₦airaland Forum

The Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Anthony Ogbizi, on Friday paraded six members of a child trafficking syndicate arrested in Aba.

Southern City News learnt that the suspects also work in collaboration with syndicates scattered in other South-East and South-South states who illegally sell stolen children to potential buyers.

The syndicate, it was gathered, targets children from three months to three years old and are sold for between N150, 000 to N300, 000 depending on the bargaining power of the would-be buyer.

Police source said that the suspects were intercepted by personnel of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria and handed over to the Police for arrest following intelligence report.

Among those rescued during the operation was a four-year-old boy, who was recently kidnapped on his way from church with his brother in Mbano, Imo State.

The commissioner said among the suspects, were a couple from Mbano that had been selling their babies and later became agents themselves.

He said in order to spread their tentacles; the couple started recruiting more people into the business from other parts of the south-east with special interest in Imo State.

Ogbizi said, “By 9pm on Monday, my officers on duty within the Abayi area in Aba got information that people suspected to be child traffickers are within the neighbourhood. My men accosted them and when they were questioned, they said that they were going to lodge in a hotel.

“Not convinced with their response, the personnel brought them to our office and on interrogation, they made confessional statements that they are child trafficking syndicate.

One of the suspects, Kingsley Onuoha, from Mbano in Imo State, confessed to abducting a little boy from Obowo and taken to Aba.

Members of a gang, which specialised in stealing and diverting goods from the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos have been apprehended by the police.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the suspects – Onyebuchi Okeke, Sopuruchukwu Eze, Sunday Chukwuwike, Sunday Nwachukwu and Onyebuchi Edeh – were arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team after they stole and sold off a 40-foot container containing 600 generators.

According to the IRT, they sold off the Elemaxbrand generators valued at N50m for N440,000

A source said the head of the gang, Okeke, worked for a haulage company in Ago-Okota, Lagos.

He allegedly operated by taking his truck to the Lagos seaport in search of a customer who had goods to transport.

Once he was contracted to transport any shipment, the police said he diverted and sold it off for a fraction of the value.

The source said he had been on the police wanted list for a long time as a result of his activities.

The owner of the diverted generators had reportedly approached the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, after he discovered that his goods were missing.

Our correspondent was told that the IRT, led by Abba Kyari, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, was tasked with tracking down the suspects and the goods.

The team later traced the shipment to Ontisha, Anambra State, where some of the generators were sold.

Through the receiver of the goods, Eze, who was arrested in Onitsha, the IRT was able to arrest all the members of the gang. A large number of the generators were said to have been recovered in Ikorodu area of Lagos.

Thirty-year-old Okeke, a native of Nankain, Anambra State, told journalists after his arrest that because he was paid in commission in the haulage company where he worked, he decided he could make quick money by diverting shipments.

He said, “I was employed in December 2017 and since then, I had only transported goods five times before I was arrested.

“The same month I was arrested, the manager of the company told me to take the container-load of generators to Alaba International Market in Ojo, Lagos State. I immediately contacted one of my customers known as Ozor and told him that I had some goods to sell.

“He connected me to someone known as Sunday, who also connected me to his brother known as Supuro.

“After our negotiation, Supuro asked us to take the goods to a house in Ikorodu. He then offered to pay us N9.7m, but he gave us an advance payment of N440,000 on December 23, 2017.

“We shared the money and used it to celebrate Christmas. We were expecting the balance on the first week of January 2018. When I called Supuro to ask when I could get the money, he asked me to come meet him at Onitsha, but when I got to Asaba, I was arrested by the IRT.”

Eze, who is also 30 years old, claimed not to know where Okeke got the generators from but claimed that he paid more than N440,000 for the generators.

He said, “I was told that the brother of the driver was the one who imported the generators and wanted to sell them cheaply.

“I gave them (Okeke and his gang members) an advance payment of N530,000. I also sold 30 generators to one Onuora for N1.2m. I then took some of the generators to Onitsha to look for buyers. That was where I was arrested.”

The police have said the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigation on the case was complete.

madridguy:
Which one is Ajinomoto again? Why not Vedan

Stingman:
...even Boko haram are staged managed...the $6.5 billion spent in the NE since it started..all never happened...Buhari is staged managed...even your existence is not real...

Are you okay now...?

You really need to be arrested and quarantined...before you do something stupid...

imhotep:
Avoid smoking weed.
Its bad for your brain

Stingman:
Mental...People like you need to be chained and left in the sun...So your brain can be reconfigured...

imhotep:
If the war never happened, why did you open a thread about it?

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has faulted the rise in number of security checkpoints in the South-east region this festive period. According to the group, the rise was a ploy to harass and exploit Igbo who would return en masse for the Christmas festivities. This was the position of the group's chairman in Anambra state, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, in a press statement made available to journalists.

They maintained that it would no longer sit back and watch the Igbo humiliated under any guise. Part of the statement read: “As we step into December, the month of festivities, with higher numbers of our people returning for the holidays, the number of check points have started increasing. We know that the target is our people who are returning. “In the past we had asked that the harassment these checkpoints present should be addressed. The authorities would claim that they are dismantling them, but their numbers continue increasing. We condemn the practices. “We’re not in a war. Police, Customs, Soldiers, and other security agents have formed the habit of mounting check points to extort our people. It does not matter whether people have their complete vehicle particulars, or can account for the goods that they have. “They are treated like criminals, harassed, embarrassed, delayed from their journeys, all in the bid to make them part with money. It is mostly in Anambra State that these checkpoints are mounted, or on roads that our people pass. “Ohanaeze Ndigbo condemns these practices in their entirety. While it is important that the security agencies do their work, part of that work is not embarrassing travelers and extorting them. It is totally unacceptable to us.” The group said it is working with security agencies to end the harassment by establishing telephone numbers that travelers can call when security agencies make illegal demands on them. They called on the leadership of the security agencies to call their men to order and stop harassment of travelers and present another opportunity for the authorities to show Nigerians that they care. Meanwhile, a South-east based organisation named Ndigbo for PMB 2019, has declared that the miraculous healing of President Muhammadu Buhari and his attainment of 75 years have shown that “God has preserved him for a purpose to better Nigeria.” In a statement sent to NAIJ.com on Monday, December 18, the group revealed that plans have been concluded to stage a mega rally in Lagos by January 14, 2018, in support of President Buhari's re-election. The statement which was signed by the national coordinator of the group, Prince Paul Ikonne, expressed optimism that God will use President Buhari beyond 2019 for the betterment of Nigeria.

dlondonbadboy:
People like you still exist?

Shukusheka:
Must you e-diots always tribalize everything. How you manage to bring tribalism to a self-reflecting and sad thread like this beats me.

ManFromJos:
Mods.. no vex.. i no mean to derail
but if u reason am ba, u go realise say guys wey get dot shukushaker go dy happy with 9mobile right now.

emmalezy:
According to OrangeFM, 30 year old Chinyere Onuara, who said she is a widow and mother of five, was arrested at the front of a commercial bank in Akure where she had been begging for alms for months.

The Oyo State Government on Wednesday disclosed that thousands of students between the ages of 10 and 16 will benefit from the Airbus Little Engineer (ALE) robotics programme, saying that the training is in conjunction with the Airbus Foundation together with its partner, The Little Engineer.

The government said that the programme is part of its Oyo State Model Education System Interventions (OYOMESI) initiatives, stating that the training workshop will be held at five flagship schools commencing with Anglican Commercial Grammar School on Thursday, February 8, 2018 between 10am and 2pm.

The Special Adviser to Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Education, Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi explained that the goal of the workshop is to encourage students to understand and embrace technology as well as ignite a passion that could grow into an exciting STEM career, adding that it is also to prepare the state for a knowledge based future and make it a hub for producing knowledgeable competent workforce.

Dr Akin-Alabi disclosed that the four other recently renovated Cluster Learning Centres for the workshop include Lagelu Grammar School on March 9, St Anne’s School on March 16, IMG Sharp Corner on March 23 and Wesley College of Science on March 30, 2018.

She stressed that the beneficiaries will be trained in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), saying that some of the objectives of the workshop are for the students to understand the basics of robotics and why they are must in our lives, recognize the different parts available on the airplane, understand the concept of lift force created on an airplane and possess the ability to understand Basic programming

Other objectives according to Dr Akin-Alabi are for the students to create their own algorithm to develop a problem-solving robot, be aware that a huge industry is waiting for them and unleash their potential and nurture their passion so they can contribute efficiently to the future of Airbus.

According to her, “the Airbus Little Engineer A380 Assembly Workshop is a robotic workshop offered by Airbus Foundation for learners aged 12+ in the MENA region and now in Africa, to instil in youth the passion for Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This workshop aims to introduce the students to the world of robotics and the aviation industry.

“The students will be acquainted with the A380 Airplane covering its development from the manufacturing phase in different countries to its final assembly in Toulouse or Hamburg. This workshop is a 4 hour educational activity that can host a maximum of 27 learners,” Dr Akin-Alabi said.