₦airaland Forum

In the beginning of 2015, 23-yearold Idowu Sobijoh got himself in a fix. He got a young lady pregnant. The lady’s parents insisted he must marry her. Eager to please his family and the lady, Sobijoh accepted.

He desperately needed money to buy the necessary items for the marriage rites and also pay the lady’s dowry. He joined a pipeline vandalism gang. Before December 2015, the gang had killed some policemen, officials of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and caused several horrific explosions in Arepo, an Ogun State community bordering Lagos.

They also killed in cold blood, between nine and 12 officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) at Ikorodu, Lagos State, and buried them in shallow graves. On July 22, 2015, scores of suspected oil pipeline vandals and others died following explosion that erupted while they were scooping fuel from a vandalised pipeline. According to eyewitnesses, no fewer 50 died during the incident.

Reliving the horror of that day, Sobijoh, an alleged notorious pipeline vandal, said that the NNPC, national dailies and even law enforcement officers got it wrong, saying those killed that day were over 370. He said that his cousin, Ayo, who initiated him into the crime, died in the explosion.

He added: “I would have died that day too, but I refused to go with Ayo because I was very tired. We carried the corpses of our people and buried them in three large graves. We counted over 370 corpses. I also saw my brother’s corpse because he wasn’t burnt completely.

“He and many others tried to scoop fuel from a vandalised pipeline, but were trapped by the mud. The incident was so tragic that I contemplated quitting. But I couldn’t because I had no other job. A few weeks after that, I witnessed how the gang killed nine officials of the DSS. I don’t know the reason they killed those agents. It was Igbala, a member, that first opened fire on all of them.

After that killing, I knew there would be trouble. I packed my things and left for Ijegemo. Ijegemo is at the Isheri- Oshun area of Lagos. At Ijegemo, I teamed up with Bright, who is a boy to TK, the commander.” Incidentally, Sobijoh’s group was part of those that had been killing law enforcement agents at different pipeline locations in Lagos and Ogun States and disappearing with their corpses. They were also behind bank robberies at Lekki, Ikorodu, Festac and Agbara.

The gang come through waterways to carry out its nefarious activities. Members are known for using military uniforms and blasting banks’ doors with dynamites during operations.

Since the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Special Intelligence Response Team (SIRT), led by Mr. Abba Kyari, a Chief Superintendent of Police, took over the investigations of the incessant bank robberies and pipeline vandalisms in Lagos and Ogun states, members of the gang are now being picked b y the team.

The de- tectives at different times risked going to the creeks to arrest some of the suspects. This week, SIRT team arrested eight suspects, including a serving lance corporal of the Nigerian Army, for allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to the bank robbers and vandals. Apart from the arrest of the arms suppliers, SIRT also arrested seven members of the robbery gang.

At present, another four suspects have been arrested for attempting to rob a Union Bank branch in Ondo State. Sobijoh is one of those arrested. Others are Ebibo Winoh (23) Michael Mipera (22) and Thankgod Sugha (24).

The four suspects met their waterloo after they broke into a branch of Union Bank, in Ilututu area of Ondo State. Although they gained access into the bank with the alleged connivance of one of the bank’s ex-security guards, Sunny Bobo, they were however shocked when they discovered that the bank’s vault was empty.

A police source said: “The Union Bank guard was fired last year by the bank. He approached one of the gang members called Michael Mipera, a native of Ondo State, and told him about the plan to rob the bank.

He told Mipera there was usually light security at night. Mipera, after conducting his own survey around the bank, invited two of his friends, Sugha and Winoh. He rented an apartment for them. He also invited six militants based at a camp in Ijegemo-Isheri Oshun, Lagos State, headed by one TK, a notorious pipeline vandal and bank robber.

“The hoodlums from Lagos was led by Bright. Bright’s gang supplied the crew with two Ak 47 rifles and additional expertise on how to break into bank. They attacked the bank on December 24, 2015, a day before Christmas, but didn’t find money in the bank’s vault.” Police source said that a motorcycle operator, who ran errands for one of the suspects, was the first to be arrested.

He was later used as bait to catch the four suspects, including one of the militants from Lagos. Winoh and Sugha confessed that Mipera invited them for the job. Sobijoh, who has been singing like a bird, said that the recent disruption of vandalism operations in Ijegemo by some soldiers made him to venture into bank robbery. His words: “I have never been involved in any bank robbery before.

The Union Bank robbery was my first attempt. It wasn’t even my intention. It was some soldiers who stopped our pipeline vandalism operations at Ijegemo that made me decide to take part in that bank robbery.

The soldiers asked us to pay N5million before we would be allowed to resume our pipeline vandalism. We offered them N3million, but they refused. We were broke when Bright got a call from Mipera about the Ilututu bank robbery. “I didn’t get to Ilututu on time because I hadn’t enough money.

When I got to Ondo State, I was informed that the bank robbery was successful, but that they didn’t get any money. I was arrested on my way back to my village in Ajapa.” Further recounting how he became a pipeline vandal, Sobijoh said that Ayo introduced him to vandalism when he needed money to pay for his wife’s dowry. He stated: “After I impregnated my wife, her family insisted I must pay her dowry before taking her as a wife.

I was very broke; my cousin Ayo, who was into pipeline vandalism at Arepo in Ikorodu, asked me to join him. He said that I should stop being lazy. I followed him to Lagos. When we got to Ikorodu, I joined the Fatola camp; I was introduced to the commander, Ossy. I was given a gun to carry, but I declined. I told them I had never used a gun before. They asked me to leave the camp and I did. I was staying in Ishawo, but at night Ayo would call me.

We would move into the creek with our jerry cans to siphon fuel from the pipelines.” The suspect said that after working for two weeks, he was able to raise enough money for his wife’s dowry. He returned home and performed the marriage rite. Just days after his traditional marriage, he returned to camp and discovered that Ayo had bought additional 100 jerry cans for fuel. Recalling the night Ayo died, Sobijoh said: “On that fateful night, Ayo woke me.

He said I should follow him to the line where we used to siphon fuel, but I refused. To tell you the truth, I was very tired. I told him to leave me alone to have some rest. Around 2am, I heard a large explosion. When I looked out, I saw massive fire at the spot where they were siphoning fuel. We couldn’t go close to the place until the NNPC officials came and put out the fire.”

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Fresh facts have emerged over the murder of 21-year-old Cecilia Joseph, who was stabbed to death by her live-inlover, Monday, on Christmas Day at FESTAC area of Lagos State.

A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said the lovers quarrelled for over an hour and later resorted to fighting after Joseph received a phone call from another man in front of her lover, Monday.

The fleeing Monday is said to be from Benin Republic. After the call, Joseph wanted to go out, but Monday ordered her not to. He felt she was going out to meet the caller. Joseph ignored the order and allegedly went to have a date with the caller. This apparently infuriated Monday who was said to be around 25 years old.

When Joseph returned, the lovers embarked on another round of fighting. The fight was said to have lasted till midnight. Joseph allegedly picked a kitchen knife and stabbed Monday in the stomach.
Monday immediately grabbed the knife and stabbed Joseph in the neck. She reportedly died on the spot. Realising his lover was dead, Monday called some of his family members who took him to a nearby hospital in FESTAC, where he was rejected. Another resident said that the two lovers, both from Benin Republic, were living together at Ghana Village, another suburb across the FESTAC canal before moving into their present apartment on Waterside Street in Lakeview Estate, Phase 2, a month ago.

The resident said: “The girl rented the apartment. The boyfriend came to live with her there. Two of them used to smoke Indian hemp. The girl worked as a hair stylist at Mile 2.

Nobody knows what the boy does for a living.” The Waterside Street comprises make-shift wooden shanties. Some of the residents urged police to rid the area of hoodlums. These hoodlums sell and buy Indian hemp. Police have sealed off the compound, while many residents have fled their homes for fear of being arrested by the police. However, another resident said police had arrested Monday’s sister and ordered her to take them to where the man was hiding.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Joe Offor, who confirmed the death of Joseph, said the command had intensified effort in using International Police to hunt the suspect. He added: “We got the report on December 26, about 17.30hrs from one Titilayo Adelodu. The woman said her younger sister, Cecilia Joseph, had been stabbed to death at Waterside Street, Lakeview Estate, Phase 2 in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos. “But the man had already escaped.

Police took the body to Isolo General Hospital where Joseph was confirmed dead. Her remains were deposited at the mortuary. As at now, the matter is with the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba. The use of Interpol is to locate the hiding place of the suspect.”

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President Muhammadu Buhari might be heading for a head-on collision with the National Assembly, if he does anything to interfere with the plans by the legislative arm of government to purchase exotic cars for its members. The Senate is in the process of awarding contracts for the purchase of various brands of exotic vehicles for use by its 109 members.
The vehicles, which would cost an estimated N4.7 billion, is expected to be distributed among the 109 Senators as utility vehicles to enhance their oversight operations.

Buhari had, during his maiden media chat on Wednesday, kicked against the arrangement by the National Assembly to purchase the assorted cars for its members. The president argued that earlier in the life of his administration, he had cause to turn down a N400 million car purchase proposal for the Presidency and expected the legislators to do likewise.

“…I think I have to hold a closed-door meeting with the National Assembly regarding the cars they are trying to buy. I hope they haven’t bought them yet. They can’t buy cars for themselves and also take money in car loans. “I can’t see the National Assembly paying N4.7 billion to buy cars after collecting transport allowance. I will revisit that story. We have to live within our means,” he said.

But some federal legislators, who spoke to New Telegraph on the issue, described the president’s opposition to the car purchase and plan to halt it as an unwarranted interference in the affairs of the parliament. Deputy Senate Minority Whip, (PDP, Ekiti), Senator Biodun Olujimi, posited that the constitution provided for separation of powers, which obviously removed the power from the president to control the affairs of the parliament. In her response to a text message, she simply stated, “he does not have the powers. There is separation of powers”.

Also reacting, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, representing Ebonyi South on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also echoed the position of Olujimi. He said: “Affairs of parliament are determined by them, so says the constitution of the Federal Re-public of Nigeria. We will buy vehicles if our budget accommodates their procurement.”

However, efforts to get the official position of the Senate on the matter proved abortive as the spokesman of the Chamber, Senator Aliyu Sabi (APC), neither picked his calls nor responded to a text message by our correspondent.

Many other senators also refused to respond to the inquest into their views on the issue of vehicle purchase, as they did not reply to the sms sent to their mobile phones just as they did not pick calls put across to them. In the House of Representatives, lawmakers equally did not take the matter lying low.

They said that President Buhari may not have been properly briefed about the issue of purchase of vehicles by the parliament. The lawmakers declared that going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, the president had no powers to stop lawmakers from buying vehicles.

The House also said it has autonomy to spend money within the confines of the constitution without recourse to the president. In an interview with New Telegraph yesterday, Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Budget, Hon. Timothy Golu, said the president had no powers to stop members from buying vehicles should they decide to do so.
“The president was not properly briefed by his handlers on the issue of cars. In the first place, the legislature is an independent arm of government, but most importantly, there is no way we can spend as much as N4.5 billion to buy vehicles.

The Senate can decide on what it wants to do and the House also has the right to decide on what it intends to do. “This is democracy and the president cannot decide for the House. We have the right to spend money within the confines of the law. So, the president can’t stop the House from buying utility cars.

The loans he is talking about are repayable. But just like the president and ministers have utility cars, lawmakers also need utility cars for the legislative functions,” Golu told New Telegraph. Similarly, Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Leo Ogor, said that someone must have misled the president into believing that there was a plan to purchase vehicles worth that amount. According to him, although vehicles are usually bought for committees’ oversight, there was nothing like car loan, but that what they collect is car allowance, which is paid over the period of four years. Ogor said even the president is entitled to such allowance.

He said: “Even if there is any proposal to buy cars for committees’ oversight functions, it cannot be more than N4 billion.” The Minority Leader said, “Except if the proposal is coming from the executive, we’re not aware of any such amount to purchase vehicles.” Attempts to get the spokesman of the House, Hon. Abdulrazaq Namdas, to react to the issue were futile as he neither answered calls made to his mobile phone nor replied text messages sent to the same device. New Telegraph learnt that the management of the National Assembly had already invited bids from contractors interested in supplying the vehicles.

The bureaucracy of the parliament had recently placed advertisements in selected newspapers soliciting bids from vendors willing to undertake the car purchase contract. Although the advertisements did not state specifically what brand of cars are to be bought, it was learnt that a total of 120 vehicles might be bought.

Some documents associated with the contract showed that the Senate would be requesting the vendors to supply 120 units of Toyota Land Cruiser, 2016 model. The vehicles would be “American Brand, V8, VXR, 5.7, Auto Engine with intelligence, integrated navigator cruise control, QI-Compatible wireless charging and Kinetic dynamic suspension system, as well as being “full option”.

Since 2007, the Senate and House have made it a policy to purchase vehicles for their members under the guise of purchasing these same vehicles for the committees of the parliament to enhance movement during oversight functions.

Meanwhile, the Senate has described as untrue the claim by President Buhari that it planned to purchase cars that would be worth N50 billion. In a statement issued yesterday by its spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the Senate said while it was contemplating purchasing cars, it did not intend to spend anything close to the various figures of N4.5 billion, N6 billion or N50 billion as being bandied around. He said: “Since the claim in an online medium that we are planning to purchase vehicles, we have not taken any further action on the issue.

We are surprised that a proposed purchase became a subject of controversy and several figures that are far from our projections have been bandied around. “…Once the debate on the 2016 budget begins, Nigerians will have the opportunity of knowing how much we voted for purchase of cars and how we intend spending the vote.”

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Afeez Hanafi

There was confusion on Wednesday at Tinubu, Lagos Island, after a suspected vandal, Johnson Ede, jumped from a car conveying him and five others to a magistrates’ court in the area.

Ede and other suspects ─ Emmanuel Peters, 29; Idris Adamu, 27; Mohammed Ahmed, 37; Salisu Adamu, 33; and 23-year-old Odichi Ochechi ─ were arrested for allegedly vandalising water pipes on Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island and for stealing 350 metres of 12mm cables owned by Hitec Construction Company Limited on December 28, 2015.

It was gathered that 32-year-old Ede escaped through the window of the moving car with a pair of handcuffs in his hand.
PUNCH Metro learnt that a woman corporal was taking Ede, whose name appeared as the first defendant on the charge sheet, and the five others to court when the incident happened.

Our correspondent gathered the officer was not assisted in chasing the fleeing suspect when she called for help from passersby.
When the other five suspects were subsequently arraigned before the court a few hours later, she narrated the incident to the presiding magistrate, Mr. L.A. Owolabi, who enquired about the whereabouts of Ede, whose name appeared on the charge sheet as the first defendant.

“The car was moving when he (Ede) jumped from the window and escaped with the handcuffs in his hands. I was shouting for help, but people did not respond. I decided to let him go so that the five others would not escape as well. We were almost at the court when he jumped down. I can’t explain how he managed to escape,” she said.

The remaining five suspects were arraigned on three counts bordering on vandalism and stealing by a police prosecutor, Inspector R.A. Odigie.

The charges read, “That you, Emmanuel Peters, Idris Adamu, Mohammed Ahmed, Salisu Adamu and Odihi Ochechi, and others now at large, on December 28, 2015, at about 3pm, on Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire to commit felony to wit: stealing and wilful damage.

“That you, and others now at large, on the same date, time and place, in the aforesaid magisterial district, did wilfully damage drainage pipes valued at N200,000, and water pipes valued at N100,000, property of Hitech Construction Company Limited, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 348 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

“That you and others now at large on the same date, time and place did steal 350 metres of 12mmm cables, property of Hitech Construction Company Limited, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.”

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were admitted to bail by Owolabi, in the sum of N300,000 each with two sureties each in like sum.

Owolabi added that the sureties must be gainfully employed, related to the defendants by blood and evidence of tax payments made to the state government to the prosecutor for verification.

The case was adjourned till February 29, 2016 for mention.

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Olaleye Aluko

No fewer than 25 persons have been rendered homeless after suspected cultists invaded two buildings on Sholanke Street in the Akoka, Yaba area of Lagos State and set fire to them.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the hoodlums, who came at about 7.30am on Wednesday, did not allow their victims to take any property from the buildings.

It was learnt that rival cultists had clashed on Ibukunolu Street on Tuesday at about 7pm, and had stabbed a 17-year-old student, identified only as Rilwan, to death.

Two of the attackers were said to be identified as Lolade, also known as Makayoko , and Ororo .

Our correspondent learnt that the victim, who worked as a printer on the street, was from a family of three, and had just gained admission to the Yaba College of Technology.

PUNCH Metro gathered that angry rival cultists had thereafter stormed Sholanke Street in the night, and threatened that they would raze Makayoko ’s father’s apartment as a reprisal for the killing of Rilwan.

It was learnt that some residents alerted the policemen from the Bariga division to the unrest and the police came on patrol during the night.

Our correspondent gathered that the cultists, however, stormed the street at about 7am on Wednesday, locked the street gates and set fire to Makayoko ’s father’s house.
The landlord of the building was identified simply as Oyedele.

When PUNCH Metro arrived at about 9.30am, there were people in front of the buildings trying to salvage property from the fire.

Our correspondent observed two police vans from the Bariga division patrolling the street, and two fire service trucks driving out.

One of the occupants of the building, a father of five, Abu Abdullahi, said the hoodlums did not allow the firefighters to enter the area as they had locked the two gates.

He said, “The hoodlums came around 7.30am. The anger of the cultists was that one boy was killed on the neighbouring street. We later heard that our landlord’s son was seen where the boy was killed.

“The police came last night on a patrol in a van, but they left in the morning. Around 7am, we noticed a tall guy standing in front of the house and making calls. In a few minutes, the hoodlums stormed the buildings and set them on fire.

“We began to run out with the property we could carry. I have five children. Only the last born of my children stays with me. I was working with the University of Lagos before I retired. The police were aware of yesterday’s killing, and they should have strengthened security in the area.

“We also called the firefighters. It was later that we learnt that they were around for 15 minutes after we called, but the hoodlums did not allow them to enter.”

Another occupant, Stephen Okisor, said he could not pick any property from the fire.

He said, “We are about four families in the first building. The Boys Quarters houses about three families. I could not pick any item from the fire, except this clothes I am wearing.”

A resident, who identified himself simply as Micah, said the policemen did not come promptly to arrest the hoodlums.

He said, “It was around 8am that I noticed the fire. When the firefighters came, they were barred by the hoodlums from coming into the street. Twenty minutes after, the police arrived in the area, but everything had died down.”

Our correspondent noticed the Rapid Response Squad car driving into the area at about 11am when most of the crowds had dispersed.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the police in Bariga had yet to arrest any of the suspected cultists.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Joe Offor, said he was at a meeting and he would get back to our correspondent on the matter.

He, however, had yet to get back as of press time.

Alejhandro:
But she didn't deny it.

Two cadets’ officers, Peters O. Solomon and Abdullahi Fahad were Wednesday apprehended by the convoy of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode in Mile 12 area of the State while dehumanizing an artisan, Dahiru Lawal for allegedly breaking the windscreen of their Chrysler Stratus car with registration number KRD 267 DV.

The cadets who claimed to be Airforce personnel attached to the Airforce Base in Ikeja, had forced Lawal into the boot of their car after dragging him on the ground for the said offence.

Governor Ambode, who was returning from an inspection tour to Agbowa in Ikorodu, saw the situation and swiftly intervened to save Lawal who was gasping for breath.
The Governor wondered how such inhuman treatment could be meted to a fellow citizen just for slightly breaking the windscreen of a car.
When questioned by journalists, the cadets admitted putting Lawal in the boot of their car.

According to them, Lawal tried to escape after breaking the windscreen and ran into the nearby market where they eventually chased and apprehended him.
Peters said: “What happened is that the boy broke the windscreen in front of my car. When I stopped, I asked him to come, the boy ran away. We have to drag him back and put him in the boot.

“I kind of threatened his boss that he is working with and when his boss came and looked at what he did to me, that was when I put him inside the boot for the remaining ones to go and call the boss. Not that I locked the boot, I only put him inside, but I did not lock it,” he said.

Also Abdullahi said himself and Peter were along Mile 12 after visiting a friend when the Lawal damaged their windscreen and he was attempting to escape.

“We now ran inside the market and dragged him (Lawal) down. I was even asking who he is working with because I want to see his Oga since I know he cannot repair my damaged windscreen. I want to see the man he is working with so that we can settle everything with him. I now told my colleague that we should hand him over to Airforce police at the Airforce Base,” Abdullahi said.

While narrating his ordeal in the hands of the cadets, Lawal who hails from Kaduna State, said he mistakenly damaged the windscreen with the load he carried, and that he took to his heels because he was afraid of what they might do to him.
He said: “I ran into the market and they pursued me and caught me inside the market. They started beating me and dragged me to their car.”

“I ran because I was afraid of what the cadets might do to me, while my boss and people around begged on my behalf, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.”

“The police also came to plead with them to open the booth but they insisted on taking me away and it was at that point that the convoy of the Governor arrived to rescue me from the booth of the car where they kept me,” Lawal narrated.

He added that he lost his cell phone and the sum of N5, 000 which he was having on him at the point that he was being dragged on the floor.

The Governor had since ordered that the suspects be handed over to the police for further investigation and possible prosecution.

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“I once caught her red-handed with her lover on our matrimonial bed.

Only four days after scores of people tragically lost their lives in a ghastly explosion at a gas plant, the industrial town of Nnewi, again, bore witness to another tragedy when a policeman went berserk on December 27 and shot dead three people at a traditional marriage ceremony at Uruagu-Nnewi in Anambra State.

A witness of the occurrence, who identified himself simply as Ifeanyi, said the bride was dancing with the groom, the just-wedded couple being lavishly sprayed with crispy naira and dollar notes by merry family and friends when sound of gunshots were heard just outside the compound around 6:30pm.

Ifeanyi claimed that a guest ran inside and informed the celebrants on what transpired outside leading to the ceremony’s abrupt stop.

It unfolded that an alleged drunk policeman had shot down three persons said to be prominent Nollywood actors, who had come to celebrate the marital union. The inebriated policeman was disarmed by fellow security agents at the scene.
When contacted, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Okechukwu Ali (DSP), has confirmed the incident.

In a related incident, a middle aged man identified as Onana Osua, who reportedly killed six persons over alleged food poisoning, was shot dead by a police patrol team at Ubiaja, headquarters of Esan South East Local Governmet Area of Edo State.

Osua, who was said to be a chairman of a motor park in Uromi, in the same council, was said to have left the hospital where he was admitted after he was reportedly poisoned and given five days to live.

Eyewitnesses said the man went home in a fit of rage, took his gun and went searching for the people he suspected in connection to the food poisoning. He visited the homes of these ‘suspects’ and killed them. Among his victims was said to be the wife of one of his targets.

After this killing spree, Osua fled to Ubiaja where, according to reports, he shot at a patrol team before he himself was felled by shots from police guns.

DSP Abiodun Osifo, the Edo state Police spokesperson established the authenticity of the incident.

He however said he was only aware of two persons who were shot. According to him, one died and the other victim was responding to treatment in an undisclosed hospital.

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Afeez Hanafi

A thirty-two-year-old vulcaniser, Jelili Dimeji, has been remanded in prison custody for allegedly leading a 30-man gang to rob his neighbour, Oladipupo Audu, of property valued at N1,750,000.

The suspect and the victim live in Isheri Osun, in the Ijegun area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Audu and a friend were driving on Ijegun Road when Dimeji and his gang member, who are still at large, waylaid them.

They were said to have snatched Audu’s Toyota Camry, dispossessed him of gold jewellery worth about N1,450,000 and a cash sum of N300,000. The car was later recovered at a junction by policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad.

Audu told the police that the suspect cautioned his cohorts, who wanted to kill him because they (he and Dimeji) live in the same area.

He said, “My friend and I were going to buy a ram and foodstuffs around 5am on September 24 when we saw some men flagging down my car. They were about 30 in number. They wanted to kill me, but Jelili (Dimeji) cautioned them and told them we were brothers in the community.

“They collected my car, gold necklace, two gold rings a gold bracelet and a sum of N300,000. But the car has been recovered.”
Dimeji was arrested on October 7 by policemen from the Isheri Osun division after a robbery operation and was transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Ikeja. A locally-made gun, phones and two Automated Teller Machine cards were said to have been recovered from him.

He was subsequently arraigned on two counts of robbery by a police prosecutor, Inspector Benson Emuerhi, before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.

The charges read in part, “That you, Jelili Dimeji, and others now at large on October 7, 2015 at about 03.20hrs at Isheri Osun, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire to commit felony to with: armed robbery, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.”

Dimeji’s plea was not taken by the presiding Chief Magistrate, Mrs. A.O. Olayinka, who directed that the case file be duplicated and sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.

Olayinka ordered that the defendants should be remanded in prison custody pending the release of legal advice from the DPP.

The case was adjourned till January 28, 2015.

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Benin – The police in Benin arrested one Apostle Ikenna Okafor on Sunday for allegedly burying charm in his church premises in Benin.

The identity of what the suspect buried was unknown even though residents around the church located along Esigie St. in Benin alleged it was a live animal.

The police took away the suspect to avoid being lynched by angry residents who stormed the church.

An eyewitness, Mr Chinedu Nnamdi, said his father woke him up around 2 a.m. on Saturday night to watch what the Pastor was doing.

According to him, the pastor buried something in front of the church and later performed a little ritual by walking round the church several times.

Confirming the report, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Edo Police Command, DSP Osifo Abiodun, said the suspect was under investigation.

The spokesman explained that the suspect has made useful statements that will assist the police in their investigation.

The Presidency on Saturday said Nigeria’s military hierarchy did not treat President Muhammadu Buhari well during the tenure of Goodluck Jonathan as president of the country.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr. Garba Shehu, in a Facebook post, described the military’s action as shameless.

In the run in of the March 28 presidential election, the Nigerian military claimed that it did not have the record of President Buhari’s West African Examination Council result.

Reacting to online criticisms against Buhari for receiving some vehicles from the embattled ex-National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, Shehu stated that the President was entitled to what he received.

“Cars are just a few in a litany of entitlements written in that law, although it is contestable to say that General Buhari had been given his due entitlements by successive administrations as provided thereunder. Regime after regime treated him as if he was not a former Head of State.

“The military in particular treated him so badly that its leaders kept silent when the PDP charged that he didn’t have WAEC papers. One shameless Army Records officer said the former Head of State had no records at all under their system.”

Shehu added that Buhari went without a full complement of armed guards from the Army until the April bomb attack on his convoy.

“It was at this time that the Chief of Army Staff (at that time) thought it necessary to reinstate the armed convoy to protect him. When they brought the two cars within a few days of his being bombed, the staff of the General were merely informed that this was from the Federal Government in fulfillment of its obligation to him,” he said.

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By Esther Onyegbula

When Mrs Lawal sent her 11-year-old grand-daughter (names withheld) on an errand to deliver okro to a customer, she did not envisage that the girl would be ambushed not to talk of being raped.
The fate that befell the grand-daughter on November 29, 2015, at Pure Water Bus Stop along Lagos-Badagry Road, was better imagined than experienced; she was found lying on a culvert unconscious, with blood all over her body.

It was learned that victim was ambushed on her way to the next street when a 27-year-old bakery worker, identified as Sule, allegedly ambushed her, dragged her to an uncompleted building and raped her.
It was alleged that Sule then abandoned the little girl there. She regained conscious and barely able to walk out of the uncompleted building when she collapsed on a culvert near Adebola International School, along palace road.

The suspect allegedly ran away after the rape, but police officers from Morogbo Divisional Police Headquarters apprehended him a week later.

Narrating her ordeal, the Primary 3 pupil said: ‘’After my grandma returned from the market that day, she sent me to her customer who sells cooked food at the other street. She asked me to supply her fresh okro which the customer had ordered for”.

‘’It was while I was on my way there that uncle Sule, who works in a bakery at Itoro area, called me. He said he wanted to buy okro for his wife. I told him the okro was not for sale, and that my mother’s friend had ordered for it. He said I should follow him, but I refused. All of a sudden, he grabbed me and dragged me to an uncompleted building. When I tried to shout, he used his hand to cover my mouth. As I tried to struggle, he tore my clothes and removed my pants. He also used his nails to injure my back as I attempted to escape, he over powered me and raped me.””

Mrs Lawal, the grandma, also gave her perspective of the incident. She stated: “After waiting for about 30 minutes for her to come back from the errand, I started looking for her because the place where she was supposed to take the okro to was the next street, less than 10 minutes’ walk. It was around 2pm that I asked her to go and give the okro to my customer who placed the order. After waiting for her to come, I started looking for her before an Okada man came to alert me that they had found my grand-daughter at about 2:30pm, and that she was lying unconscious on a culvert close to Adebola School. When I got there, onlookers had gathered at the scene. I was pained at what I saw; my little girl soaked in her own blood, her clothes torn. It was obvious she had been raped, as she was bleeding profusely, but because she was unconscious we didn’t know who was responsible. Immediately, I called my husband and he asked me to report the case to the police. When we got to Morogbo Police Station, they gave us police report and referred us to the General Hospital, Badagry.’’

She continued: “A doctor’s report from the hospital confirmed that my grand child was raped, as she had deep cuts and severe injuries inflicted on her virginal which caused the bleeding. The doctor stated that because of complications arising from the rape, her womb had been affected and that she needed urgent surgery. So they referred us to Igando General Hospital, along Iba -LASU road where they said they had the facility to handle her case.”’

Also speaking on the incident, Mr Lawal, the grandfather of the victim, said, “I was not at home when my wife called me that something terrible had happened.

Immediately, I asked her to go the police station to report the case. I met her at Morogbo Divisional Police Station.

“From Badagry General Hospital, I had to charter a cab that took us to Igando General Hospital, but because of traffic, we did not get to Igando until around 11pm and, by 12 midnight, she was in the theater because of the serious nature of her case. She was on admission from that day till Sunday when she was discharged.

‘’All we want is for justice to be done. Sincerely, we don’t know the effect of this rape on this little girl. We don’t know if the rapist did it for ritual purposes. We want justice because we don’t know the outcome of this. Already, we have spent about N150, 000 on the treatment and surgery she underwent. Currently, the police at Panti are demanding money to continue the prosecution of the case. One of them asked for N20, 000.”

It was gathered that the case was transferred from Morogbo to Lagos State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, Panti, for further investigation and the girl’s torn clothes stained with blood are being used as exhibits.

It was gathered that the victim, who is the first child of her mother, has been living with her grandparents since she was six years old.

lalasticlala

A four-man gang kidnapped a PUNCH correspondent, Nosa Akenzua, and raped four ladies on Saturday in Asaba.

The incident happened about 4.50p.m along Warri/Sapele/Benin Expressway while the victims were waiting to board a vehicle to Benin City.

Eric Dumo

Bose Tetede was worn out by the time she arrived home that evening. A hectic four-hour trek to and fro her home in Imule, a small agrarian community with over 3000 residents in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, and Itaope, a border town in neighbouring Republic of Benin, had taken its toll on her. The sound of her heavy breathing summarises the agonising experience.

Tetede had left home at about 7:00am last Monday in search of help for her sick twins – Taiwo, a boy and Kehinde, a girl. The toddlers had been struck by malaria and so needed urgent attention to get back to their old, playful selves. With one child strapped to her back and another carried over her shoulder, the young mother pounded the bumpy, dusty countryside roads for more than two hours before finally arriving in the Beninese town where her children were attended to promptly and given drugs at the cost of N4000. But enduring another two-hour trek back to Imule under the torrid sun with the weight of the ailing twins resting on her frail frame was more than Tetede could bear. On the evening our correspondent came across her, she could barely move her body.

“I feel like a trailer just ran over me,” she managed to utter before using her left hand to gently wipe off a stream of sweat that had gathered on her face. “I set out for Itaope in Benin around 7:00am with my children after we could not get proper attention at Iropo. I trekked for more than two hours carrying the children before arriving Itaope. After they were treated, I managed to rest for one hour before bringing them back home through another two-hour walk under the sun. The pain I feel all over my body is indescribable but I had to do this to save the lives of my children,” she said before sinking her entire body weight into a wooden bench.
Like Tetede, many residents of Imule, Madoga, Ilagbe, Kajoola, Osooro and several nearby settlements all under Ipokia Local Government Area, a community bordering Benin Republic and with a population of 150, 000 people according to the 2006 census, have learnt to endure such energy-sapping walks to save their lives and that of their loved ones in periods of emergencies. Since the health centre in Iropo, which serves over five towns with a combined population of over 10, 000 people, crumbled, residents have been forced to look for viable alternatives elsewhere – the search of which has come at a heavy price at times.

“Several of our women on the verge of delivery have died while being rushed to hospital in Benin Republic and Ifonyintedo,” Adeyemi Tetede, a local chief and head of Imule community, told
Saturday PUNCH. “In fact these days, many of the women are now delivered of their babies at home through the help of traditional birth attendants. If you try to take any of them to Iropo where we have the only functional hospital around this entire axis, you will hardly get the needed attention because of the number of people who visit and the shortage of staff and facilities there. It is a very big problem we are facing here,” he said.

Established over 30 years ago, the Ipokia Local Government Health Clinic, Iropo, today betrays any semblance of a life-saving medical facility. Manned by only two members of staff – a young nurse and a middle-aged doctor, the hospital apart from lacking basic items required to deliver quality healthcare to the hundreds of low-income-earning residents who throng it every month for solution, does not have enough drugs to treat minor cases like malaria and typhoid – the two most prevalent ailments in the area. To make matters worse, the hospital boasts of only one bed to treat a population size of over 10, 000 people – young and old – who rely on it for their medical needs. The facility does not have a toilet and bathroom, forcing patients who visit to defecate in polythene bags and bathe in the open, under a tree behind the hospital. Newly nursing mothers who wish to be cleaned by the hospital staff must have a relation to go in search of water as the facility does not have a functional tap. The only well providing water for the hospital has since run dry and has been converted to a dump where feaces of patients who defecate in polythene bags are littered. On occasions where there are so many newly delivered mothers around, each is allowed to rest on the hospital’s only bed for a few minutes before giving way to another woman and her baby. At times, when the entire place is ‘jam-packed’, the women are sent back home to take care of themselves almost immediately after they had been delivered of their babies. For patients who visit this hospital and the two staff on ground to attend to their needs, it is a helpless situation – one whose elastic can stretch no further.
“Attending to the hundreds of patients who visit this place from over five communities and several settlements in this local government has been very stressful,” the nurse at the hospital, Hannah Oke, confessed. “Sometimes when there are so many cases for us to handle especially women on the verge of delivery, we advise them to go to other hospitals outside the locality. In fact, as a result of this situation, many women now give birth at home.

“Apart from shortage of staff and lack of basic infrastructure like toilet, bathroom and water, electricity is also another major problem we face here. If a woman is to be delivered of a baby in the night, we rely only on torch to attend to her as the hospital does not have a generator of its own.
“We are pleading with government to quickly intervene in our situation so that we can provide the people of this area with good health care and save many lives in the process,” she said.

The unavailability of electricity supply has made communication with the outside world for many of the communities in this region very difficult. Mobile phones are gathered once in two days to be charged at N100 each in Ifonyintedo, about 15 kilometers away. Even at that, mobile communications network in the area is erratic and largely unstable. In extreme cases, residents rely on visitors to bring them news of happenings in the locality and country.
“It is quite tough charging our phone batteries in this environment as there is no electricity supply. So most times we gather our phones and give to one of us who go to charge them for us at Ifonyintedo. Sometimes the person can get there and not find space to charge because everywhere had been occupied, he or she returns the phones to the owners like that, cutting us off from communicating for several days. Even when our phones are fully charged, receiving network signal to make a call could be almost impossible. That is how bad our situation is here,” said Abike Odeyemi, a mother of three.

Chilling as it sounds, the terrible state of the Ipokia Local Government Health Clinic in Iropo, Ogun State, and the non availability of electricity supply and its attendant effects, is only a fraction of the horror residents of the locality are made to contend with on daily basis. For example, primary schools in each of the over five towns and dozens of smaller settlements across the area, do not have more than two teachers to tutor pupils of around 200 to 400 in some of the places visited by our correspondent recently. In Ilagbe, only two teachers oversee the education of the 400 boys and girls who attend the community’s primary school. The town, after series of attempts to have government post more hands to help shapen their children’s’ future, hired a third teacher who they pay N10, 000 every month. According to Gabriel Onipede, a respected traditional chief, the move, though to boost the education of their wards, is an added burden on their lean pockets.
“Our community primary school is in a terrible state. We have only two teachers teaching about 400 pupils. How can any child learn something meaningful under such atmosphere? So, as a community we had to organise one extra teacher whom we pay N10, 000 every month to support the education of our children.

“However, contributing the money to pay the teacher every month has not been easy considering the fact that many households are just managing to get by especially now that the bad state of our roads is greatly affecting the price of our farm produce. The bad state of the roads in the town is not making the transportation of our harvest to the market possible, so those who manage to come and buy from us do so at a very lower price. It is a very big problem for us,” he said.
While all of these towns have at least one primary school where their children are being taught, albeit by fewer teachers than required, majority of the villages under Ipokia Local Government Area do not have a secondary school, forcing students from all these communities to trek several kilometers everyday to attend the only one at Ifonyintedo. As a result of the distance, many pupils have dropped out of the secondary school – contributing to the high illiteracy of the area – while those still willing to finish the ‘race’, have been forced to rent apartments in Ifonyintedo, going home to meet their families only at weekends.

“Our children trek over 15 kilometers every day just to attend secondary school at Ifonyintedo,” Ezekiel Bawola, an old farmer in Iropo told Saturday PUNCH. “As a result of this problem, some parents were forced to rent apartments for their children there so they could live and attend the school during the week and return home on Fridays for weekend. Some children whose parents cannot afford to rent an apartment and who cannot also cope with the daily trekking, have dropped out and taken to farming. We fear for the future of our children like this but as a community, there isn’t much we can do to change this except government or members of the public intervene in our situation,” he said.

As a result of the heavy responsibilities it shoulders, the local government’s only secondary school, Imotu Community Commercial Academy, Ifonyintedo, now bears signs of weariness. The ceiling in most of the classrooms in the school have either been completely destroyed or at the verge of totally caving in. Doors, windows, desks and even blackboards – all were in terrible states when our correspondent visited the institution earlier in the week. It is under such unpalatable environment that Ipokia’s army of young boys and girls are taught and groomed for a future that looks threatened even before it had taken off.
“The poor quality of life in the locality and bad state of the only secondary school we have here tells you a lot about the high poverty rate across the region,” David Abraham, a pastor and missionary of the Baptist Mission in Nigeria, told Saturday PUNCH. “If you move all around the local government area and go to some of these interior communities, you’ll be shocked at what will confront you. The people are sleeping and waking up in abject poverty.

“If not for the occasional medical outreach programmes that we used to organise in some of these communities where we conduct checks and offer free treatment to people, the death rate could have been higher than what it is today across the area. But even with our effort, the demand for quality medical care and improved living condition is still very high. Something urgent should be done to save lives and protect the future of children in this area,” he said.
In the last few months, missionaries of the Nigerian Baptist Convention have given free medical services to residents of these communities. Also, students of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, a Baptist institution, have helped organise free education for both adults and children across most parts of Ipokia. But even with such priceless interventions, the demand in healthcare and education remains extremely high.

Local Government officials at Ipokia told Saturday PUNCH that they were aware of the situation in these communities and were making efforts at addressing the plight of the people. An official, who asked not to be named, said that necessary interventions to improve the lives of the residents would soon be made by the administration.
“We are aware of the situation in some of the places you have mentioned and I can assure you that intervention projects would soon commence in those places to ease the sufferings of the people. We are a responsible government committed to serving the interest of our people. Things shall soon improve there,” the official said.
According to a sociologist, Grace Warikoru, the neglect of rural communities by governments across the country has contributed significantly to a host of problems including illiteracy, high infant and maternal mortality, poverty and crime.
The university lecturer says except concrete efforts are made to address the plight of rural communities, the attendant effects like crime and disorderliness can spill to urban areas in the not too distant future.

“If you look at majority of the crimes committed in big urban cities like Lagos, you’ll realise the culprits are mostly these guys who came from the rural areas not too long ago in an attempt to escape the biting poverty in those places.
“The truth is that any government that fails to develop the rural communities does so at its own detriment because by the time the repercussions would come, it would spill to the cities themselves.
“The insurgency we see in parts of the country today is as a result of the neglect of the rural communities by government. The moment poverty and deprivation in the basic areas of life like clean water, food, quality health care and education get hold of a people; the consequences could prove too costly for not just that locality but the society at large.

“So my advice is for government to begin to pay more attention to the needs of rural communities. The people are not asking for too much; just an improvement in the quality of life,” she said.
A psychologist, Buchi Anyamele, explains that trekking several hours to and fro an institution of learning could have negative consequences for the health, mind frame and assimilation ability of a person.
According to him, secondary school pupils who endure long walks in places like Ipokia may not be psychologically stable to understand and put into good use all they are taught in the classroom.

“Engaging in such stressful daily treks is not good for the health and mental stability of anybody. If there are students who trek three hours to school every day and the number of hours while going back home, I pity them because I fear they might not be learning anything tangible after all.
“The human brain especially for young boys and girls needs to be properly relaxed for assimilation to occur. There is no way you can pass through such stress and still learn properly or even understand what you are taught by the teacher. Such situation is not only dangerous for the health but also for the psychology of the individuals as it could lead to a loss of confidence and self esteem,” he said.

While shortage of schools and teachers coupled with the bad state of roads across most parts of the local government appear to have aggravated the people’s worries in this Ogun community, it is the lack of a functional and well equipped hospital in the region that has proven the biggest albatross. Towns like Madoga and Kajola used to have fairly operational health centers until lack of proper funding led to their complete closure recently. The Ipokia Local Government Health Clinic, Iropo, which for a while had turned out an able cover, is now also approaching the final stages of its hibernation. With only one bed left standing inside its dusty and dilapidated ward and its drugs shelf waning thin by the day, it might not be too long before its fragile doors are completely shut from the dozens who turn to it every day for solution.
A medical doctor, Jide Arogundade, told
Saturday PUNCH that the area could witness a rise in deaths resulting from communicable diseases like typhoid, cholera, malaria and rheumatism if access to quality health care does not improve in the very near future.

According to him, having two members of staff oversee the medical needs of a population of over 10, 000 people is not only dangerous but grossly inappropriate. To imagine that only one bed is also available to that number is alarming, he said. But bizarre as it is, this is the sad reality in the larger part of Ipokia Local Government Area, a remote region tucked in the extremes of Ogun State.

lalasticlala

You said it was not the first time that you would be misrepresented.

The last one was with the same national newspaper but it wasn’t as bad as this. That was an actual interview but they distorted what I said. Apparently they had their own agenda and they twisted what I said to favour that agenda. It didn’t represent what I said accurately. They did that before and I cut them off because of that.

Mudiaga Affe, Calabar

A Calabar-based business magnate (name withheld) and his son have been shot in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, after an armed robbery operation in the victim’s resident that lasted for more than three hours.

The victims, who reside along the MCC Road in Calabar, were said to be recuperating from the gun wounds they sustained during the attack.

A close family source, Adah Igwe, disclosed that the man owned a filing station around the vicinity.

She told Southern City News on Friday that the robbers gained access to the building after they had succeeded in disarming the security guard.

Igwe said, “The incident happened in the early hours of Thursday, between 1am and 4am. The bandits first tied up the security guard and seized his phone before they proceeded to the house which shares a perimeter fence with the fuel station.

“When they came, they shot through the door and later through the window which they broke and came in through it.”

She also added that a stray bullet pierced through the window hitting the son in the leg while the father was shot after the robbers gained entry through the window.

Igwe also alleged that after about three hours of operation, the robbers left with “small cash” as they could not find “whatever it was that they were looking for.”
The victims were later admitted at an undisclosed private clinic where they underwent surgery to extract pellets from their legs.

It was observed during a visit to the building that the house was being renovated as welders were seen fixing the broken metal works.

Also noticeable were shattered glasses where the bullets went through and a part where one round lodged in the wall.
It was learnt that the State Housing Police Division had visited and collected statements, but had yet to confirm the extent of investigation.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. John Eluu, said he had yet to be briefed on the incident.

“I am yet aware of that attack, but I will find out and get back to you,” he said.

lalasticlala

airsaylongcon:
For every kilo of legitimate crop, a kilo of Igbo aka weed aka weewee is 10x more expensive.

Lola Omotayo-Okoye, wife to one of the P-square duo, has revealed how she was molested while in high school by a priest, noting that for a really long time, she has continued to blame herself, even as she could not tell anyone, not even her family, about it.

Lola shared her story at the just concluded Kinabuti Dare2Dream project, encouraging and motivating young ladies to pursue their dreams.

According to her, “You shouldn’t let your past determine what your destiny will be, we all have our past whether good or bad or makes us unhappy, we all had a life that we lived that we are not happy about, you shouldn’t let it bother you from succeeding.

“When I was a young girl in my early teens in high school, I was molested by a catholic priest, I blamed myself, I didn’t tell anyone because I was ashamed, couldn’t tell anyone cos I felt everyone would blame me, so I carried on the guilt and bitterness with me for years. I was filled with hate and I became a angry person, I was rebellious, I didn’t want to listen to anybody and because I wanted to be expelled from school to avoid seeing this person, I would do so many terrible things, everything around me was just so negative, I felt I wasn’t good enough.”

Speaking further, Lola disclosed how she was physically abused by an ex-boyfriend in the University.

She continued: “Anyway I moved on to the university, met the love of my life and i’m like, okay this guy is cool, he loves me and then he started to abuse me. I was beaten black and blue all the time, in front of friends, in public and at a point I felt, you know what I am not worthy enough, there is nothing about me that is nice, nobody loves me but I hid this from my family.

“I felt like a loser, so it was hard for me to focus. One day I woke up and said I am going to change my story and I dumped that person, focus on my education and decided to be serious and be something. I decided to get a job and go to school full time in America.

lalasticlala

Just like we thought, Nigerian transgender » and self-acclaimed God hater, Stephanie Rose, has once again taken her hatred for the almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ , into the Christmas period by coming up with a unique way of wishing her fans, and the world the compliments of the season.

Born Dapo Adaralegbe, before (s)he underwent surgery to become a woman, Rose who has become a thorn in the flesh of the Almighty with her constant vituperations, has not ceased in pouring invectives on God and anything religious.

See the Christmas message she dropped on her Facebook page:
"Merry fraudulent Christmas .... Jesus Christ is a myth and not a true story just like Horus, another mythical man/god that predated Jesus several centuries before. The Vaticans decide what is true and what is a lie in the bible they composed and put together in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea.

Jesus Christ remains a myth as Horus. The entire man/god story is all fiction not truth.
There is no Saviour or good shepherd any where .... or a loving God as the bible deceived people in the New Testament of LIES, the same God is the DEVIL destroying all of Mankind.

JESUS CHRIST IS A MERE MYTH AND UNTRUE STORY!!
Compliments of a fraudulent Season.
What use is a Saviour that can not save Mankind from grave tragedies and disasters like incurable diseases, famine and pestilence? The Abrahamic God from the beginning functioned with plagues and diseases which he used to destroy and torment humanity!

The same God is described as a giant Killer in scriptures that destroyed families and people with flood and disasters. Till today, disasters like earthquakes, flood, hurricane and deluge still afflict and kill humanity in large numbers because Jesus Christ is a myth and untrue story of this flood destroyer God.

The entire story of Jesus Christ is a mere myth and retelling of other mythical man/gods that predated him like Horus, Mithiras, Dionysus, Krishna and Attis! Yahweh, the Abrahamic God functioned with plagues and diseases in scriptures.

lalasticlala

Suspected fraudsters allegedly operating money ‘doubling’ shrines in Lento Village, Life Camp, have duped the wife of a notable politician (names withheld) of $18,000.

A police source told our reporter that crime rate in the area has been high, especially this festive season and that many people have been taken to different shrines ostensibly to have their money ‘doubled’.

According to the police source, residents of Lento village and Lento Aluminum have reported severally to the police division how victims were taken to various shrines in the village and robbed of their money and other belongings.

“Recently, the wife of a notable politician (names withheld) was taken to one of the shrines where she was duped of over $18,000. She initially gave the fraudsters $10,000, then went home and brought $8,000 to them. After handing the money over to them, they told her to come back in 30 minutes when they would have doubled the money to fill a ‘Ghana must go bag’.

“By the time she came back, expecting to carry the bag of money that was promised her, the miscreants had already abandoned the place. It then dawned on her that she had been duped of her money,” he said.

The source also said: “Even when the woman and her family reported the matter to the police, she seemed still convinced that she had genuine business with the fraudsters as she was only talking of the bag of money instead of telling us what exactly happened.”

The source, however noted that the police have been having a tough time trying to arrest the suspected fraudsters.

Residents of Life Camp have also lamented over alleged robbery attacks on them especially at Lento village. They alleged that armed robbersand fraudsters lay siege for unsuspecting residents around the village and dispossess them of money and valuables.

One of the victims told our reporter that the police were not doing anything reasonable to curtail the level of armed robbery in the area.

He said recently, his car broke down and before he could come back with a mechanic to fix it, it had been vandalized and the people around told him that the boys that did it were dangerous as they used charms and machetes on their victims.

When contacted on phone, the Life Camp Divisional Police Officer, Chief Superintendent Maman Joseph, is yet to comment on the report.

lalasticlala

The situation of the country, especially as it concerns the current revelations of high-handed corrupt practices is a concern to the Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Sanai Agunbiade. He stresses that much in this interview. EROMOSELE EBHOMELE was there

Q: What is your opinion about the arms fund deal involving former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) and others. What lessons do you think we have learnt from this?

I want to thank and appreciate God for intervening in the affairs of this country. It was God’s intervention that agitated the mind of our National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who became revolutionary about our political process and had the confidence that the progressives could wrestle power from the conservative elements. He propounded the theory of amalgamation of all progressive elements, telling them it was possible for the progressives to come together and wrestle power. It was God’s intervention that touched the minds of those that came together and which allowed the convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to choose now President Muhammadu Buhari as their presidential candidate without the magnitude of the disagreement and rancour that was expected. The formation of the APC was God’s intervention, where different set of people buried their ego and resolved to work together. It was God’s intervention that sustained the APC despite all the efforts of the then Peoples Democratic Party-led government to scuttle the formation of the party. You remember another APC came up. And the election itself was God’s intervention and President Buhari won. It is God’s intervention in the political affairs of the country that PMB won; if not, by now Nigeria would be down in the mud. If you look at the impunity with which things had been done culminating in the deafening figures, billions of naira for very trivial things, biliions of naira for ridiculous things, dollars for criminal activities to fund aggression and revolt against the state, you will marvel. Some of the revelations shows that somebody was giving hard currencies to the insurgents. You can imagine a situation, where billions of naira was allocated for prayers, for advertisements, publicity, where the treasury was made available for a candidate of a party. You can hear a very provoking revelation. Imagine if government had returned into the hand of these people, the series of revelations now would have been buried forever and another round of economic sabotage would have commenced pushing Nigeria into a grave. That is why it beats my imagination, when some people still accuse President Buhari of non-performance. How can anybody perform with the kind of doldrum, which the Nigerian economy has been pushed into? You want the man to hit the ground running when the ground is not solid, but murky? So, the present revelation, prosecution, accusations and counter accusations are only telling Nigerians that they should be appreciative of God, who has changed the cause of events to allow people, who would expose the crime that have been committed against Nigerians in the last four years.

I want to praise the dexterity, the commitment, the doggedness of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that of the national officers of the APC and all individual members that participated in the revolution that ousted, through the ballot, the regime of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. I am sure in the corners of his room, Jonathan would now have realised that he was surrounded by people, who never wished him well, by people who were political scavengers feeding fat on his political disposition. That is to tell you that he who must lead should be a firm person, who has track record of managing men and resources. It is not enough for an academia to jump on the train of politics and aspiring to steer the wheel. Those who would surround him would want to drive the train aground. My own subsmission is that God is passing through Nigeria and at the end of the day, appreciative minds would see God’s grace in this.

Q: The PDP has said that in fighting corruption President Buhari must also probe the source of funding for his election campaign. What do you think about this?

A drowning man would look for the slightest object to hook up to. One thing at a time and that done well is a very good route to others. You cannot be a judge in your own case. They are two different things, there are some monies belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria alleged to have been misappropriated by persons who possibly should not have been involved in the ways and manners the monies were spent. That is being carried out by the present government; let that process continue to a logical end. If the PDP have their proofs, let this be resolved and they can tell him: “Mr. President, you have successfully fought and won, this is a battle you should also fight, we have our fight.” Why is it that it is when the government started probing people, not on the basis of political affiliation, but base on certain fact emanating from certain revelations or people who are aware of such transactions that they are bringing this up or do they think that Buhari just dreamt about this? People started to talk, people that were disenchanted about the way things were being done, but could not talk. Any individual in whatever capacity that is opposed to what President Buhari is doing now should be seen as an enemy of Nigeria. When the monies are recovered, would it not be for the use of Nigeria and the common man?. Is it enough to say: “okay, we agree that we stole, didn’t you steal?” They should cover their eyes in shame and apologise to Nigerians that majority of the people being alleged now are members of their party, and they were in the corridors of power then.

Q: How can we avoid this kind of thing both at the federal and the state levels?

The only way is to carry this prosecution to conclusion. Whoever is found guilty should be dealt with according to the law.

Q: Recently, state governors said they could not continue with payment of N18,000 minimum wage and that it is either they reduce the amount or retrench workers. What is your take on this?

My opinion is that a very delicate situation requires a very a careful approach. We are all witnesses that the present situation is due to the way our economy had been managed. You could imagine if all these billions of naira are to remain within the economy, I am sure the economy would not be as bad as it is. So, in fixing Nigeria, we have to be careful not to create another problem. We are still talking about the creation of states. To create a state, we have to look at the viability of that state. We should look at the economic potentials of that state. We have created these ones, we have to sustain them. The Federal Government came out with bail-out funds for the state; one way or the other it has solved some problems. We need to look at our situations and come out with workable solutions. To retrench might not be a palatable option in the face of economic hardship in the country. To retrench is to throw more capable hands into hopelessness and to heighten the apprehension in the society and to increase the likelihood of the dangers that unemployment constitutes to the society. As much as it is difficult for the states or some states to pay the minimum wage, I am sure that for every problem, there is a solution and every problem comes with a solution. If you look deep into every problem, you would find a solution. I want to sympathise with the states that are not too viable to pay wages, but I would not subscribe to retrenchment because of the dangers it portends. So, in-between ability to pay and the danger of retrenchment, they should find a solution. It is sure that God that has been with Nigeria would open our eyes to a way out. But we need to look deeper to be able to come up with a strategy that would bring us out of the dangers of retrenchment and the ability to pay minimum wage.

Q: How do we get out of the economic doldrum you mentioned earlier, in the face of dwindling price of crude oil?

We will not be the only country that is affected, other countries are coping. When a problem befalls you, we should be able to cope and adjust, but when a problem befalls you and you are now generating another problem from within, then it would be catastrophic. If we can curtail the level of corruption within the system, I am sure we will be able to adjust to any economic hardship that is starring us in the face. Whatever happens, whatever global recession that happens, it would not affect only Nigeria. We should be able to mitigate any problem that might affect our development. Why are we not having electricity, constant electricity? Is it not from the mismanagment of our affairs? Due to lack of electricity, many companies have folded up and thrown people into the labour market. The young elements that are graduating from the universities can’t get work. Of course, the first law of nature is self survival. They would now look for any means which could be crime or any other negative way to survive. But, let us just fix electricity and have 24-hour light, you would see our economy bouncing back. That means our refineries would work, all these things about crude oil and refined oil would be eliminated. That means our industries and companies would produce at optimum capacity, and more people could be employed and the country would be safer to attract investors and Nigeria would be more creative because the beauty of Nigeria would show at night. Some people would work in the morning, others in the afternoon and at night. The society would be safer, more beautiful, more jobs and less crimes and our economy would be safer. Let us remove corruption and see our beautiful Nigeria is.

Q: What should your constituents expect in 2016?

The year 2016 will be a year of prosperity for Nigeria, Lagos State and Ikorodu Constituency 1. In 2016, I want to redouble my efforts in justifying the mandate of my people for the third term. It is a special privilege and I want to justify the trust they reposed in me to give me this mandate. I will continue to represent them with all commitments, dedication and good hearts. In 2016, I want them to expect more grace of God because there is nothing anybody can do unless it is from above and because God sees my heart, my intentions, I know He would strengthen me, embolden me and give me more grace to be able to represent them. I have not disappointed them, I would not disappoint them, I want to do more to attract more government presence to my constituency. On my own part, I want to continue to render humanitarian services and give back to my community for the mandate they have given me. I would do more of empowerment for my people, I would represent them and see how more people in my constituency would be empowered with employment, skill acquisition, how much I can collaborate with my people to restore peace and stability in my constituency. I want to assure them that by 2016, the incessant crisis of land grabbers (ajagungbales) that proliferate our society would be seriously addressed by the state government and brought to the barest minimum. By December 2016, I am sure a lot of people in my constituency would do thanksgiving to God for improved standard of living economic condition in the name of God.

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