₦airaland Forum

The Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okogies, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently retool, refocus and aggressively lead by example on all fronts or risk plunging Nigeria into a state of despondency.

In a statement released by the Director of Social Communications of the Diocese, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, Okogie accused the president of waging a shoddy corruption war and acting disdainfully towards the judicial authorities while millions of Nigerians were left to face unimaginable social problems.

“He must retool, refocus and aggressively face the social, economic (fiscal and monetary) problems we have head on, without letting the anti corruption drive look like a political distraction,” the cardinal noted. Expressing disenchantment with the president’s style, Okogie said: “A snail paced and disordered methodology in governance, his apparent disdain for judicial authority and decisions, a lost today found tomorrow 2016 budget debacle, and a rather rudderless and confused Central Bank with an unclear monetary policy strategy (inevitably increasing the economic uncertainties being faced by Nigerians), have set alarm bells ringing in my mind and in the minds of many discerning Nigerians.

“Indeed, his perceived discordant relationship with the leadership of the Legislature has many naysayers chuckling and remarking that President Buhari’s government is heading rather naturally, into his comfort zone – a one man show.”

Okogie also noted that a lot of Nigerians are beginning to feel that Buhari is fast transforming this nation into a police state where Mr. President, the EFCC and DSS rule the day.

His words: “What they say is given lurid headlines in the media, and it seems to all that some of the defendants/accused persons are being tried in the press with information conveniently slipping into the hands of the press, presumably from the security agencies, even before such people have been charged to court.” He also frowned on the President’s refusal to heed court pronouncements regarding the bail granted to the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu and former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.

He said: “The Pro-Biafran activist, Nnmadi Kanu and the erstwhile NSA Sambo Dasuki were granted bail by the courts but such bails were disregarded by the security agents under Buhari’s watch. Unfortunately, democracy is difficult and this government must realise that democracy pervasively coloured with impunity, arbitrariness and high handedness, cannot be used to fight and correct the financial impunity and reckless abandon of the previous administration, even if it is more difficult to do so, the rule of law must be obeyed and be the order of the day.

“If Buhari wants to leave a creditable legacy come 2019 he should retool the bureaucracy. For instance, the roof of the Central Bank is leaking water.

Governors, who arm-twisted Okonjo Iweala into signing out our reserves held by Central Bank, are today ministers in the APC government. We are still talking about change and corruption when old things refuse to pass away! These political gimmicks can only carry away gullible or naive Nigerians. President Buhari should beam his flash light on policies and programmes that will lift up the Masses. “Existing industries are almost dead and call for urgent revitalization.

The budget ought to aid solutions to the mass unemployment, Rural-Urban migration, skewedness in the distribution of income, abject rural poverty and industrialization of rural economy.

The 774 local government capitals should be linked to their state capitals. Even the mind boggling infrastructure deficits can take the entire tenure to address.

The weakness in the bureaucracy has not been addressed. Consequently, the problem the APC government is trying to solve is bound to re-occur because it is treatment of effect rather than the cause. Causative factors are being totally ignored or glossedover. Institutional weakness pervades the MDAs, offices of the Accountant General, Auditor General and the Central Bank itself.” He observed that leakages in the economy had remained unnoticed and unplugged over the last 16 years of uninterrupted democracy.

“Our Change must change something. How could we continue to talk of change in a static system? How could we be talking of change when the same crew are governors, ministers, senators, and members of the House of Representatives?
This is a cyclical devolution of power to the same people who are never out of power! “What sort of change is the President talking about? When will the youth take over when even a governor does not take a bow and go? When shall we plan for the replacement of delinquent leadership? This is what constitutes change.

Change is not changing from Jonathan to Buhari, Okoie asked. According to the Cardinal, “Change is behavioural and pervades all levels of society including the family, the church, the mosque, schools, market women and business men. “When we talk of change, we talk of positive-salutary, healthy growth and development oriented change that cuts across the entire gamut of the society.

What sort of change is this that ignores the glaring un-equal distribution of national income?
It is absurd that the same government that is unable to pay N18, 000 per month to the lowest grade of labour can afford to pay N1.8 Million per month to anyone in the economy.

Why must tax payers’ money be used to feed Mr. President and his family?
“Why must the tax payers’ money be used to buy brand new exotic vehicles for the legislatures, judges, ministers and governors when they are heavily paid?
Why don’t they use loan finance and mortgage finance to buy their cars and houses?
This is also a form of looting and it is the cause of grounding the economy and calling in IMF spin-doctor all the time.

Precisely two years ago this same President Buhari rejected off hand this use of spindoctor to heal the ailing economy.

He preferred the use of counter trade and inward looking policies like cutting down cost and flamboyant exotic life styles.

“Today I am not so sure we have the same Buhari. I do hope he has not changed all the colours of the rainbow. The ruling elites are living a luxurious life while the masses are in abject poverty and yet we are all Nigerians. Enough of this change-conundrum,” the Cardinal warned.

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The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has said that the funds looted from Nigeria in the last five years is enough to fund three years budget of the country.

He stated this yesterday during an informal meeting with Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka in Ikeja, Lagos State.

Magu used the occasion of the meeting to discuss his plans for a renewed clampdown on corrupt officials in Nigeria.

Earlier at the meeting, Mr. Soyinka bantered with the EFCC chairman, at one point wishing him “good luck, but not that other one.”

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Mr. Magu was accompanied by some of his aides.

The Nobel laureate expressed his unfettered support to Mr. Magu, urging him to do all the right things necessary to arrest the culture of impunity and corruption in the country.

Mr. Soyinka remarked about the probe of procurement contracts for the military and the arrest of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

He also made reference to former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is currently in the UK undergoing treatment for cancer, stating that her health had been used to milk public sympathy.

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Friday granted bail to the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, in the sum of N300m with two sureties in like sum.

The total bail sum is N600m.

Metuh is already on remand in Kuje Prison by an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja with respect to charges of money laundering involving N400m, part of money meant for procurement of arms, which he collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014.

Justice Ishaq Bello, before whom Metuh was on Thursday arraigned on two counts of destruction of evidence while in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for investigation into the money laundering case, granted fresh bail to the PDP spokesperson on Friday.
The judge ordered that the residences of the two sureties to be presented by the accused should be verified by filing of documents in that respect before the court.

The application for bail was not opposed by EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir.

While arguing the bail application orally on Friday, Metuh’s lawyer, Mr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), anchored the application on provisions of sections 158 and 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 as well as sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution.

The judge in his ruling agreed with the defence that the offences the accused was charged with were bailable and he was presumed innocent until proved guilty.

Metuh who was produced in court by prison officials on Friday is still in the process of fulfilling the N400m bail granted him by Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

A lawyer defending Sambo Dasuki in court appears to have indicted former president, Goodluck Jonathan, in the ongoing arms deal probe in Nigeria.

Ahmed Raji, one of the lawyers of Sambo Dasuki, the embattled former National Security Adviser to Jonathan stated that the arms deal probe cannot be discussed without reference to Jonathan.

“The national security adviser will normally carry out the instructions of his president,” Ahmed Raji told AFP.

“You cannot talk about this matter without talking about President Jonathan,” he added.

It is unclear if President Muhammadu Buhari will go after his predecessor, with many political analysts claiming that Buhari will most likely not to do so.

It would be recalled that when Buhari was voted into power in 2015, he said in his acceptance speech last April that: “President Jonathan has nothing to fear from me,” adding that, “Let’s put the past behind us, especially the recent past.”

But with the prosecution of Dasuki, a powerful member of Jonathan’s administration, the former head of state could yet be dragged into the case.

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HOME suspected cultists went wild in Onipanu, Lagos yesterday, torching six shops and a house.
They also vandalised seven vehicles parked on Shosanya Street and unleashed mayhem on the area for over two hours.

Occupants of the house wailed as they watched their properties being razed by fire. The incident occurred at 12:30pm when many had gone to work. Those around when the gang arrived were allegedly prevented from leaving the building, but they took the emergency exit.
None of them could, however, salvage their properties.

The hoodlums, numbering about 30, were said to be armed with guns, cutlasses and knives.

The Nation gathered that the suspected Aiye confraternity members stormed the house in search of a member of a rival gang, Alora group, whose name was given as Idris (aka Lizarazu).

Idris’ gang, it was learnt, had earlier kidnapped a member of the Aiye group, identified as Sodiq, earlier in the day and attempted to kill him at the toll gate linking Kayode and Ogunmokun streets.
Sodiq, it was gathered, was stabbed on the head and chest with sharp objects before his gang went to rescue him.

His colleagues mobilised for a reprisal, combing the area for members of the rival gang. When they learnt the Alora group members had fled, the Aiye gang moved to House 4 on Shosanya Street, said to belong to Idris’ late father, and torched it. They allegedly fired several shots at the building before setting it on fire.

The Nation gathered that Idris had earlier gone to the house and warned the occupants to pick “anything valuable to them” and leave.

A tailor whose shop was torched said she almost threw her baby into a freezer as guns boomed. The tailor, who declined to give her name, said: “I almost fainted in my shop when the boys arrived in their numbers. I was discussing with a customer and suddenly, I saw people running in different directions. I quickly carried my baby and hid behind my fridge. They were shooting and throwing bottles.

“When they got here, they shot in different direction. I wanted to lock my baby in the freezer, but I did not know what stopped me. They locked the front door and splashed petrol on the house. They threatened to shoot anyone, who attempted to run out before setting the house on fire. They waited for another 30 minutes to ensure the house got burnt. I ran out with my baby when they left the street to other streets.”

While the house was on fire, Aiye group members smashed the windscreens of vehicles parked on the street. They also threatened to set fire on the adjacent three-storey building, where another member of the rival group, resides.

As they left the area, they shot sporadically and threw bottles at houses. Residents went into hiding to escape being hit by stray bullets. They came out of hiding following the arrival of a combined team of riot policemen and anti-robbery squad from Ilupeju Police Division and Area D in Mushin.

A resident, who gave her name as Mojisola, said it was the second time the house was attacked, noting that a gang had attempted to kill Idris’ mother last year when they were looking for him.
“I was one of the people, who told Idris’ mother to leave this area because of her son’s involvement in cult activities,” Mojisola said.

The Nation gathered that the gang left Shosanya Street, passing through four other streets without being accosted by the police. They were said to have converged on Ajisegiri Street, before dispersing via Shyllon Street and Railway line.

The residents accused police of not responding to their distress call on time.
Wole Alimi, a witness, said: “I personally called the Ilupeju Divisional Police Officer (DPO) on telephone to give him the direction of movement of the cultists after they left Shosanya Street and he told me his officers were moving close to them.

“I was shocked when I saw the policemen driving to the Shosanya Street where the cultists had left several minutes before I called the DPO. The cult gang terrorised us for more than two hours and we did not see any policeman while they were here. What kind of country is this?”

Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said: “There is no gang war but an incident of arson was ascertained. There is no cause for alarm, because police have been deployed to the area.”

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Since December 22, Godwin Onyeisi has not known peace following the mysterious disappearance of his three-year-old daughter, Success from home.

The minor was allegedly abducted by a neighbour, Emmanuel Okpara, who joined the father to look for the girl, until he was fingered by people who saw him with the child about the time she reportedly went missing.

Success’ disappearance bungled the family’s plan to travel home for the Yuletide and it is threatening the education of her other siblings. Her father, a commercial motorcyclist said he has spent all his savings – about N60,000 – on police investigation and other logistics.

Okpara has been arrested and transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, where he allegedly confessed that he sold the minor for N20,000. But Onyeisi said they do not know who the buyer is or where he lives.

At their Adebumoye Street, Coconut, Apapa, Lagos home, a troubled Onyeisi told The Nation that he initially did not believe that Okpara, whom he has treated like a brother over the years could kidnap his daughter.
“The worst part is that he (Okpara) followed me to all the places I went to in search of my daughter, with the same clothe he wore when he kidnapped her.

“He followed me on my motorcycle to all the palaces of the Baales, all the streets and all the police stations we visited, until people who saw him with her about the time she went missing, told us and the police that he was the kidnapper,” Onyeisi said.
He said he was at work when his wife called him on phone that she could not find their daughter.

His wife, he said, had left the girl, who was watching cartoon at home, to quickly buy some of the things they need to travel to Delta State for the Yuletide.

“My older children went to fetch water at the well in a nearby compound. They went with other children in our yard. So, because we were planning to travel, my wife left Success who was watching cartoon in the room and rushed to the market.

“She was the one who called me that they have been looking for Success and have not seen her. Initially I didn’t really take her seriously because I did not think anyone will want to harm me or my family.
“When I came back and they have not seen her yet, I started going round the neighbourhood asking questions.

“As we were going round to ask people, the Baales were sending messages through town criers that anyone that saw her should come forward with the information.

“For two days, we went round in search of my daughter and my neighbour was with me all through the period. He was wearing the same red T-shirt that people saw him with while he took my daughter away. But he was following me as if he did not know anything about her disappearance.

“From December 23, we started hearing information that he was seen with my daughter, but I did not believe it because Success is very close to him. I have been very good to his family; I even connected my generator to his house to give them light.

“Whenever my daughter is given food, she will take it to eat with him. Once we bath her, she will take her clothe to him to wear for her. She usually slept in their house, so I did not want to believe that he was behind her disappearance.

“But three women later came to our house, among the three was a woman he bought bottled water from while he was with my daughter. So, the woman now said he saw him with my daughter and that after drinking from the water, he gave my daughter to drink and they left.

“I still did not believe what they were saying. I told them to stop lying against him until my wife got angry and went and reported to the police that I was also a suspect. That was how I was arrested with him on December 25 and we slept at the station.

“He was still denying it, until the women and all those who saw him with my daughter came to the police station and identified him.

“They even described the clothe he was wearing, which happened to be the same clothe he wore while he was following me about. That was how the police detained him.

“After some days, he confessed that he was the one who took her and that he sold her for N20,000 through somebody else to a man who lives in Okota.

“He said he cannot remember the man and the middle man who took the baby to the buyer usually stayed at a woman’s house here in Coconut.

“I have been going from church to church and they keep telling me that my daughter is alive.

“Okpara should let me know if he has killed my daughter. If my baby is still alive, he should say where she is. How can a man like that kidnap a little girl and since then he doesn’t want to say where she is? Police need to put pressure on him to say where my baby is.

“I have spent all my savings on the investigation of this matter. I have been giving the police money so that the case is not slowed down. Now I don’t even have money to pay for the school fees of my other children,” he said.
The Police have launched a manhunt for the buyer and the prophet he allegedly gave the child to.

It was gathered that the woman in whose house the middleman usually slept was nabbed but she was released because she knew nothing about the case.

It was learnt that the middleman gave the child to a chief, who handed her over to his prophet for sacrifice.

All the locations mentioned by Okpara have been visited by the police but they were deserted including two companies at Lekki said to be owned by the yet-to-be identified chief.

The Nation learnt that efforts to nab the suspects have been thwarted by their informants, who have been placed under watch.

“The police are very close to getting them. We will hunt them down soonest. Both the man who bought the girl and the one who took her to the buyer are being hunted, we are very close to getting them and will get them,” the source said.

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Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has failed in his bid to stop the delivery of judgment by the Federal High Court in a suit seeking to sack the Senate leadership.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola, had in December 14 last year, reserved judgment after hearing parties in the suit, challenging the process that led to the emergence of Bukola Saraki and Ekweremadu as President and Deputy President of the Senate.

Plaintiffs in the suit, led by Senator Abu Ibrahim, are of the view that the Senate Standing Orders of 2015 on which Saraki, Ekweremadu and other principal officers of the Senate were elected was a product of forgery.

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By Esther Onyegbula

Last Wednesday, some suspects were paraded at the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja over various offences ranging from robbery , rape and impersonation. To the astonishment of all, some people showed up at the command to identify some of the suspects as those who invaded their homes and dispossessed them of cash and other valuables. Among the victims was a lady who said but for providence she would have been gang raped three of the suspects.

The lady who gave her name as Precious Nwankwo, identified the trio of Balogun Mutiu( 32) Kuye Daniels( 24) and Fashola Adewunmi ( 32) as suspected members of the robbery gang that stormed her apartment in Iju area of the state. According to her : “I was asleep when the door of my apartment was forced opened .

I woke up in shock and quickly tied my wrapper . Before I could hide, these strangers (pointing to the suspects) barged in . One of them said they should waste me if I had no money to give to them. They took my hand bag which was on the bed, opened it and poured out everything on the bed and collected the money.

In my confusion, I ran inside the toilet inspite of warning from them not to do so. Two of them (Kuye Daniels and Fashola Adewunmi ) ran after me and threatened to rape me to death for disobeying their order. They were about to carry out their threat when their partner told them to leave for the next apartment . I recognized them because they were not masked . They collected N60, 000 from my bag and N5, 000 from my wallet, including two ATM cards, one infinix phone, one Nokia Lumia, one Tehno phone and one Nokia touch”, she said.

They snatched my car

Another victim who simply gave his name as Fedrick told a bewildered crownd at the command that he also fell victim of the robbers cruelty. He said he was at Climax hotel at Iju Shaga of the state , in the company of his wife when the robbers struck. He said : “They snacthed a car which broke down on the way. They came out of the car and made straight for the hotel. They collected the car key from me at gun point and drove off in my car. I dentified them by thier body smell.

My vehicle was however recovered later by men of the Rapid Response Squad. But the money inside, including my phone, wedding ring and wristwatch had been taken away”. A third victim, Peter, claimed that the suspects invaded his residence at Mile 12, last Thursday, where they carried out a room-to-room operation and dispossesed them of cash, phones and other valuables. Time was 2am. He identified one of them with the blue jean and ash coloured shirt he wore.

Peter said “ Immediately the robbers left , we alerted the Lagos State emergency department on thier telephone number 112 . when it was dawn, we reported the case at Alapere police division. To my surprise, I had a call from one of my stolen phones , only for the caller to identify himself as a policeman from Area ‘C’. They took two phones from me. But only the Asiha 303 was recovered while the Tecno Y6 was not.
Crime Alert gathered that when the distress calls was received, operatives of the Rapid Response Squad around the location barricaded all exit routes, thereby leading to the arrest of the suspects at Randle Avenue roundabout in Surulere. They were arrested in a stolen Toyota Corolla car with registration number AAA-239-BD.

Suspect’s account

However, one of the suspects, Balogun Mutiu, denied being an armed robber. He maintained that he was arrested on his way to his farm land by the police . He said “I told them I was on my way to the farm. They said a robbery operation just took place around that area . They took me and the rider of the motorcycle was on, to the police station. Later, these men; Kuye Daniels and Fashola Adewunmi were brought in . The police asked the Daniel and Fashola if they knew me and the okada rider they said no. They just want to send me to jail“, he said.

At that moment, one of the suspects , Kuye Daneils, (20) interjected , saying Mutiu was inside the stolen vehcile. According to him “Balogun Mutiu and Fashola Adewunmi, were inside the vehicle with Badoo when i joined them. I was arrested inside the car at Oshodi, I am not a member of the gang. The person that took me out that night is at large. I have not never gone on any operation with them . When they picked me, they said we were going to a carnival. I know one of them called Badoo. I am a cobbler. I am from Ondo state. I came from Ibafo to Lagos to celebrate the yuletide”, he said in tears.

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But for the intervention of policemen in Ogombo, angry residents of Ikota, Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area of Lagos, would have lynched a suspected thief.

The suspect, Stephen Effiong, was stripped naked and beaten to a pulp, after he was allegedly caught stealing rice and other food items from people’s homes.

A police source yesterday confirmed to The Nation that the incident occurred at the Ikota Second Gate, on the Lekki – Epe Expressway, last Wednesday.

According to him, Effiong has been severally warned by residents to stop stealing their food stuffs and money.

He said the suspect at about 5am that fateful day, was caught removing items such as rice, noodles and vegetable oil from different homes.

Effiong was said to have cut the mosquito net on the doors of the homes he invaded to enter their stores while the owners were asleep.

The suspect was allegedly caught by one Uche, who observed a movement at the back of his house and decided to follow the suspect to the place he stored his loot.

Uche, it was learnt, raised the alarm and attracted other victims, who forced the suspect to return the stolen items to their homes.

According to a resident simply identified as Festus, the suspect had been warned on several occasions to stop, wondering what he does with the foodstuff.

“He has been doing this thing for some time. Most times people will catch him and warn him to stop but he doesn’t listen. The mob would have lynched him if the police had not arrived on time.

“They dragged him to the road, removed his clothes and beat him thoroughly. People were passing and cursing him. Fortunately, policemen were passing by and stopped on the scene. That was how he was saved from jungle justice,” he said.

A senior police officer told The Nation that the suspect has been charged to court.

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By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

The Federal High Court sitting Abuja has granted bail to the embattled National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, to the tune of N400million.

In a bench ruling this afternoon, trial Justice Okon Abang ordered Metuh to produce two sureties who must deposit the sum of N200m each.

The court maintained that the sureties must not only be residents in Abuja, but also owners of landed properties within the Maitama district of the FCT.

A 70 -years-old man, Mutairu Afolabi, on Monday sought the dissolution of his 36 years marriage to Monsurat, 60, over alleged bleaching and conversion of his wife to Christianity.

"I told my wife that I have diabetes the next day she started singing that God should add honey and sugar to her life.

A 35-year old patient, Auwal Muhammad has been arrested for raping a 16-month old baby on his sick bed. Muhammad, was said to be on admission at the orthopaedic department of Usman Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital, Sokoto following a motor accident in which he sustained fracture on one of his leg.

DailyTrust leant that Muhammed had been nursing his leg at home before he was brought to the hospital by unnamed NGO for proper treatment. According to eyewitness account, the incident occurred on Friday, January 1 at about 2pm when mother of the baby along with one of her son came to visit a sick relative.

The suspect was said to have collected the victim from her brother to cuddle her in admiration which later turned to be something else as he was caught raping her on his sick bed. “Her mother heard her crying profusely. So she started looking for her only to find her being raped by the patient at his corner covered by curtains,” the source stated.

He added:”She quickly grabbed her daughter and reported the matter to the hospital security who arrested and took the suspect to Kwanni police station before he was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department in the police headquarters for further investigation.”

When contacted, spokesman of the Sokoto state police command, DSP Almustapha Sani confirmed the incident, saying the suspect was released on bail to enable him recover from his ailment.

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FROM NGOZI UWUJARE

THE people of Awara community in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area, Imo State are in still in shock, after learning from the police that two nephews of Mrs Ogo Omereji, a 63-year-old grandmother, masterminded her abduction and tortured her to death, after collect­ing ransom from the relations.

The whole community trooped out and wailed when a team from the Imo State Police Command visited the quiet rural community to exhume the body of the woman, who was buried in a shallow grave after she died in the custody of her abductors in the forest, where they kept her.

Omereji’s untimely journey to the great beyond began on September 26, 2015, when she was kidnapped in her farm, as the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Taiwo Lakanu, told Sunday Sun reporter in his office at the headquarters of the command in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The abduction was executed by two nephews of the victim, whose names were given as Emeka Chin­edu, 27, and Peter Obido, 28, with the active participation of two accomplices, namely, 26-year-old Gift Emeka and Sunday Uchenna, who is 28 years old.

The evil four kept the woman in the forest for three months in the most tortuous and inhumane condition and demanded N2million ransom from the family. After much effort, the family could only raise N510,000, which they paid to the kidnappers. While the abductors were waiting for the balance of ransom, the woman died.

Recounting what transpired at that stage of the abduction saga, leader of the gang, Gift Emeka told Sunday Sun reporter: “We kidnapped the woman in her farm at Awara in Ohaji/Egbema, tortured her and took her to a forest and demanded N2 million from her relatives. The family paid ransom of N510,000.00. We held the woman for three months. After the relatives paid part of the money, we started waiting for the balance of the ransom. But after two weeks, the woman died in the forest,” he said.

Continuing the chilling tale, Sunday Uchenna, nephew of the woman, said: “She is our relative and we are all from the same Awara Community. Immediately after the victim died, we quickly looked for a shovel and dug a grave in the forest where we buried her corpse. We didn’t inform the family that the victim who was in our custody had died.

“When we waited for the balance of the ransom and we didn’t hear from them again, we shared the N510, 000 among ourselves and left the forest,” he said.
Meanwhile youths in the community had made spirited efforts to search for the woman in the forest without success.
Expressing the pain of the youths over the incident, the youth leader, Chukwudi Obi told Sunday Sun
reporter: “We tried to comb (search) everywhere to assist the family of Mrs. Omereji.”

If members of the gang thought that burying the woman was the end of the matter, they obviously did not factor in the fact that providence was watching. As the blood of the dead woman continued to cry for justice, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Imo State Police Command which had been activated by the Commissioner of Police, following a report lodged by the family, launched a diligent investigation and soon got a breakthrough, which led to arrest of the suspects.

With the pain of losing a dear mother very evident, one of her children (name withheld) said: “We were shocked when we heard that two of the four suspects arrested by the police happened to be our relations, Emeka Chinedu and Peter Obido.

It is still a mystery to us that our relations were part of the gang that kidnapped, tortured and murdered our mother. She was in their custody for good three months. After they kidnapped her, they demanded N2million ransom. We paid N510,000 to them but we didn’t hear from them again.

We thought she was missing for good. When the police arrested them, the gang took us, the police and the community to where they buried our mother,” he said.
After the decomposing body was exhumed, Lakanu said that it was released to the family for proper burial.

While the arrested suspects await trial in court, the youths in the community have risen in stout rejection of the evil four. Their leader, Obi declared: “We want justice to be done and we don’t want them to return back to Awara community again.”

The police boss assured that the suspects would be arraigned in court soon to face trial.

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Two scavengers, Sunday John and Mohammed Nuhu, were, this morning, caught while vandalising vehicles in the highbrow Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State.

John, from Adamawa State, whose father is a retired Chief Justice in the state, and Nuhu who is from Kano State, were nabbed at about 2am while trying to cart away the carcass of a vehicle chassis.

The two thieves who were severely beaten and stripped naked and paraded around the estate, were said to have already collected the money from their ready buyer who is yet to be apprehended.

According to witnesses, they are said to be regular thieves who go about stealing vehicle part as well as robbing early risers.

In his confession to Pulse, John agreed to the allegation, blaming his attitude on drugs and his stubbornness.

"My father is a retired Chief Justice in my state. He is not a poor man but I have been rebellious right from my childhood and actually ran away from home to Lagos. I am a drug addict and I take tramadol.

It is true I joined Nuhu to steal the chassis because he told me the man had already paid him for it.

I am sorry. Please help me beg the police to forgive me. I will not steal again."

On his part, Nuhu said he actually called John to join him in the act.

"I am a scavenger and someone told me he wanted the chassis and I brought him last night to see it, promising him I would deliver the thing to him.

At about 2am, John and myself came to Ugbogoh Iweanya where the thing was and we had successfully taken it to Admiralty Way when the police patrol team caught us."

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An atmosphere of gloom has enveloped Elele Community of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State after a 9-year-old girl was raped to death by yet to be identified persons.

The girl whose name was simply given as Miracle was abducted at about 5 pm on Wednesday, 13 January by yet to be identified rapists while returning from an errand for her mother.

Eyewitnesses said that her mother had sent her to buy some food stuffs for her within the busy Elele Roundabout, but she never returned.

After waiting endlessly, the worried mother had to raise the alarm and ran into their streets calling for help in case if anyone might have seen her.

A search party that was organised that night could not locate her.
However, the girl’s lifeless body was later found early in the morning of Thursday, 14 January within the vicinity of her family house.

A family source said that they woke up from sleep on the morning of Thursday, 14 January to behold the lifeless body of Miracle with blood all over her nose, mouth and private part.

Some Residents in the area are insinuating that she might have been used for ritual.
It was later found out that the elder brother to the late Miracle belongs to a cult group and has been in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad since last December last year.

There are insinuations that her death may be connected to a revenge by a rival cult group.

The Rivers Police Command is yet to react to the gruesome murder of the innocent minor.

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Jesusegun Alagbe

Bimbo Coker’s (not real name) first day on campus in October 2008 was full of apprehension.

It was expected.

As a 15-year-old who had spent all her primary and secondary school education at private schools in Osun State, she had never left the sight of her parents, not even for a day. All through her primary and secondary schooldays, she was known to be a quiet, obedient “mum’s girl.”

In the church on Sundays, she sat where her parents sat, and left for home when service was over. No time to play with friends after the grace was said. During the holidays and weekends, her parents — both educationists — got her tutors to groom her academically.

She is the only girl among five children.
Just about four months after sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination with 1,369,141 others and making distinctions and credits in all nine subjects she sat for, she gained admission to study Biochemistry at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Since her mum’s friend’s daughter, who was 10 years older than her, was a final year student of Agricultural Economics and Extension at the same university, her parents did not bother seeing her off to the school. After all, she was going to be an adult someday and sort out things on her own, they thought, perhaps.

After some pep talk on the day she was travelling to Ogbomoso, her parents let their ‘little bird’ fly. It would be her first experience outside home.

“Ordinarily, they never left me on my own for the first 14 years of my life. My parents were always there for me,” she told our correspondent in December 2015 at a church-organised seminar in Lagos city, where she now works as a customer care officer at a telecommunications firm.
But on this particular night, they were not there for her.

Her mum’s friend’s daughter — who she called her “school mum” — was, however, too busy with her final year project that she had no time for her to put her through the school system as the one-week orientation for freshers was not enough for her to grasp how the university system works.

“Eventually, I had to be on my own. I had to start acting like a lady and not a girl anymore, so I felt I should stop disturbing her. She was busy with her project and I couldn’t be the reason why she wouldn’t be able to concentrate,” Coker said. “But I still needed help. I had never been in a wide system like that before. Some things were confusing. I was able to meet with other freshers like me, and so we helped one another.”

Days flew by and registration period was about ending.
It was during one of the days she had to fill the course form and submit to the department that she met a 400-Level tall dark coursemate, Wale (not his real name), “who appeared to be a God-sent angel. He helped me out on almost everything,” she recalled.

From assistance, to resistance, then force

Coker told Saturday PUNCH that though she was embittered, she had decided to let go of what happened between Wale and her — for the sake of her own inner peace.

She narrated, “We soon became good friends. Though he was 14 years older than me, I was not bothered. He was like a big brother to me in school. I grew up among boys, so I felt comfortable with him. He would help me out on anything — how to approach lecturers, how to choose which course to offer when it came to selective ones, and so on. He was very friendly with me. Moreover, we attended the same campus fellowship and he played drums.

“He would help me with some assignments. Yeah, He is brilliant and read a lot then. It was even his seriousness that attracted him to me in the first place. I love a serious guy and meeting him that day and discussing with him afterwards, I couldn’t help but become his friend.

“There was a time I felt that I should caution myself because the closeness was getting too much. He noticed my behaviour and asked me why I was getting scared of him. Of course, I was a virgin then and I ought to. However, he told me he had a girlfriend, a then-300-Level Food Science and Engineering student. That put my mind at rest a bit. At least he wouldn’t betray the trust of the other lady, I assumed.”
Then the night came.

In January 2009, after resuming from the Christmas and New Year holidays, he was the first person to say hello to her at her hostel in the Adenike Area of the school.
“He was calling me almost every day during the holidays, asking me when I would resume. He said he would be excited to see me again in the new year and asked what I was going to bring for him while coming. My mum used to sell provisions apart from teaching, so I told him I was going to bring some for him. He was thankful. Due to his much perseverance and because I wanted to resume early too so I could start preparing for exams, I got back to school in the first week of January,” Coker said, resting her arms on a shiny mahogany table in the church office where she shared her story.

During the first week of resumption in most tertiary institutions, only a few students usually get back to school as most wait till the second or third week, observations have shown.

No serious academic activity takes place during this period, except for pleasantries, gists and discussions among hostel and coursemates who resume early.
It was around 7pm when she heard the knock that day.

Coker said, “I didn’t think he was coming again because he had promised to come and see me by 1pm. Only about three of us had resumed in my hostel and the two others were not around. When I heard the knock, I thought they were my hostel mates who had also promised to come and visit me.

“I opened the door only to see Mr. Wale, flashing his teeth in the dark. We greeted and he entered. He apologised for coming late and I gave him what I brought for him. He said he was grateful and gave me a hug.”
The hug was the genesis of the incident that took place thereafter.

Coker said, “He didn’t leave me afterwards and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ Before I knew it, he had started touching my body, my breasts and buttocks. I removed his hands, but he resisted. I resisted too and before I could say anything again, he got me into bed. I said ‘no’, but he wasn’t listening again. He raped me.

“After that night, I regret ever knowing him. He deflowered me and I felt like killing him. I saw him once after the incident, before he left for internship, and he tried so well to avoid me. When he was back, he was in 500-Level while I had got to 200-Level, he greeted me once and the second time we met at a departmental function, he called me aside and apologised.”
Our correspondent asked whether she reported the incident to the school authorities, but Coker said she was too afraid to do that as a fresher.

“One, I didn’t know who to report to or who would help me. Two, I didn’t want anybody, including my parents, to know about it. It just had to stay with me. He left me that night in sorrow, piercing my heart, but I asked God to avenge for me,” she said.
Six years after the incident, our correspondent asked Coker whether she had moved on.

“He called me sometime ago and apologised for what happened that night. I could hear him weeping at the other end of the phone. He said it was the devil’s work and that he was overwhelmed that night. He said the devil got hold of him and that he had never been himself again thereafter. He said he had no peace and wanted my forgiveness. He pleaded with me. Well, I forgave him and at least my heart had been free from it ever since. However, the experience has made me never to trust any man again. I can’t be in a secluded place with only you, for instance,” she told our correspondent.

Coker agreed her story be published to make female freshers in tertiary institutions learn from her and to appeal to the Federal Government to enforce laws against rape, which had become “the sons of the devil’s hobby.” She also didn’t object to her picture being used in this story if blurred.

Citadels of learning turning to rapists’ dens

Coker’s story wouldn’t be the first of its kind to take place in a Nigerian tertiary institution — it’s only that she was bold to share hers.
The term “October rush” is a slogan used for the chasing of female freshers by senior male students in tertiary institutions in the country.

Most institutions in Nigeria resume academic activities for the first semester in October of every year, except where striking actions or other factors have disrupted the academic calendar year.

“October rush” is a phenomenon, according to guys who know very much about it, whereby senior male students anticipate to make new female friends, then finding one to make a girlfriend — for a year or two.
A 2009 graduate of the University of Lagos, who asked not to be named, said, “Most guys anticipate October rush every year. You get to know new babes who don’t know anything or much about the school system yet. You meet them at departmental orientation programmes, hostels, and the likes. They flood everywhere, and from the way they look, you’ll know they’re really fresh.

“They’ve not been battered by the stress of exam or lectures; they know nothing. Guys offer to help them out in doing certain things like registration and become friends in the process. I had a girlfriend too who was a fresher at a point in time, but I never forced anything on her. She calls me occasionally up till now because we are still friends. If I had hurt her then, she would never be doing that. Everything we did was consensual. I can’t say that about others.”
Truly, he can’t say that about other senior male students at UNILAG and elsewhere.

When she gained admission to study Accounting in 2010 at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, and was offered assistance on course registration, hostel accommodation, among others, Bella didn’t know her new-found male friend was going to drug her juice weeks after in order to sleep with her.

She thought her mum’s prayer that she would find favour on and off-campus was the one working when she left Uyo and travelled all the way down to Auchi to study.
“I didn’t know the ‘son of the devil’ was interested in me, really. I thought he was only helping. He was in Higher National Diploma 1, and I had just gained admission, so I didn’t feel awkward. I thought he was nice,” Bella, who now resides in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, told our correspondent on the phone.

She added, “Before I did this, he would help me; before I did that, he was there. I actually felt relieved because if not for his guidance, it would have taken long for me to adapt to the system, but for him, it took a short time.

“To repay his kindness, anytime he visited me on weekends, I would cook for him and make him feel at home. I didn’t know I was putting myself in trouble — until a day came when he pleaded with me to come and cook the kind of food I gave him in his hostel. It never occurred to me he had a sinister motive. I thought I was being a good girl for accepting his plea and returning his help.

“So on a particular weekend, I visited him and he was very happy. He said the day he had been waiting for had finally come. I didn’t understand that statement because I thought he was simply overwhelmed with happiness by my presence.

“Being a junior student and seeing him as a big brother, I collected money from him to go to the market and when I returned, he had brought out a packet of juice from his fridge. He said he knew I would be tired and thirsty after returning from the market to cook for him, so he poured me a cup.
Students of LAUTECH protest against rape.

“I drank the juice, not knowing that he had injected sleeping pill into it. After some minutes, I started feeling dizzy and weak and didn’t know when I landed on his bed. I was no longer aware of what was happening, but I felt him undressing me. I couldn’t move an inch. Some hours later, I woke up and knew I had been raped. He had gone out, pretending not to be around while I was sleeping. I ran out of his room and up till today, he never appears to be remorseful. I pray he pays for what he did to me.”

A culture of rape

Rape occurs both on and off the campus. Campus sexual assault is the sexual assault of a student attending an institute of higher learning, such as a college or university, though less than 40 per cent of reported incidents occur on campus property, according to statistics.

Sexual assault of higher education students occurs more frequently against women but unfortunately, many victims completely or partially blame themselves for the assault. They are embarrassed by the shame, and for fear of not being believed, do not report.
As remarked in one study, “Women generally do not report their victimisation, in part because of self-blame or embarrassment.”

A Lagos-based activist who offers counselling to domestically- and sexually-abused women in Nigeria, Mrs. Modupe Bamgboye, told Saturday PUNCH that at times she wonders why men still rape girls and women “in an age when sex is cheap.”

She added, “I just don’t get it when I hear rape cases here and there. I mean, it is overwhelming and I just don’t understand what this society has turned to. People who want to have sex could patronise prostitutes if they want, but they should stop forcing girls to having sex with them.”
Rape has been a worrying issue over the years, but little seems to have been done concerning the prosecution of offenders, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

When it comes to rape in tertiary institutions, it is usually believed to be perpetuated by a lecturer to a female student, but the landscape is changing. It’s now a matter of a student against another student such as the case with Coker and Bella and perhaps thousands more ladies who have never talked about their experiences.
In 2010, some female students were raped by some hoodlums suspected to be cult members at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State.

The following year, a video clip emerged on the Internet where a female student of the Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State was gang-raped by five guys for about one hour.
Recently, some female students at LAUTECH staged a protest against rape by their male counterparts, after being tired of forbearance. It was a walk deemed fit, perhaps.

As it is on Nigerian campuses, so it is also in the developed climes.
In a 16-year-old girl’s account of a rite called the “senior salute” at St. Paul’s Boarding School in New Hampshire, United States, she narrated how the event eventually turned into rape.
The “senior salute” is a period when older students ask younger ones to join them for a walk, a kiss, or more.

The girl was 15 and a freshman at the time and had agreed to follow a senior suitor, Owen Labrie, 18, to the roof of a campus building to which he had a key, according to a New York Times report.

When they kissed, she did not object. But soon, he began to grope her; he bit her chest too, she said, and tried more than once to remove her underwear.

“I said, ‘No, no, no, keep it up here,’ ” said the girl. “I tried to be as polite as possible.”
The incident ended up in rape, but the guy in question was convicted by the court — perhaps the difference between rape cases in Nigeria and a developed country.

For instance, a human rights lawyer, Evans Ufeli, who has been handling cases of rape for over 10 years, stated recently in a report that Nigeria had only recorded 18 rape convictions in its legal history.
This is perhaps worrisome as in Lagos alone, in 2014, about 200 rape cases were recorded.

Laws, actions against rape

Rape is a crime under the criminal and penal code in Nigeria. Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape is a clear violation of Article 3 (4) of the protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003), Article 2 (d) of The Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women 1979 and Section 24 of the Violence Against Person Prohibition Act 2014.

In his research on Sexual Harassment and Psychological Consequence among Students in Higher Education Institutions in Nigeria , Taiwo Omole of the Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, highlighted a number of factors as motivation for perpetuation of sexual harassment to include: lust, pursuit of happiness, lack of norm of morality, lack of conscience, etc.

He said, among others, “In view of the above, higher education institutions in Nigeria need to develop a sustainable system of redress for this act of indiscipline. The authorities need to develop and mainstream anti-sexual harassment policies into the system of operation.”

Likewise, a group called the Nigerian Feminist Forum has called on the governing bodies of tertiary institutions to put the following in place to checkmate the incidence of rape: “They should immediately adopt policies and measures to address the issue of sexual violation of female university students by fellow students and members of staff; operationalise a comprehensive policy on eradicating sexual harassment on campus; put in place a victim’s response mechanism for reporting, investigating and prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence against female students; and conduct a mass sensitisation on sexual violence across all campuses in Nigeria.”

The body also proposed supporting victims to report cases of sexual harassment and abuse and ensuring the full prosecution of perpetrators of sexual crimes against women.

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Tony Okafor, Awka

Some residents of Adazu Nnukwu in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State have described the fire that gutted 14 shops and property worth millions of naira opposite a cemetery on Thursday as a mystery fire.

The fire incident, which started at about 2.30am, according to a source, who pleaded anonymity, may have been caused by ghosts.

He said, “On Monday, I saw strange faces here in my shop. They asked me the prices of sardine and bread and Fanta. I told them the prices of the items. They smiled and left.

“On Tuesday, they came again and asked me whether I had reduced the prices of the items, I said no. They left my shop and started visiting other shops one after another. People were staring at them because they were just looking strange; they are not from here.

“It was in the evening of Wednesday that my neighbour here told me that the same people came and warned that they would set this place ablaze if we didn’t reduce the cost of our goods.

“My neighbour said after issuing the warning, the strange people, who were six in number, moved to the direction of the cemetery, and he didn’t see them again, only for us to come to this place this morning to see our shops in ruins. We lost everything,” the source said.

Other residents said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained.

Steven Agupugo, who spoke with Southern City News, said, “We are surprised to see this, this morning (Thursday). I’m dumbfounded. One cannot say it was power surge because there was no supply from the public power source for some time here.”

The governor of Anambra State, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke, sympathized with the traders. He expressed shock that the live-savings of some people could be burnt within minutes.

He said, “This kind of incident calls for worry. Together, we shall make efforts to avoid future occurrence.”

Obiano promised that the state government would make arrangements to take care of the situation while urging the people to always observe the basic safety rules.

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STFUareyouGod:
who cares where you stand? I'm particularly concerned with your level of comprehension. Topic clearly states that you should rate not compare

Do you not know what 'rate' 'rating' means?
Shioor

Pls don't quote me again

STFUareyouGod:
2/10 #bringgenerous
1/10 #beinghonest
0/10 (bring your parent with you tomorrow) #beingstrict


Quote me anywhere

this is how people like you people fail. Rate on a scale of 1-10 not compare with GEJ

Like bubu like followers
Awon Olodo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday asked the National Assembly to commence the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari for what it called ‘various constitutional breaches’ on an alleged submission of two versions of the 2006 budget.

The PDP Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, in a statement he personally signed, after a meeting of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), also called on National Assembly to investigate the alleged ‘distortion and banding of figures to accommodate personal interest’.

Secondus, who said that appropriate sanctions should be meted to whoever had a hand in the action, asked the Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning to resign for allegedly failing to provide the capacity in the management of the nation's economy, resulting in the crashing of the nation's currency to as low as N305 to a dollar.

The party also called for the resignation of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for allegedly plunging the country's currency policy into ‘chaos’.

It advised the government to stop pretending that it knew what to do ‘when feelers from the seat of power shows clearly that Nigerians by voting for the All Progressives Congress (APC) have just discovered they boarded a once chance bus’.

“We sympathize with Nigerians who are seriously undergoing terrible hardship because of the now obvious inept leadership of the APC despite the promise of one Naira to a dollar.

“What hope can a government that allows its currency to break a 43 year old record crashing to over N300 to one dollar offer and yet does not show it has clear focus of what to do,” he added.

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The beautiful face of Abena Konadu, a 37-year-old trader at Bogoso in the Western Region, has been disfigured after her ex-lover allegedly poured acid on her last Friday.

The suspect, one Philip Oppong, is said to have taken that action because Abena Konadu threatened to end the relationship.

Oppong, popularly called Badu or Akokyi, is currently on the run after allegedly committing the heinous crime.

According to sources, Abena Konadu used to be in a relationship with a different man in the area and had children with him.

However, the relationship went sour following some problems and the two had to part ways.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that later Philip Oppong proposed to Abena Konadu and the two reportedly started courtship.

However, for some time neighbours said the man had been subjecting the Abena to severe beatings at the least provocation and so on December 24, last year, she allegedly threatened to leave and reconcile with her former boyfriend.

Feeling insecure, Oppong purportedly poured acid on Abena Konadu’s face to make her unattractive to other men in the area, injuring her severely.

Narrating how the unfortunate incident occurred in an interview with journalists, the victim indicated that she broke up with Oppong because of some misunderstanding that ensued between them.

She asserted that on Friday, January 8, 2016, she was at home when Oppong, together with a certain elderly woman, came to plead with her to accept him back.

She indicated that she refused to heed the plea because she had had several caesarean operations but her boyfriend often beat her, hitting her stomach and causing her severe pains.

She added that Saturday at about 3am, she woke up and was preparing to cook some food. She said she sighted Oppong approaching her and having a container in his hand.

Abena Konadu indicated that the suspect then called her but she did not mind him. But Oppong got closer and poured the content of the container on her saying, “You say you can’t stay with me. I have made you blind and no one can marry you,” and fled the scene.

According to the victim, she started shouting for help and her younger brother who was sleeping got up and rushed her to the hospital.

When DAILY GUIDE called Supt Timothy Dassah, Prestea-Bogoso Police Commander, he confirmed that the incident had come to his notice.

He told the paper that initially, the victim was at the police station to make a report to the effect that she had been assaulted; but the police gathered later that it was acid that had been poured on her.

“But that one she has not made us aware of. So we have asked her to come to the station to make a report so that we can locate the suspect and arrest him,” DSP Dassah disclosed.

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