₦airaland Forum

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

ABUJA - Minister of State for Labour and Employment, late Barrister James Ocholi died as a result of over speeding, the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi has said.

He also stated that Ocholi's driver had no drivers license as his name was not found on the data base of FRSC.

Oyeyemi was presenting the accident's Road Traffic Crash Investigation Interim Report to the Federal Executive Council , FEC, on Wednesday at the meeting of the body at the presidential villa, Abuja.

President Mohammadu Buhari, some select ministers paid glowing tributes to their fallen colleagues just as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal said Ocholi's burial may hold between 16th and 18th of March, 2016.

Members of FEC led by President Buhari are expected to visit the family of the late minister after the meeting.

It will recalled Ocholi died in a car accident with his wife and son, Sunday, on Kaduna-Abuja road.
Details later

lalasticlala

Life has not been easy for Funanya Okafor, the child whose father allegedly fractured his leg and left scares on his body for allegedly stealing a piece of meat and failing to do his homework.

Right from birth, his story has been full of sorrow and agony. During the time of delivery, he was told that he almost died due to complication his mother had.

At the tender age of three, Funanya and his siblings had already lost the warmth and love of their mother as she had separated from their father.

Despite the unfavourable and harsh condition he found himself, the 8-year-old boy distinguished himself from the rest of his siblings, a virtue that endeared him to his father. He has always been known for his brilliance and smartness.

Narrating his ordeal to Aso Chronicle, Funanya said the same positive quality that stood him out from others, ironically turned out to become a bad omen for him.

He said the father who had always claimed to be a disciplinarian, would never spare him anytime he did not take his studies seriously. He said although he used to flog his other siblings, his was always heavier due to the special love he has for him.

He said when their mother was around, she assisted them with their assignments, adding that the father, rather than assist them, always descended on him with a cane or his belt anytime he failed to do his homework.

He recalled a day he was tired and feeling sleepy and had to postpone doing his assignment till the following morning, but later forgot to do it.

“When my father realised that I did not do the homework, he flogged me mercilessly,” he said.

Fumnanya also said his mother was not spared in the beating, not even when she was pregnant. He said his father used to accuse her of been a lazy woman. Even sitting down while praying was laziness to him, he added.

Admitting that he used to steal sometimes, the little boy said that there was a day his dad tried to burn him alive, after pouring kerosene on his body and wanted to strike a match.

He, however, said neither him nor any of his siblings could open up to anybody on what they were passing through in the hands of their father as he had warned them that he would kill any of them that dared tell anybody.

“My father had once used a razor blade to cut my finger which still aches till today. Sometimes, when he beats me, he would use handkerchief to cover my mouth so that I cannot scream aloud,” he said.

Funanya who shed tears as he related his ordeal in the hands of a ‘loving father’, said he would not want to go back to him. He said he longed for the day he would meet his mother again.

One of the teachers at the school where Funanya attends, told Aso Chronicle that it was some months after Fumnanya and his siblings were admitted in the school that they observed many scares all over his body which raised many questions.

“After Funanya confessed to us that it was his father that inflicted all the marks on him, we had to talk to him (the father) on the dangers and consequences of abusing a child,” she said.

She said when they realised that he was not ready to heed to their advice, they resolved to take the case to the police.

“The recent one that compelled us to report the matter to the police was the day Funanya came to school limping, following a deep cut he sustained on the leg,” she added.

Aso Chronicle gathered that soon after the father was arrested and detained at the police station, he had to be taken to the Kubwa General Hospital, the same hospital where his son was admitted.

“He saw the pictures of the battered son displayed on the social media while browsing with his phone at the hospital,” a police source said.

Reacting, the Kubwa Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Chief Superintendent Nuruddeen Sabo, said the boy had been handed over to the social welfare unit, after receiving treatment at the hospital, while the father had been released but is expected to report at the Legal Department at the Force Headquarters.

By Soni Daniel , Northern Region Editor
Abuja -

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, last night, took into custody a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Steve Oronsaye., over allegation of corruption and obtaining money by false pretence.

Oronsaye who is already being prosecuted by the EFCC on 24 counts of money laundering before a Federal High Court, Abuja, is alleged to have abused his position as Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Financial Action Task Force and obtained the sum of N240million from the Central Bank of Nigeria under the guise of assistance to the Committee without the knowledge of other committee members and proceeded to convert the said sum to his personal use.

A top source in the EFCC disclosed that the former top bureaucrat who had been on administrative bail over other financial crimes being probed by the agency, was re-arrested at about 4.30 pm on Tuesday.

As of press time, he was still being grilled by operatives of the Commission. “What we are doing now is simply dotting the ‘I’ and crossing the ‘t’. Investigation is almost concluded and the suspect will be charged to court any time from now, " a source familiar with the case, told Vanguard.

Details later.

Justice Muhammad Abubakar Sambo of Bauchi High Court has sentenced a 27-year old man, Salisu Ali, of Zango village in Tafawa Balewa Local Government of the state, to death by hanging for committing culpable homicide.

The prosecution counsel, Sabiu Adamu Gumba, had told the court that the accused lured his seven-year old brother, Yusuf Ali, to the bush where he hit him with a stick, killing him instantly.

Mr. Gumba said the accused later cut off the penis of the deceased and gave it to his dog.

In a confessional statement, the accused confirmed that he killed Yusuf due to the misunderstanding between him and the mother of the deceased.

According to him, he did not take any intoxicant while committing the offence and the deceased did not engage him in a fight during the incident as he fell and died instantly.

The prosecution counsel presented his first witness, Aliyu Shehu, who is father to both the accused and the deceased.

He told the court that the deceased was sent to the market by his mother on the day he was killed to buy detergent only for him to be lured by the accused into the bush.

He said a good Samaritan informed him that he saw the accused with the deceased on their way to the bush.

The witness said some youth in the village later forced the accused into the bush where he showed them the body of the murdered boy.

In his judgment, Justice Abubakar Sambo ordered that the accused be hanged on the neck until he was certified dead.

By Jonathan Nda-Isaiah

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire as his Senior Special Assistant on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to a statement issued by his special adviser. Media, Femi Adesina, Mrs. Orelope-Adefulire served as Deputy-Governor of Lagos State in the last administration and is an accomplished politician with many years of experience in public service.

She has also served as Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos State.

lalasticlala

Afeez Hanafi

A 43-year-old hotelier, Femi Kulajolu, has been arrested by the police attached to the Isokoko division, Lagos State, for allegedly raping his younger brother’s 15-year-old daughter, Lola (pseudonym).

It was gathered that the minor was eight-month pregnant as a result of the alleged rape.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Kulajolu, who runs Christopher Hotels on Agor Road in the Isolo area of the state, was also being investigated for an attempted rape of his stepdaughter, Titi (not real name).

Titi’s experience was said to have prompted her mother, Ndidi, to report the two cases to the police, who arrested Kulajolu and arraigned him before an Apapa Magistrates’ Court.

The father of six was said to have raped Lola on three occasions at the hotel and her mother’s house on Majekodunmi Street, Meiran, while the mother was not at home, threatening her that she would die if she reveal the secret.

Our correspondent gathered that Lola had offended his father sometime in June 2015 and fled to the uncle’s hotel for the fear of being beaten. He was said to have given her a room in the hotel where she passed the night. In the midnight, he reportedly sneaked into the room and forcefully had sex with her.

She said, “I offended my father and fled home because he wanted to beat me. I went to my uncle’s hotel and slept there that night. While I was sleeping, he came in and raped me. He warned me not to tell anybody and threatened that if I did, he would kill me.”

Lola told the police that a few months after the encounter, her sister fell ill and her mother went to look after her at a hospital she was admitted, adding that Kulajolu came to their house and raped her again.

“My ailing sister was hospitalised and my mother was staying with her at a hospital.

He (Kulajolu) came to pass the night in our house. In the night, he came to my room, covered my mouth and raped me again. He threatened me that he would kill me if I told anybody. He slept with me three times. I am now eight months pregnant,” she said.

Our correspondent learnt that Lola eventually opened up after much pressure on who was responsible for the pregnancy.

Kulajolu’s wife, Ndidi, said her husband was about raping 14-year-old Titi when he was caught.

Titi said, “Somebody came inside my room, switched off the light and slept on me. I woke up and discovered that the person had removed his clothes. I raised the alarm and everybody woke up and started searching the house to know the person.

My sister noticed that somebody was hiding behind the cotton in the living room.

We opened it and found my stepfather there. I broke into tears. When my mother asked him why he attempted to rape me, he started behaving as if he was drunk.”

However, the suspect denied raping his niece, adding that he was not responsible for the pregnancy.

He said, “After the death of my brother, around November 2015, her (Lola’s) stepmother came to me and told me that she was pregnant. She said the family of the boy responsible for her pregnancy had come and they had discussed. I did not rape her and was not responsible for the pregnancy.”

Kulajolu was subsequently arraigned on Thursday before an Apapa Magistrates’ Court on two counts bordering on rape and sexual assault.

The charges read in part, “That you, Femi Kulajolu, sometime in year 2015, on Dele Kulajolu Street, Lagos State, in the Apapa Magisterial District, did defile one Lola, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.”

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and elected summary trial.

The presiding magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Adegite, granted him bail in the sum of N250,000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned till March 17, 2016.

lalasticlala

From SEGUN OLATUNJI, Abeokuta

A 33-year-old physically-chal­lenged mother of four, Tope Oguntoye has alleged that a tradi­tional ruler, Olofin of Ilishan, Oba Michael Sonuga impregnated her.
Tope in an interview with Sunday Sun in her Ilishan home claimed that Oba Sonuga was responsible for her three-month old pregnancy.

The mother of four, who suffers a speech defect due to her physical challenge, claimed that the monarch usually enticed her with money while the affairs with him lasted.

Tope alleged that the monarch had sex with her on two different occasions before she got pregnant.

She said: “I do go to his palace regularly. He would give me N200, N500 or N1,000. I always informed my mum that I was going to the palace. I’m three months pregnant for Kabiyesi. Each time I went to see him, his wife, Olori would have gone to work.”
Tope also alleged that the mon­arch recently gave her the sum of N2,000 to pay for an abortion of the pregnancy.

According to her, when she informed Oba Sonuga of the preg­nancy, the monarch begged her to keep the matter secret in order not to disgrace him.
“He gave me money to go and abort it. He gave me N2,000 to abort it. I have spent it. He gave me the money sometime ago,” she said.

But the septuagenarian monarch, who spoke with Sunday Sun correspondent on the phone, vehemently denied impregnating the mother of four.

Oba Sonuga claimed that the alleged rumour about the affair between him and the physically challenged woman was the handiwork of his opponents and detractors in his domain bent on “defaming” him.

The monarch, who admitted to have always assisted the woman financially, added that Tope was more or less like his daughter.
Oba Sonuga claimed that Tope’s father and himself were childhood playmates.

He said, “They are rumour mongers; they are not after my progress. They wanted me to be dethroned. They want me to install them in positions they are not qualified to be. They are rumour mongers.

“To God Almighty who made me, do you know me, have you seen me, do you know the type of person I am? This lady is like a daughter to me. Myself and her father were playmates when we were growing up. We are from the same maternal and paternal side.

“I’m just trying to help her and they thought they could use her against me. They just want to bring my reputation into disrepute. I swear to God Almighty there has never been anything like that.”

Below are the details of Sunday Sun correspondent’s interviews with Tope, her mother, Oba Sonuga and one of the chiefs of the town, Alhaji Ade Gbadamosi, the Balogun of Ilishan:

TOPE’S ACCOUNT

How did you get to know the Kabiyesi?
I do go to his palace regularly

How much does he normally give you?
He would give me N200, N500 or N1,000.

That means you go there regularly?
Yes, I always informed my mum that I was going to the palace.

Are you truly pregnant? How old is the pregnancy?
I’m three months pregnant for Kabiyesi.

All the time you went to the palace, did you not come across the Kabiyesi’s wife?
Each time I went to see him, his wife, the Olori, would have gone to work.

We heard you went to report to the police. Why did you do that?
I didn’t go to the police myself. Balogun invited the police to come and take me away.

When you told Kabiyesi about the pregnancy, what did he say?
He gave me money to go and abort it.

How much did he give you?
He gave me N2,000 to abort it.

Where is the money he gave you or have you gone for the abortion?
No, I have spent it.

When did he give you the money?
He gave me the money sometime ago.

Is it up to two weeks?
It is more than that.

But you have a husband?
Yes.

Where is he?
He lives around Jide’s house.

What’s the name of your husband?
Mufutau

Has your husband not been sleeping with you?
I’ve been living in my father’s house and since I had my last child, we have not been having sex.

So, it’s only Kabiyesi you’ve been having sex with?
Yes.

How many times have you had sex with Kabiyesi?
To say the truth, Kabiyesi and I had sex twice.

Which hospital were you taken to yesterday to abort the pregnancy?
My mum took me somewhere.

Why did you want to abort the pregnancy? Did Kabiyesi say he’s not responsible?
It’s a pregnancy of shame.

Is it a shame for you, or the Kabiyesi?
It would be a shame for me.

That you are now a wife of the Kabiyesi?
It’s because of his wife.

Are you afraid of his wife?
Yes.

Are you not lying against the Kabiyesi?
No, I’m not lying against him.

Do you know the place where your mum took you for abortion yesterday?
Yes.

Can you still take us there?
Yes.

When you told Kabiyesi about the pregnancy, what was his reaction aside from giving you N2,000?
He begged me not to make it known to anybody in the town in order not to disgrace him.

Is your husband now aware of your situation?
No, he is yet to know.

TOPE’S MOTHER SPEAKS:
I warned her against going to the monarch’s palace

Your daughter said you took her there yesterday?
Yes, but they must have closed now. They don’t live here.

She said you took her there.
Yes, when she said she was ashamed.

Tope, have those wives (oloris) of Kabiyesi been fighting you?
(Mum interrupts) No, but she’s only afraid of the wives.

How old are you now?
(Mum interrupts) She was born in 1987. So, she’s 33.

Now, mama, you said she brought all this upon herself? I want to ask, are you not aware she had been collecting money from Kabiyesi?
She would not inform me whenever she was going there. She would only come back and tell me Kabiyesi gave her some money. I’ve always warned her to stop going there to avoid consequences. But she never took my advice seriously.

What kind of consequences?
Pointing to Tope’s tummy) Is this not the result? It was about last month (January) that I saw she was changing in physique and colour. I asked what had happened to her and she said nothing. I told her siblings about what I have noticed in her and when they asked her, she denied completely. I then told one of my friends who said she had a potion that could detect pregnancy. She ran to that my friend’s place and told her that Kabiyesi had already given her N2,000 to pay for abortion.

That means she had collected the money for abortion already?
Yes.

TELEPHONE INTERVIEW WITH OBA SONUGA

Sir, my name is Segun Olatunji from The Sun Newspafrom per ­
Sun you said?
Yes, sir.

We understand there is a controversy in your town, Ilishan, and we want to know the truth, sir.
Nothing has happened here, it’s just rumour mongering.

Sir, it’s been the talk of the town that you impregnated a physically challenged woman.
They are against my progress. They want me to be dethroned. They wanted me to install them in positions they were not qualified for. They are just carrying rumours about. To God Almighty who made me, do you know me, have you seen me, do you know the type of person I am? This lady is like a daughter to me. Her father and myself were playmates when we were growing up.

I’m just trying to help her and they thought they could use her against me. They just want to bring my reputation into disrepute. I swear to God Almighty there has never been anything like that.

But Kabiyesi, the lady herself and her mother told us that was what happened between you and her.
No, no, never. Do you understand me? They are just pressurizing her to talk and lie. It’s not true.

But the lady said you gave her N2,000 to pay for an abortion and you also offered her mother N10,000 probably to shut her up.
That is not true. That is not true. The matter is not like that. Is that understood?
Yes, sir.
They are only trying to put A and B together to frame me to create the necessary condition. I’m not in a position to answer questions, is that understood?
Yes, sir.
There is no problem here; they are trying to put my name in disrepute and contempt.

INTERVIEW WITH ALHAJI ADE GBADAMOSI, THE BALOGUN OF ILISHAN TOWN

What’s your name, sir?
Gbadamosi Ade
We understand you are the Balogun of the town
Yes, who told you that?

The people of the town said you are the one behind what has been happening in this town?
Don’t mind them, I’m not behind anything. The lady impregnated was the one who ran to me saying they wanted to forcibly abort her pregnancy. She said that Kabiyesi had once given her N2,000. But I said I don’t want to have anything to do with any matter involving the Kabiyesi. So, I told her she couldn’t take refuge in my own house. I told her to go back to other people in her own area. But when she refused to go, I invited the police. I told the Divisional Police Officer to send his men to come over and take the lady back to her mother’s house. But rather than taking her back to her mother, the policemen took her to the station and asked her to write a statement. The police also invited her mother and confirmed to me that they had given her mother a standard instruction that they must not abort her pregnancy. And since then, I decided not to have anything to do with the matter; but now people have been saying I asked the police to arrest her mother. I did not do that.

I only asked the police to take the lady. The girl described where they took her for abortion and asked her to come back by 10am the next day to take some injection before taking any food. That’s all I know about it.

Is it true you and Kabiyesi have not been in good terms?
No, no. I don’t have any problem with Kabiyesi but whether he has anything against me, I don’t know.

Are you sure?
He’s my brother and we are from the same royal home. So, what has he said I did? Did I send the girl to him or was I the one that arranged what has happened? What they keep saying is that it’s a set-up. What is a set-up? Did the girl say I took her to his palace? Did I ask her mother to collect N10,000 from him? So, what is the set-up about it? Let’s face the facts; I’m not in any way involved in this. I also offered help to the lady because of her physical condition.

Why did she not say I was the one who slept with her? I always see her by the road and I’ll give her some money. I don’t want to mention names but you can go and find out from the people of the town.

Chukwudi Akasike

Gunmen have beheaded a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The APC chieftain identified as Franklin Obi was murdered alongside his wife, Iheoma, and 18-year-old son, Bestman, at their residence in Omoku at about 9pm on Saturday.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Musa Kimo, who is currently on a visit to the place, expressed regret over the incident.

Details later…

Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta

Nemesis caught up with two suspects who were found in possession of some fake naira notes in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital on Friday.

The two suspects are: Ademola Abiodun, 28, who resides at Ajiboye street, Ile-Epo, Lagos state and Ajarat Sulaiman, 30, of Ajilogba – Aso area, Ifo, Ogun state.

The suspects were arrested by men of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Ogun state command.

In a statement issued and signed by the Command spokesman, Kareem Olanrewaju, the attention of its official on surveillance were drawn to a mob action around Vespa bus-stop area of Ifo, in Ifo local government area of Ogun State.

According to the statement, “The first suspect, who gave his name as Ademola Abiodun, Male, 28, bought food from a vendor hawking food around Vespa bus stop, Ifo, Ogun state.

“He in turn paid for the food vendor with a five hundred naira note which the food vendor rejected, saying it was a fake note and this brought a hot argument between them, thereby attracting other people.

The people having got wind of his tacit, descended heavily on him until he confessed that, he is in Ifo to meet up an appointment with a woman friend. They asked him to call the woman on phone.

When she arrived, the mob pounced on her too beating them thoroughly and were about to burn them with tyre when NSCDC officials on patrol arrived the scene.

“If not for the quick intervention of our officers, who pleaded, struggled with the angry mob to collect the suspects from them and even promised that the suspects will face the full wrath of law, they would have been set on fire”, NSCDC statement said.

It was reported that the officials, after rescuing the suspects alive from the mob, took them to the Civil Defence Corps office at Ifo.

According to the statement, upon interrogation, the female suspect, Ajarat Sulaiman, who said she is jobless, denied ever having any appointment with the man, though, she confirmed they know each other.

When Ademola Abiodun was searched more fake naira notes were found on him.
Abiodun claimed to have collected the fake naira notes from another friend of his, when he assured him that he would spend them, despite the fact that he admitted he knew that those notes were fake.

Exhibits recovered from the suspects include two phones and fourteen pieces of fake five hundred naira notes.

The suspects, according to the NSCDC spokesman, Kareem Olanrewaju, have been handed over to the Nigeria Police at Ifo Police division for further investigation and prosecution.

Olanrewaju however advised people not to always take laws into their hands, assuring the people of prompt reaction from all security agencies to any scene of action across the state.

Kunle Falayi

A very fair skin with a face adorned with tribal marks and tattooed eyebrows would have made one conclude that 57-year-old Mrs. Roselyn Adewunmi is hale and hearty, as she sat on a corner bed in Ward B1 of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

Merely looking at her sitting on the bed, one would conclude that she is simply a patient with a minor problem who would soon be discharged.

But all is far from being well with the woman, who once worked as a cleaner at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

In fact, in the last 10 months, Adewunmi has been confined to her bed, not able to walk. She cannot move on her bed without support while she cannot go to the toilet by herself. She has had to use disposable briefs to ease herself, which are costing her heavily financially.

Anybody who has not heard her story before might have thought she was stricken by a terrible illness that rendered her immobile but that is far from the truth.

Her trouble started in the evening of May 1, 2015, when she decided to sit in front of her tiny plank house at Badia East Oke-Eri community at Ijora, Apapa to take fresh air with one of her daughters around 8.45pm.

Operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad were said to have stormed the area in pursuit of some hoodlums when they started shooting sporadically.

A resident of the area identified as Nwane was said to have been shot dead in the raid.
Adewunmi, a widow and mother of five, was hit by bullets before she even heard the sound of gunshots.

“I did not even know about any shooting. I did not hear any sound initially; maybe because our area is generally noisy. What I heard was my daughter screaming and pointing at me. She was screaming ‘blood, blood!’” Adewunmi said on her hospital bed.
The woman had been shot in the lower abdomen and the thigh.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that when Adewunmi’s daughter raised the alarm, residents who ran out to find out what had happened, including one of her sons, sighted one of the sars operatives, identified as Mohammed Abubakar, who reportedly shot her nearby and approached the man.

“We approached the policeman and he said that he fired the shot by mistake. His colleagues were there too. They brought a patrol van and said they were after a robber.

My mother was bleeding on the ground. They still did not make any attempt to help her,” Adewunmi’s son, Seun, said.

Adewunmi also said that when they made no attempt to help her, she crawled to meet the policeman who shot her and held him, begging for help.

She said, “My son first went to meet them. But they pushed him back. The policemen said I should not worry that I would be alright. They said the bullet would come out.

“I was pleading with them. I said, ‘please, please don’t leave me like this. Don’t let me die.’ But he pulled away from me. Then one of the colleagues of the one that shot the bullet that hit me spoke to him in Hausa. Then they jumped inside their vans and left.”

Adewunmi was left in a pool of her own blood.

Seun was said to have put his mother on his back as he rushed her from one hospital to another as she continued to bleed. They could not get a vehicle to take her.

It was learnt that the divisional police officer of the area had to come to the aid the woman and helped residents of the area to take her to the hospital.

“Three hospitals rejected me that day until I was finally brought to luth where my life was saved,” she told our correspondent.

Adewunmi said residents of her community also had to contribute money for her initial treatment at the hospital.

Soon after Adewunmi got to the hospital, she told our correspondent that some men, who said they were from sars, including Mohammed, the man who shot her, visited her in the hospital and handed her N30,000 for her treatment.

Adewunmi’s son said Mohammed later met him and gave him another N40,000 for the treatment. But these have been like a drop in an ocean of the huge medical bills mounting against her.

“When the sars men came, they told me they contributed the money among themselves to help with the medical treatment. They also said that they would come back later with beverages so that I won’t have to suffer. I did not know they only came to check if I would survive or not. They never came back,” Adewunmi said.

Unfortunately for Adewunmi, as her fund waned, her situation deteriorated, leaving her children running from pillar to post, scrounging for money just to continue their mother’s treatment.

Doctors said the initial treatment was to save her life and that she would require additional reconstructive surgeries in her abdomen.

At a point in her discussion with our correspondent, Adewunmi began to sob.

She said, “Life has been hard for me. I don’t want to die like this. My situation is not getting better because I don’t have money to spend on treatment again. This bed has been my home now for eight months.
“I used to have a shop where I sold things.

My children would have been able to run it in my absence to get some money to survive on. But last year after I was admitted, the shop burnt down with all the goods when there was a fire outbreak in our community.

“Even my family members have deserted me. I just don’t know where to run to now but to call upon the police authorities, whose men did this to me to help me.

Please, help me call on the police authorities, I don’t want to die like this. They need to see what their bullets have done to me.”

When our correspondent visited the woman, the sight of the gunshot injury in her abdomen was too gory to be publishable.

Adewunmi’s children have said they they are preparing a petition to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, on their mother’s plight.

The Esther Child Rights Foundation, which has decided to take up the woman’s case even though it is not a child issue, has called on the police authorities in the state to take a step on the woman’s case.

Director of ECRF, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, said, “We keep hearing of cases of people becoming victims of police accidental discharge everyday and it is really worrisome.

“We are using this opportunity to call on the commissioner of police in Lagos to fish out the policemen whose act has made this woman’s life a living hell.

“The way she is living is terrible. Suffering over the last 10 months is not a thing to wish on anybody. We are going to notify the Office of the Public Defender and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights about her case. We are sure justice would be done on the issue.”

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, have seized a drug haul worth N222m and arrested two clearing agents who allegedly disguised the drugs as artificial hair and foodstuffs.

A 28-year-old man, Terhemba Ajom, has been remanded in prison custody a Makurdi Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Benue State, for allegedly murdering of his ex-girlfriend, Ladi Terzungwe and her new lover, Shimasaan Nehemen.

Idoma Voice reports that Ajom of Konshisha Local Government Area of the state, was arraigned for culpable homicide punishable with death, alongside a 19-year-old lady, Jennifer Ahangba, an indigene of Vandeikya Local Government Area of the state, for conspiring with him to commit the crime.

According to the prosecution, a brother of the deceased Shimasaan, Terzungwe, reported the matter to the police on January 17 this year, that while he was in his room, he heard his younger brother Shimasaan crying for help.

Terzungwe allegedly told the police that as he rushed out of his room to find out what had happened to his brother, he discovered that the victim’s house was on fire and he called out to his neighbours who found that the brother and his girlfriend had been burnt to death.

It was discovered during police investigation that the second accused, Ahangba, had informed Ajom that his girlfriend was with another man, and following the information, Ajom had come at night with a gallon of petrol and lighter and set fire to the house in which his girlfriend and another man were, killing both of them.

When the case came up, no plea was taken for want of jurisdiction as prosecution told the court that investigation was still on and asked for another date.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs. Theresa Wergba, therefore ordered the accused to be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Makurdi, and adjourned the case to March 7.

A woman allegedly divorced by her ex-husband last weekend came to the man’s house in Katampe area of Mpape and smashed the windscreen of his car.

City News learnt that the woman, who just barged into the husband’s house unannounced, had heard that after throwing her out of the house, the ex-husband brought in another woman.

A source told our reporter that the couple separated about four months ago but “the wife still feels jealous whenever she hears that her husband is with another woman.”

The source said the woman heard that another woman was living with her ex-husband and she came to the house with a pestle and broke the man’s television, his phone and Ipad.

“When he attempted beating her up, his neighbours held him back, afraid that she may attack him with the pestle. She left them and went to where his car was parked and broke the screen with the pestle she was holding,” the source said.

Some terrified neighbours, who were afraid the woman could do more damage than she had already done, called the police but the woman escaped.

An eight-year-ol boy, Chukwuma Okafor, may be scarred for life after his biological father brutalised him severely, leaving him with a fractured leg and hand, and serious bruises all over his body.

The young boy who is currently on admission at the Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, was taken to the hospital by his teachers after his wicked father drove him and dumped him in the school after breaking his bones with a pestle.

A Facebook user, IG Wala , posted the very ugly case of child abuse with this caption:
"WHO WILL SAVE LITTLE OKAFOR FROM HIS FATHER'S WICKEDNESS?

Eight years old Chukwuma Okafor, is presently on admission at the Kubwa General Hospital, after a brutal beating by his own father. This child was taken to hospital by a Nun who was said to have been contacted by his school teachers.

Yesterday morning, his own father drove him to school in a bad shape and dumped him. Little Okafor was in serious pain and could barely walk on his leg. The school teachers rushed him to the General Hospital in Kubwa. After undergoing series of X-ray tests, the result revealed he has fracture on his leg and hand as a result of beating with a strong object which the boy confirmed to be pestle.

Incidentally, Hassan Maina Kaina , a reporter with VOA Hausa was in the hospital to check on his friend. He saw the boy's condition and encouraged that the matter should be reported to the police. The school reported the matter to the police in Kubwa and Mr. Okafor (his father) has been arrested for child abuse.

The school teachers confirmed that on several occasions, they made effort to intervene on the boy's situation but the father proved stubborn and even threatened them. The scars on the boy's head & back shows how long he has been maltreated by his own father.

THE FATHER IS JUSTIFYING HIS ACTIONS BY WAY OF CLAIMING TO BE A DISCIPLINARIAN AND HE SAID HIS ARREST BY THE POLICE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF EMBARRASSMENTS THAT HIS CHILD KEEP BRINGING TO HIS FAMILY."

lalasticlala

Yusuf Muhammed

The police at Alakuko divisional headquarter Lagos state, Southwest, Nigeria have arrested a housewife, Titilola Obanla who allegedly poured hot water on Kemi Adisa, 28, after accusing her of dating her husband.

PM News gathered that the incident took place at their residence No. 10, Oluwaseyi Street, Abule Tutun, Alakuko, a suburb of Lagos state.

Adisa who is presently hospitalised at Oke-Odo general hospital narrated to our reporter how the incident happened.

“She called me on that day and told me that she wanted to tell me something in Iya Wunmi, my friend’s room, so I followed her and on getting there I sat on the chair while she stood by the door.

“She then accused Iya Wunmi of acting as a middle man between her husband and I, who she accused of dating him. She said I was his girlfriend,” the mother of three told PM News.

“But Iya Wunmi defended me, telling her that her husband plays with both of us and that I was not his girlfriend but before I knew it she called her younger sister to bring the hot water she put on the fire.

“I thought she was joking, when the sister brought the water but before I could act, she poured the hot water. Luckily for me, I turned my face away and she poured it on my body,” Adisa explained.

When our reporter visited Alakuko Police station, the Divisional Police Officer DPO in charge, Mr. Ajayi Abayomi declined to speak on the incident claiming that he had already sent a situation report (SITREP) to the Lagos State Police PRO, Dolapo Badmus.

Our correspondent then contact Badmus, who confirmed that Titilola Obanla has been arraigned in court and was remanded in prison.

Mudiaga Affe

A suspected ritual killer, whose identity has yet to be ascertained, has reportedly abducted a three-year-old girl and forced a stick into her vagina.

The suspect, it was learnt, abducted the girl while she was playing with her peers, and hurriedly took her to a nearby forest where it was discovered that he had inflicted injuries on the victim.

Southern City News gathered on Tuesday that the incident happened on February 28, 2016 in Ikang, headquarters of Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State.

The girl was said to have been rescued after her peers immediately raised the alarm and a search party combed the nearby forest where the suspected ritual killer was apprehended when he was already wreaking havoc on the child’s body.

The suspect was said to have been handed over to the police at Ikang Police Division, while the girl (names withheld) had undergone several surgeries at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.

A medical worker in UCTH, Mr. Uche Okoro, who narrated the situation to Southern City News, said the little child was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.

Okoro said he picked interest in the matter shortly after family of the suspected ritual killer had come to the hospital and offered to pay N10,000 as part of the medical expenses.

He said, “The incident happened at Ikang in Bakassi LGA. The three-year-old girl was brought to the UCTH in a critical condition. She was said to have been abducted by a suspected ritual killer and taken to the bush.

“Another girl that was with her when the incident happened immediately raised the alarm and a search party went to look for the little girl. She was found in the bush and the suspect was apprehended.

“Meanwhile, another one-year-old baby was found dead not too far from where the girl was rescued. The girl was already bleeding profusely because she had machete cut and a wood was forced into her vagina. It was learnt that the suspect was handed over to the police while the child was brought to us for treatment.

“At the moment, the hospital has carried out series of surgeries on her and she is in a stable condition. But the concern here is that a family showed up and offered to pay N10, 000 to offset part of the medical bill.

“We found out that it was the family of the suspect. My worry here is that how is this possible? Or are they acting on orders of the police? We just hope that the police have not compromised.”

Spokesman of the Cross River State Police Command, Mr. John Eluu, said he had yet to get briefing on the development.

There is an uneasy calm in Ihuokpara Community, in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State following the death of two men last week as a result of an adulterous woman.

One of the men, New Telegraph learnt, was the husband of the woman while the other was the woman’s secret lover.

According to unconfirmed reports, the woman, whose name has not been ascertained at the time of filing the report, after having her normal outing with her secret lover, returned home and shortly after her husband died mysteriously.

Following his death, the villagers put two into two together and concluded that it was the open secret love that caused the man’s death.

A man alleged to be a Boko Haram spy who worked for the group to bomb the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church Madalla in Niger State on Christmas Day in 2011 was yesterday paraded by the Nigerian Army in Bauchi.
The blast killed 44 people and wounded 75 others.

According to the army, Victor Moses, believed to be an indigene of Benue State, was arrested in Alkaleri town of Bauchi State near a mosque, claiming he wanted to convert to Islam.

He was arrested with three other suspects-Abubakar Shetima Bama, Salisu Mohammed Bello and Umar Madaki.

They were paraded before the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, at the 33 Artillery Brigade, Shadawanka Barracks in Bauchi. The Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Abraham Luka Dusu, said they were arrested on a tip-off.

“Our troops on duty in Alkaleri arrested Victor Moses after receiving a report from people in the area that the suspect had been loitering around the mosque claiming he was a Christian and wanted to convert to Islam but because he is not from the area, they suspected him and reported to our men.

“Victor Moses confessed to conducting surveillance for Boko Haram when in a shop belonging to Abubakar Shetima Bama in Jos while Salisu Mohammed Bello and Umar Madaki are based in Gombe,” he said.

Brig General Dosu said after investigation, the suspects would be handed over to the Joint Intelligent Centre in Maiduguri.

Cyriacus Izuekwe

Police detectives at Federal Criminal Investigation Department, FCID, Alagbon, have arrested a clearing agent for allegedly diverting his client’s containers and SUV Toyota Highlander SUV worth over N25 million in Lagos State, western Nigeria.
He allegedly cleared the containers and sold the vehicles and goods inside it to settle his debts and went into hiding.

The suspect, Tony Benson, was arrested at the weekend in his hideout in Ikeja where he hid for several months after committing the alleged crime at Apapa Wharf terminal.

The containers and the SUV belong to Damian Ikeokwu, a Nigerian based in Canada, who contracted Benson to clear the items.
It was alleged that Benson first cleared the SUV and used it to settle a debt, unknown to Ikeokwu.

Benson also took delivery of two other containers and reportedly sold all the vehicles and spare parts in them at give away prices and went underground.
Items in the containers are: Toyota Highlander, Matrix, Camry, Nissan Pathfinder and spare parts and other goods worth N25 million.

The arrest of Benson followed a petition by Ikeokwu to the Inspector General of Police against Benson for alleged fraud, stealing and criminal conversion of containers of vehicles and goods worth millions of naira.

In the petition written on behalf of the victim by the chambers of Kissinger Ikeokwu and dated November 2015, it stated that the victim was based in Canada and had contract agreement with Benson to clear four containers.

It stated that Benson later asked Ikeokwu to use the clearing charge to send a container of cars which he did.

However, two other containers Ikeokwu sent to Benson to clear for him were cleared by Benson and the items inside them were sold without the knowledge of Ikeokwu.

P.M.NEWS gathered that after Benson sold the containers and goods including using the Highlander SUV to settle his debt, he moved out of his house to an unknown place.

While all this was going on, Ikeokwu was in Canada and did not know how to locate Benson until the police tracked him down and arrested him last week.

He was taken to the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Alagbon where he allegedly confessed that he cleared the containers and sold the cars in them.

On the SUV, he said he did not sell it, adding that he was indebted and the person he was owing forcefully took the SUV which the police have now recovered.

Benson said he sold the items because Ikeokwu was owing him N12 million for the demurrage the containers incurred during the clearance but did not provide evidence to buttress his claims.

When our reporter visited Alagbon, Benson was still in detention and his relations were making efforts to facilitate administrative bail from the police.

P.M.NEWS gathered that Benson was already facing a criminal charge before Apapa Magistrates’ court for allegedly using a stolen vehicle to settle his debt.
Police sources said Benson will be prosecuted after the conclusion of investigation.

There were allegations of squandermania, people just do what they like, engaging people with huge sums of money, hundreds and hundreds of million of naira were distributed to individuals.
Those who collected the money confessed that it was meant to help President Goodluck Jonathan get back to power.
Some of them confessed that their party had no presidential candidate and they were ready to support anybody who could give them money.

Barely 24 hours after the release of another list of 100 Boko Haram terror suspects, four men suspected to be members of the sect were arrested yesterday morning by youths of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) at the Maiduguri motor park.

The suspects, according to Modu Bukar, a member of CJTF, were attempting to flee Maiduguri by bus before they were apprehended by the vigilant youths at about 7.35am.

“These men who claimed to be travelling to the south are Boko Haram suspects, because their identities matched those on the list released by the military on Saturday, including the sect’s tattoo on their arms and backs,” Bukar said yesterday.

He said that the suspects look unkempt with signs of starvation and have been handed over to the military for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, the Borno State Police Command and the military yesterday commenced “stop and search” exercise on some roads leading into Maiduguri metropolis.

The affected roads include Damboa, Polo, Giwa Barracks, and Circular roads that lead to Sambisa Forest and the Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road.

Police spokesman, Isuku Victor, told The Guardian that there are intelligence reports that Boko Haram insurgents are in “disarray and fleeing” to different settlements to take refuge and escape to the southern part of the country.

He said that the stop and search exercise in the metropolis was to check the fleeing insurgents from Sambisa Forest.

Detectives attached to the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSRAS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, have arrested a burglar, who mistakenly locked himself inside a victim’s car. The suspect, Jamiu Anisoro, used to burgle cars with an iron rod, sharpened and shaped into a key. He burgled a car on premises of Mainland Hotel, Oyingbo, Oto Railway Ebute-Metta and got trapped inside the car, leading to his arrest.

When the car owner came out, he saw Anisoro inside his car and alerted the police. Although the key had opened many car boots and doors, it, however, had a clause. Once it has opened a door, the door would become faulty. The master or normal key wouldn’t be able to operate the door again.

A police source said: “Anisoro specialises in opening vehicles with a master key. He got a rod and sharpened it into the shape of a key. His modus operandi is to watch motorists coming to Oyingbo Market. After the person parks, he would find out where the person is going.

He monitors where the person is heading. He would go back to where the victim’s car is parked. “But before heading to the targeted car, he would carry two bags, filled with used papers. He would use the master key to open the car door, pretending to be the owner or driver. He would pick phones, money and other valuables.

He would drop the bags filled with old newspaper into the car and leaves. People watching him would think he came to drop some items he bought inside his car; they wouldn’t know he is a burglar.” Anisoro confessed to the police that he targeted victims in the morning and evening. He usually steals phones, wallets and other valuables inside parked vehicles. According to him, he used to sell some of such stolen items at Computer Village, Ikeja.

“There was a time he saw nylon inside a car at Ido, Oyingbo. The nylon was under the seat of a car he burgled. He found N150,000. He used the money to rent a house. He used the balance to buy tools for cobbling. He wanted to start cobbling which was his professional job,” the police source added.

Anisoro, however, soon ran out of money. He decided to go for the last operation. The last operation was the one that landed him in police net. On the fateful day of his arrest, he had tailed a car owner who drove into Mainland Hotel, Oyingbo. Immediately the man stepped out of his car, Anisoro followed him closely. Anyone watching would think he was the man’s driver or came with the man. As the man walked into the hotel, Anisoro went him into the hotel reception.

It was a black Sunday for the residents of Bayan Kara Ta Gabas in Birnin Kebbi, the capital city of Kebbi State, when unknown assailants slaughtered a housewife, three of her children and two brides-to-be, at midnight. The housewife, Amina and her nine-year-old son Jibril, three-year-old twins Hassan and Hussaina, were said to have been hacked to death with machetes.

Two female house-guests were also killed, having stayed over as they usually did to keep their neighbour company whenever late Amina’s husband, Alhaji Dan Dare (Mai-Bulawus), travels on business.
Mai-Bulawus, a small-scale businessman, sells ladies’ clothes at the Kebbi Central Market, earning him the name Mai-Bulawus, roughly meaning ‘one who sells blouses’. He buys his wares from Onitsha, and was there when the violent attack occurred.

In the morning, Daily Trust learnt, neighbours decided to break into the house when they didn’t notice the usual movement of the children who were supposed to have come out to prepare for school. It was after getting into the house that they found their lifeless bodies, with gashes and cuts all over. The three-month-old baby who was spared by the killers was crying on the bed. It is believed that the oldest child of the family, who was away at his grandmothers’, would also have been killed.
When Daily Trust visited the home of Mai-Bulawus, sympathisers were still trooping to condole with the visibly-shaken man. At the the house, there was heavy presence of police, with a patrol van stationed nearby.

Mai-Bulawus, distraught, strained to recount his last contact with his wife and children. “Whenever I am travelling, I make sure that I provide them with all they need so they wouldn’t lack anything and that’s what I did,” he narrated, recalling that late Amina and the twins had followed him to the gate to bid him farewell, “Not knowing that they were saying their final goodbyes.”
Mai-Bulawus said he received his wife’s call first in Sokoto, when he was boarding a luxury bus to Onitsha, and the last one was in Abuja. “On getting to Onitsha in the morning, I called one electrician whom I had contracted to carry out some repairs at home to inquire if he had done it, but he told me he wasn’t able yet. But he asked me to call Dangara, a relative of mine. “When I called Dangara, he rejected the call and later switched off his phone. I then decided to call another member of my family, Zaki, who told me something was wrong with my family, but pleaded with me to switch off my phones because people would be disturbing me with calls. Reluctantly, I obliged.”

Mai-Bulawus would later on learn all his relatives and friends were warned against breaking the news to him until he returned from his trip. As soon as he came back from Onitsha on Tuesday, February 23, his brother broke the gut-wrenching news to him, telling him how his wife, three children and two of his neighbour’s daughters were murdered in cold blood.“I can’t even describe how I felt, but as a Muslim I succumbed to the will of God. I am now left with a 3-month-old baby and my eldest son. All I can do is pray to Allah to grant them eternal peace,” he told Daily Trust.
Mai-Bulawus described late Amina as obedient, God-fearing and very supportive.

Though he doesn’t suspect anyone, as he claimed not to have any enemy because he lives in peace with all his neighbours and business partners, Mai-Bulawus said: “One cannot tell for sure.” He also commended the police for their work on the investigation, expressing optimism that the killers will be brought to book, and soon.

The neighbour, Alhaji Rabi’u Maitunka, whose two daughters, Aishat (18) and Nafisa (14), were also murdered, told Daily Trust that arrangements for the duo’s marriage had commenced, as they both had suitors. He said he was also on a business trip when the incident happened, and he could not be reached because there was no telephone service in the area, a village in Niger State.
Maitunka said it was after he came back to Kaboji village that his brother called to ask when he was coming back. “I told him I was already on my way and he quickly hung up.

A few minutes later, I received another call from my junior wife who asked me the same question before terminating the call. I became suspicious because I could tell from her voice that all was not well. So, I called her back and from the background I heard a voice say ‘just tell him’ and she broke the saddest news ever to me,” he said.
Maitunka said his daughters’ good manners were what endeared them to Alhaji’s late wife and as such they made his house their second home. He said Aishat was about completing her secondary school and both of them had suitors. They had wanted their marriage to take place before the fasting period. He described them as nice and well-behaved, praying to Allah to grant them eternal rest.

Mustapha Abdullahi, the teacher of the Islamic school that 3-year-old Hassan and Hussaina attended before their murder, recalled his last encounter with his pupils, while bringing them home as he always did after school hours. “Hassan asked me to buy him a motorcycle while Hussaina requested for a teddy bear and I jokingly told them ‘no problem’ before I bade them goodnight, not knowing that would be our last meeting.” He said the deaths shocked him, adding that they were such brilliant and adorable children.

The people of the area were said to have taken security issues with laxity, according to the Village Head of Bayan Kara Ta Gabas, Malam Abubakar Wurogaure. He said he had severally told his people about the need to be security-conscious and employ night watchmen, but his advice had been ignored. “I believe the issue of security is no longer the business of security agencies alone but a collective concern and that was the reason why I always warned my people about the need to come together and find ways of enhancing the security of the area but nobody was willing to support the idea,” he said.

Wurogaure said the community is witnessing this kind of incident for the first time. “I was teaching my students when somebody came and informed me that a housewife had been killed in their area. So, I discharged my students and rushed to the scene. On getting there, we discovered it was not only the housewife that was killed, but a number of others. I asked everybody to stay away from the crime scene until the arrival of the police. I informed my district head about the development, who met me there with some policemen.”
Wurogaure also hoped fervently that such a violent, tragic incident never occurs again. The Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area, he said, had summoned and sensitized them on the need to take issues of security very seriously. “He pledged to give us all the necessary support towards ensuring the safety of the area.”

Governor Atiku Bagudu and the Kebbi State Commissioner of Police Yakubu Jibril were among the people who attended the funeral prayers for the deceased.
Bagudu, while condoling with the families of the victims, described the killing as barbaric and a serious offence whose perpetrators must be punished. He was confident that the police would track down the killers, and prayed Allah to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

On his part, the Commissioner of Police said the killing was an act of assassination, assuring that his men would identify the killers and bring them to justice.
Spokesman of the Command, ASP Nafi’u Abubakar, said investigation has commenced on the matter, but no arrest has been made yet.

A sympathizer asked: “How can one kill innocent people, including children and expect to have a peaceful life?” He added: “Allah will not make that possible for them. They may hide but they cannot escape justice here on earth or in the hereafter.”

Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

A 36 year-old housewife, Helen Owie on Tuesday at the Asaba High Court 3, Delta State broke down in tears, begging the court to help recover €550,000 from her husband, one Chidi Ike who from Imo State.

Helen in a mild drama at the dock inside the High Court room while she was being cross-examined by her counsel, Mr. Raphael Okhouoleigbe said: “I got a contact from one of my customers in Benin City where I was then trading in clothes around New Benin Market in 2009 by one Obina who later introduced me to my husband Chidi”.

On how the relationship started, the housewife who claimed she knew nothing about Chidi said: “I showed interest that I will marry the brother after we had discussed and my photograph was sent to Chidi.

Three weeks later, Chidi and I met and we started planning marriage, in the process I got a visa to travel to Italy and in 2012 I returned to Nigeria for the marriage, after the marriage, Chidi my husband demanded for a loan of N3million, and I loaned to him €550,000 and also sponsored our marriage for N180,000”.

Speaking further, the housewife who claimed she was duped of several huge sum of money said: “I spent two years in the Europe and when I returned home, my husband Chidi refused to make love to me for three years, I spent in Nigeria, and each time I asked him to take in, he will dribble me, unknown to me he had a wife and children in Mbaise, Imo State, but he told me he was never married when I met him. He moved into Asaba after our marriage”.

Prosecution witness, CPL Elizabeth Ezeh had told the court the Chidi was arrested and subsequently detained at the Police “A” Division Asaba for alleged fraud, adding that he was granted bail and charged to court on three counts of conspiracy stealing and obtaining under false pretence.

But the accused person, Chidi Ike pleaded not guilty to the charges. The presiding Judge, Justice Daniel Maidu in his ruling adjourned the case till March 21, 2016 for further hearing.

lalasticlala

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) has apprehended four suspected drug traffickers, including a Birmingham based cleaner with 6.822kg of narcotics, worth N61 million.

A statement by the agency’s spokesman Ofoyeju Mitchell said the seized drugs consist of 4.193kgs of heroin and 2.629kg of cocaine destined for Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, Birmingham, United Kingdom, Rome and Mumbai, India.

NDLEA commander at Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan said that those arrested were caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of the country.

He said: “Four suspected drug traffickers have been apprehended with 6.822kg of cocaine and heroin.

“The suspects include Umeh Chidiebere Gabriel, 36 years going to Birmingham with 479 grammes of cocaine, Ozoike Kelechi John, 34 years going to Rome through Addis Ababa with 2.8kg of heroin, Azubuike Francis Okwochukwu, 38 years going to Addis Ababa with 1.393kg of heroin and Okoro Godfrey Ogbonna, 42 years going to Mumbai with 2.150kg of cocaine”.

“Umeh Chidiebere Gabriel who lives in Birmingham, United Kingdom was arrested at the boarding gate of the airport after testing positive for drug ingestion while trying to board an Air France flight to the United Kingdom through Charles De Gaulle, Paris.

“While under observation, he excreted 30 wraps of cocaine weighing 479 grammes. He claimed that the drugs were given to him by a man he met at his village. The suspect hails from Udi village in Enugu State is married with a daughter.

“They promised to take care of me financially after successfully delivering the drugs in London. I feel very sad,” he stated.

Another suspect, Ozoike Kelechi John, a trader at Alaba international market Ojo Lagos, was arrested while trying to check in a bag found to contain 2.8kg of heroin. The drug was cleverly concealed inside the passenger’s luggage.

NDLEA agents made the discovery during screening of passengers on an Ethiopian airline flight to Rome via Addis Ababa. Ozoike Kelechi John hails from Enugu State. He is single and an importer of electronics from Hong Kong.

In his words, “I needed more money to expand my business that was why I had to smuggle drugs. They promised to pay me 10, 150 euros upon safe delivery of the drugs in Rome but I was given 1, 200 euros as part payment”.

Mr. Okoro Godfrey Ogbonna from Ijebu ode, Ogun State was arrested with 2.150kg of cocaine at the screening point during checking in of passengers on a Kenyan airways flight to India through Nairobi.

Ogbonna is an importer of hair extensions from India to Nigeria. He is married with two kids and hails from Enugu State.

“He claimed that he was given the drugs by a friend he met in Lagos to deliver in India after which he will be paid four hundred and fifty thousand naira (N450,000). His travel expenses were all paid by his sponsors.

The last suspect Azubuike Francis Okwuchukwu, from Nnewi, Anambra State ingested 65 wraps of heroine weighing 1.393 kg which he swallowed and attempted to export to Italy. He was arrested trying to board an Ethiopian Airline flight to Italy via Addis Ababa.

Okwuchukwu is married with two children and also a business man who imports mobile phones from Hong Kong and owns a shop in Oshodi Lagos. He claims that the demolition of his shop led him into drug trafficking after he was promised 5000 euros upon the delivery of the drugs in Italy.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah rtd said that the Agency will investigate and arrest the sponsors of the suspects.

“My target is to trace the drug barons, arrest and prosecute everyone that is involved in the illicit act”, Abdallah stated.

Much may never have been heard or written about Awube stream in Ipole Ugbugbu Owukpa, Ogbadibo local government Area of Benue State, but the stream, according to the people is their major source of livelihood.
A community that has existed since over three-hundred years ago has had its existence tied to the mysterious Awube stream. The River, to an average Ugbugbu person, is second to God as it is the only source of water in the small community.

One thing about the stream is that the people bath and wash inside it, yet they drink and cook with it. Every Ugbugbu bred drinks the water that can ordinarily be termed unhygienic. There is usually no method of eliminating likely germs as the water is drank just the way it is fetched. It is strange for an Ugbugbu bred to boil the water fetched from Awube stream before drinking. Yet, no known water-related disease or sickness has been recorded in the community despite the fact that the people freely use the water.

The stream that flows from Amala in Enugu State through Eke-Akpa does not dry up at any point in time. It flows throughout the year in defiance of seasonal variation. In Ugbugbu, Awube is divided into two sections – the up section ( Okpa-ogicho) and the down section ( Okpa-ogaje).The up section is usually where the men bath. It’s separated from the down section so the men and women do not see themselves while bathing. Ironically, it’s the women who fetch water for drinking, hence they are forced to fetch the sweat and dirt the men wash off their bodies. Most men who bath inside the Awube stream spit and urinate inside the same stream, though there is a myth that whoever urinates inside the stream will become impotent. What a sane Ugbugbu child will not do is to defecate inside the stream, as such is deemed irreverent and sacrilegious.

It’s, however, strange that despite the growing civilization in different communities and villages, the people of Ugbugbu continue to drink and bath with the water whose source has remained a mystery. Amazed by this trend, DAILY POST reporter, Adoyi Ali embarked on a trip to Ugbugbu to get to know more about the unsung Awube. But on getting to the stream, a young man, who gave his name as Isaac, and was bathing in the stream at the time of the visit, warned him against taking any image of the stream as one of the late chief priests had warned years ago against the publication of stories that will expose activities around it.

But our reporter, who went back to the village on Isaac’s advice, returned later in the evening to take the image of the stream via his mobile phone camera, and to his shock, an image similar to a human head appeared right in the middle of the stream when he was about taking the shot.
The image was, however, taken and since then several questions have been asked.

Many villagers have disclosed that there is more to the stream than just the flowing water. Speaking with a youth leader, Augustine Okpe over the mysterious image, he said, “Awube used to be very mysterious. In those days, light would shine across the stream at midnight. Sometimes, bad people are chased away from the stream when crossing to the other side at the wrong hour. I’m not surprised you got this image as it is very possible that Awube after several years may have decided to show its face.”

A community elder, Ajeh told DAILY POST that Awube was in recent past a shrine. He said, ‘’it’s just recently that Christianity took over the community that some of us stopped worshiping Awube. In those days, several sacrifices were offered to the Awube goddess to appease it as Ugbugbu people, till today believe that the community derives much of its blessings from the stream. Those who swear to Awube as an oath in those days must be sure that they were innocent, if not such person or persons would live to regret their actions. I know some people who worship Awube till today.’’

A woman leader, named after the stream, Awube, disclosed that those possessed with Ogbanje spirit in the community get their healing by being led to the stream by an Ogbanje priest for cleansing. She said ‘’I was once possessed and I had my cleansing bathe inside the stream several times. I’m a Christian today, but I must tell you that people’s cosmic views hardly change. Awube is very important to us.’’

Another youth leader, Ujah Abakpa told DAILY POST that Awube should be made a tourist centre considering the various roles it had played for the community, coupled with the mysterious things that define the stream. According to Ujah, ‘’I grew up here and I know that this is not just an ordinary water. To be honest, this water must be turned a tourist centre. The water has helped our people to survive on their own with little or no assistance from the government. We bath, drink, wash and cook with the stream. No borehole, no well and pipe-borne water anywhere around here, yet the people eat, drink and live very healthy.

As for the image, I have always known that Awube is not just an ordinary stream. I have heard several folklore about the stream, so I’m not surprised that you got this image.’’

Cyriacus Izuekwe

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, has arrested a driver and conductor for allegedly painting their vehicle in police colours in Lagos State, western Nigeria.

Owoseni arrested the suspects who identified themselves as Tunde Sanni, the driver, and his conductor, Sunday Asapo, along 3rd Mainland Bridge, precisely between Adeniji Adele and Olowu intersection in Lagos Island.

According to the police, Owoseni was on routine patrol when intercepted a Faragon bus with registration number, FKJ 205 XB and painted in police colours.

The bus was conveying some passengers before Owoseni flagged the driver down to identify the vehicle and passengers on board.

The driver told him that he was only a commuter bus driver and that the vehicle belonged to him and not a police vehicle.

They were handed over to the police at Adeniji Adele Police Station. The vehicle was also seized as exhibit and kept at the station.

Following the discovery, the Lagos State Police Command has warned the public, especially motorists, against impersonating the police by painting their vehicles in police colours.

The warning was given by the state Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, who noted that apart from painting vehicles in police colours, some also wear police uniforms or even keep police accoutrements on dashboards of their vehicles to give the impression that the were policemen.

Badmos said that the police would no longer tolerate the act.

According to her, investigation also revealed that the impostors hide under the guise of being police officers to commit nefarious acts.

lalasticlala