₦airaland Forum

Samson Folarin


A suspected pipeline vandal , Fatai Karounwi , has said he makes N 50, 000 every day in the illegal act, adding that he had vandalised over 40 pipes before he was arrested by the police.

Karounwi, aka Kokoro , who said he had been into the illegal act for the past three years, added that he was introduced to the crime by a friend , Oyebanji Agboola , aka Fish.

Karounwi and Agboola were among 10 suspected militants and vandals paraded by the Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan , Lagos State on Tuesday.

Others are Tochukwu Ohanexim, 38; Oluwadamilare Ojo , 32; Akeju Adeniyi, 38; Musbau Afolabi , 29; Musa Akanbi, 32; Yusuf Ajiboye , 26; Ojo Ige, 28; and Innocent Ikechukwu , 42.
Karounwi, in his confessional statement , said they always moved in large numbers whenever they were going for any operation .

He said , “ I am an ‘ engineer . ’ I live at Ogijo and was arrested after I received a phone call from my friend . I didn ’ t know that the police had arrested him . I work with the vandals . I usually assist in drilling holes into pipelines . We move into the high sea to steal the fuel . They pay me N 50, 000 any day I work with them . I have vandalised more than 40 different pipelines . We are usually many that go for pipeline vandalism operations . We work on land and sea .

“ A friend of mine , Fish , introduced me to pipeline vandalism. I have been working with this set of vandals for two months , but I have been into pipeline vandalism for the past three years. ”

Some of the suspects , however , said the pipelines were sometime vandalised by guards employed to watch over the pipelines at the Ogijo and Ikorodu areas of Lagos State .

They said after damaging the pipelines and siphoning the fuel, the guards would hand them over to their wives , who would sell to members of the public.

Ikechukwu , who claimed to be a buyer of the stolen product , said , “ I don ’ t buy fuel from the men; I buy from women. Their husbands are the vandals. They give the women the fuel and the women sell to us . My profit margin, most times, is only N 500. ”
Another suspect, Ohanezim , said he bought directly from the guards .

The Zonal Police Public Relations Officer , SP Dolapo Badmos , said the police recovered two pump -action rifles , four live cartridges , two pumping machines , one army bullet- proof vest, one army fez cap and one Toyota Corolla.

Badmos , who said the operation was conducted by the Zonal Intervention Squad , added that the team acted on the directive of the Assistant Inspector- General of Police, Adamu Ibrahim .

She said , “ The AIG , angered by the recent ambush and murder of four policemen and an army captain at Isawo by militant vandals, ordered the ZIS to ensure vigilance and also rid the community of criminals .

“ Information was received by the commander of the ZIS that suspected militants, who were also vandals responsible for the murder of security operatives in Isawo recently, were noticed around Ogijo , in the Ikorodu area.
Detectives were detailed to track down the hoodlums , leading to the arrest of the suspects. We also recovered 150 jerrycans of petroleum product from them . ”

Olomu, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State are in shock after a landlord in the community, Omolaja Sodipo, allegedly stabbed his wife, Titilayo, killing her.

Sympathisers, friends and family members of the mother of four, trooped to their bungalow on Monday, where Titilayo laid in a pool of blood.



The husband was said to have fled the scene.

Community leaders reportedly alerted policemen from the Owutu division, who removed the corpse and deposited it in a mortuary.

Our correspondent, who visited the scene, observed residents discussing the incident. The police had locked up the building.

Although most of the neighbours refused to comment on the tragedy, PUNCH Metro gathered that the couple had been married for over seven years.

The relationship was said to be fraught with disagreements, which usually resulted in domestic violence.

A resident, who did not want to be identified, said the disagreements always bordered on the welfare of their four children.

He said, “They came into this community some years ago after building their house. The man, who was formerly dealing in telephone accessories, had been jobless for some time. His wife worked with a private school after giving birth to their fourth child two years ago.

“But they were always at loggerheads, which led to the man beating up the wife. The man is short-tempered and it appeared the frustration of his joblessness also got into him. We always heard their voices anytime they were quarrelling.

“Last night, we heard them fighting again. In the morning, we discovered that the woman had been stabbed in different parts of her body. She was lying lifeless in a pool of blood.”

A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the victim’s mother lamented that her daughter had been complaining that her husband was always beating her.

A female resident, who did not want to be identified, told PUNCH Metro that she sighted the suspect walking away from the house around 8am.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the eldest of the couple’s four children is only five years old.

A member of the Women Arise for Change Initiative, Obatungashe Adebayo, who spoke for the President, Dr Joe Oke-Odumakin, called for justice for the deceased, urging women in violent relationship to quit before it was too late.

He said, “This is the reason we have been campaigning against gender-based violence. It is becoming rampant. Marriage is not by force. It is certain that before this incident happened, the woman must have been seeing signs that the man could take her life. If you are engaged in a relationship that threatens your life, you should quit.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, said, “We are still searching for the man. The woman’s corpse has been deposited in a morgue for autopsy.”

Amastermovic:
who knows a top politician did but with a court order it was rumored he won the case on Tuesday and gave everyone just a day to park off and this happens the next day