting the police team opened fire on them, forcing the policemen to respond.

    He said six members of Lukman’s gang were also arrested.

    “Lukman, alias Commander, was among the armed men who attempted to assassinate Senator Dino Melaye in his Ayetoro-Gbede home in April,” Inalegwu said.

     

     

  • Kogi Speaker smuggled out as suspected thugs invade chambers

    Kogi Speaker smuggled out as suspected thugs invade chambers

    Suspected thugs invaded the Kogi state house of Assembly Tuesday, while the security men attached to the complex watched helplessly as members were thoroughly molested.

    No sooner than the house convened for the day’s plenary session than thugs numbering over 100 arrived in three Hilux vans and rushed into the chamber beating members.

    Armed policemen stationed at Kogi State Assembly Complex looked helpless as hundreds of thugs invaded Assembly chambers.

    As journalists arrived the Assembly premises Tuesday morning, the environment looked tense with stern looking armed policemen covering the length and breadth of the premises.

    The ADC to Governor Yahaya Bello was at the gate discussing with some policemen.

    Kogi Police Commissioner, Wilson Inalegwu, was also on ground, told journalists he was there to ensure there is no breach of law.

    A Sienna bus belonging to Hon. Abdullahi Bello Balogun of Ajaokuta was positioned to block the gate.

    Security Adviser to Kogi State Governor, Navy Commander Jerry Omodara (rtd), Administrators of Okene, Adavi were also on ground.

    The plenary started shortly afterwards but was disrupted by thugs who chased lawmakers and people at the gallery out of the chambers.

    Speaker Imam Umar Ahmed and his security aides ran helter skelter to find their way out of the assembly that was surrounded by thugs.

    Member representing Igalamela-Odolu apparently the target and his aides were attacked.

    He was billed to resume after being cleared by the court from six months suspension.

    The thugs moved unchecked by the armed policemen present. Some of the boys left in Kogi State Government House car marked KGGH 128 (an ash colour Toyota Camry muscle).

    The thugs were also seen filming the beating as security personnel attached to the house watched helplessly while the commotion lasted.

    Journalists watching proceedings from the gallery scampered for safety with some scaling the fence of the Assembly complex.

    Meanwhile, the state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has condemned the assembly invasion, saying that his administration will not condone any act of thuggery.

    He added that anyone caught would be made to face the full weight of law.

    Speaking through his Director General, Media and Publicity, Kingsley Fanwo, the Governor ordered his security adviser, Commander Jerry Omodara (retd), to  liaise with security operatives to ensure that perpetrators were brought to book.

     

  • CP charges policemen to track down kidnappers, armed robbers in Kogi

    Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, the Commissioner of Police in Kogi, has charged men and officers of the command to go after kidnappers and armed robbers terrorising people in some parts of the state.

    Inalegwu, while addressing operatives of the 37 Mobile Police Force Command on Tuesday in Lokoja, said that criminals should not be allowed to continue to operate at will.

    “It can never be business as usual; criminals must be forced to abandon their arms or relocate from Kogi,” he said.

    Inalegwu restated his determination to rid Kogi of criminals to allow residents and visitors to move freely, and called for support from members of the public toward achieving that.

    “We cannot fight crime without the support of the public. Kogi residents should assist the police with the right information,” he said.

     

  • Attempt on Melaye: Police arrest Ijumu LG administrator

    Attempt on Melaye: Police arrest Ijumu LG administrator

    The police have arrested the administrator of Ijumu Local Governmental Area of Kogi State, Hon. Taofiq Isa, in connection with last Saturday’s assassination attempt on Senator Dino Melaye (APC- Kogi West).

    Isa was arrested on Wednesday by the Police Special Squads drafted from Police Force Headquarters Abuja.

    He was arrested around 1.30pm at the premisis of the state ministry of education, in Lokoja where he had gone to visit the commissioner, Hon. Sunday Tolorunleke.

    The administrator had earlier been invited following Senator Melaye’s insistence that the hands of the administrator were clearly visible in the attempt on his life.

    Sources close to Kogi Sate Police Command told our correspondent that the directive to arrest him was from the Office of the Inspector General of Police (IG).

    The source said that the IG viewed such issues such as an attempt on somebody’s life, as “a very serious matter and ordered the command to do everything possible to investigate the alleged assassination attempt”.

    “No body is above the law in Nigeria as far the law is concerned. We are still investigating and we must get to the root of the issue”, he added.

    The Kogi State Commissioner of Police, (CP) Wilson Inalegwu while confirming the arrest, said his command was working round the clock on the issue.

    He also confirmed that some guns were recovered, pointing out that he was working hand in hand with his senior officers on the issue.

    He said anyone linked to the crime would be investigated no matter how highly placed.

    “Nobody is above the law. If you are linked to a particular crime, that person must be investigated to know if he or she is innocent,” he said.

  • Armed robbers kill two policemen in Kogi

    The Police Command in Kogi said on Thursday that two of its officers were killed during an invasion of a commercial bank by suspected armed robbers.

    The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP William Aya, told newsmen in Lokoja that the officers died while warding off the armed robbers that stormed a branch of UBA at Odo Ere in Yagba East Local Government Area of the state.

    Aya said that the incident occurred on March 28, saying that the two slain officers were sergeants.

    He said the Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, had set up a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operation to investigate the incident.

    He also said that reinforcement had been sent to the town to enhance security of lives and property, saying that the robbers would soon be arrested.

  • CP to kidnappers: I wont allow you to use Kogi forests

    Kogi Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu, has advised kidnappers intending to use Kogi’s forests for their activities to perish the thought.

    “We shall not allow any criminal to use the forests; we shall consistently patrol the forests against such elements and shall not rest until we rid Kogi of every bandit,” he said on Wednesday.

    Inalegwu spoke at a joint news conference with the State Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, on the sidelines of this year’s International Day of Forests in Lokoja.

    Inalegwu commended the Kogi government over the recruitment of forest guards, and described it as a critical step that would control the forest reserves, which hitherto had been a safe haven for kidnappers and other criminals.

    “Now that we have a joint collaboration between the police force and the ministry of environment, we will work closely with the forest guards to deny these criminals their sanctuary.

    “Once this is done, if they kidnapped, they will not be able to hold their victims in the bush, neither will they be able to organise to plan their attacks.

    “Let us join hands and deny kidnappers and other criminals the use of our forests to carry out their nefarious activities and launch attacks against innocent travelers,” he said.

    The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, on her part, told newsmen that the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello was committed to effective utilisation of forestry resources for the benefit of all.

    She said that efforts to diversify the economy should focus on afforestation much more than subsistence farming, noting that timber was the third highest foreign exchange earner for Nigeria.

    “In addition to increasing vegetation, people can make money for themselves by planting quality fruit trees like cashew plantation.

    “In Kogi, a lot of our indigenous trees like Iroko and others are dead. Today, we are encouraging everybody to go back and rebuild our forest,”  she said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the International Day of Forests is marked every March 21. This year’s theme is “Forests and Energy”.

     

  • Police parade suspected killers of paymaster, Council official in Ekiti

    Police parade suspected killers of paymaster, Council official in Ekiti

    …Female student paraded for organizing colleagues’ gang rape

     

    The Ekiti State Police Command has arrested suspects who killed its paymaster, SP Idowu Taiwo on December 18 and an engineer attached to Ido/Osi Local Government Council, Kunle Enisan, on December 19 last year.

    The command also arrested a fake police Inspector, Olalekan Ezekiel and a female student of College of Health Sciences and Technology, Ijero-Ekiti, Busayo Kayode, who specialized in tricking her colleagues to the den of criminals to be gang-raped.

    The Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, who spoke on Wednesday while parading a total number of 26 suspects arrested for various crimes like murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, gunrunning and possession of hard drugs.

    Property like a car, phones, a motorcycle and weapons were recovered from the suspects.

    Inalegwu disclosed that eleven suspects who were arrested in connection with the murder of the police officer were also held in connection with an attempt to kidnap one Emmanuel Adeleke who is based in Turkey on December 22 last year.

    According to him, the suspects were trailed to Kaduna and Kano based on intelligence where they were arrested. Inalegwu revealed mobile phones belonging to their victims were recovered from them.

    The police chief said: “The operatives successfully recovered a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Motorola Android Phone and Blackberry Passport belonging to the late OC MSS (Paymaster).

    “Also, Infinix and Itel phones belonging to the waitresses working at a joint where the late officer was abducted before being killed, were recovered.”

    Inalegwu explained that the Ezekiel who had been parading himself as a police inspector attached to the command’s Operations Department was arrested on February 20 along Awo-Esure Road with one unregistered red colour Honda motorcycle recovered from him.

    The police boss stated that Busayo was arrested in Ijero for colluding with a ten-man gang suspected to be members of Ave Cult group who take turns to rape their victims with the intent of initiating them into the group.

    He said all the suspects would be charged to court as soon as the Police concluded their investigation.

    In a bid to stem the tide of kidnapping in the state, Inalegwu explained that has carried out the mapping of forest belts in the state where the criminals operate and keep their victims most especially along Ikere-Igbara Odo-Ogotun axis and Ise-Emure axis.

    He added that the command is working in partnership with Ondo, Osun, Kwara and Kogi commands to tackle kidnapping and make the zone safe for law-abiding residents and travellers.

    Inalegwu said: “We are also enlisting the services of local hunters and vigilante groups for constant patrol of these deadly forests, so that when we occupy their hideouts, they will have no option than to run.”

    The Police Commissioner disclosed that he had established a ‘Crime Hot Spot Policing Squad’ to smash criminals that have taken Atikankan, Adebayo , Ajilosun and Ojumose areas of Ado Ekiti,  as safe havens.