One feared dead as policemen, touts clash

The PPRO for Lagos State police command, Ngozi Braide.

An unidentified man was feared dead in the Oko Oba area of Lagos State on Wednesday after street urchins, otherwise known as area boys, and policemen attached to Oko Oba Police Division clashed.

It was learnt that many of the miscreants were injured while two policemen also allegedly suffered severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Although a version of the report had it that the fight broke out because policemen allegedly killed a man in the wee hours of the day, police authorities denied this.

According to Police authorities, trouble began after a robber snatched a motorcycle from a yet-to-be identified man around 7.30am.

It was said that some policemen had chased the alleged robber to the Abattoir area where the suspect ran to his friends for help.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, said the policemen were beaten up but the security operatives restrained from fighting back.

She said, “Policemen on patrol saw a man lying face down on the ground in the area and when the man was picked up, he said his motorcycle had just been snatched by a robber. Policemen spotted the robber and pursued him.

“The robber fled to where his friends were in the Abattoir area and his friends started to fight the policemen. They vandalised the patrol vehicle and beat up the policemen with all sorts of weapons but the policemen refused to retaliate.

“Two policemen were severely injured and were rushed to a hospital. No one was shot.

Businessman murdered for refusing to settle Area Boys

Charles Ugwu

A businessman, Charles Ugwu, has been killed in the Ajegunle area of Lagos, over his refusal to settle some street urchins, popularly known as area boys.

The incident was said to have occurred at Uzor Street, Ajegunle, on September 24 2013. A tyre dealer, Ugwu was said to have been accosted by two area boys, identified as Saturday and Chimezie, while offloading goods from a vehicle to his shop.

The deceased’s wife, Stella, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, told PUNCH Metro that her husband had resisted the thugs’ efforts to extort money from him resulting in the assault on her husband.

She said, “Around 9pm on that day, two young men, known as Saturday and Chimezie, accosted us saying they would not allow us to continue working until we settle them.

“We asked them why we should pay them because the goods had nothing to do with the hoodlums. Saturday was “annoyed; he walked away only to return with stones, which he threw at us. When my husband cautioned him to stop causing trouble, Saturday picked up a “stick and struck Ugwu on the neck.”

Ugwu was said to have fallen to the ground while all efforts to revive him failed.

It was learnt that immediately after Ugwu was killed, the Divisional Police Officer of Ajegunle Police Station, Mr. Abayomi Agbana, was contacted. Agbana was said to have dispatched policemen to the area and the two suspects were arrested.

The bereaved wife lamented the hardship that had been brought on the family due to her husband’s death.

She said, “Who will train my children for me? Ugwu  was a good father and husband; he was much too young to die. We loved each other so much. How can my three children be fatherless at these ages? Our first is just 15 years old. The second is 12 years and the last child is nine. These hoodlums have wiped out the joy of my life.”

In his statement at the police station, Saturday claimed that he actually demanded money from the businessman but had nothing to do with his death.

He said while demanding money from Ugwu, Stella told her husband not to part with any money.

Saturday claimed that at that instant, Stella held his singlet. He alleged that Chimezie and the deceased were trying to appeal to Stella to let go of the suspect when the businessman suddenly collapsed.

He insisted that neither him nor his accomplice had fought Ugwu.

Chimezie was also said to have alleged, in his statement, that he was trying to appeal to Stella when her husband suddenly collapsed. He claimed that no form of violence had been used on the deceased.

It was gathered that the matter had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, Lagos, for further investigation.

The victim’s younger brother, Francis, said the family was ready to bury the corpse but police had yet to release the body.

He said, “The police have insisted that the autopsy report must be done before the body would be released.”

Detectives at the SCID have however blamed the ongoing doctors’ strike for the delay.

A detective, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday, said, “Many bereaved families have been complaining since the doctors strike started. This is because they want to bury their loved ones but cannot take away their corpses because autopsy reports have not been done. The situation is worrisome and embarrassing in some cases.”

The Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, Ngozi Braide, said she would call back when contacted for information on the case. She had yet to do so as of 8pm.

Three remanded for killing father, attacking 10-month-old daughter

Man behind bars in prison

Three suspected cult members have been remanded at the Ikoyi Prison for allegedly killing a 30-year-old man, Seyi Jimoh, and inflicting injuries on his ten-month-old baby with cutlass.

The three defendants – Emmanuel Samson, Tunji Olanrewaju and Joshua Ogunnusi- were said to have committed the offence at the Alapere area of Lagos.

The police said the trio belonged to an unlawful society named K-man cult and had perpetrated the crime in September 2013 before they were caught.

It is however not clear why the late Jimoh and his daughter were attacked by the men at their residence.

The suspects were arraigned before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court for murder and assault.

The charge read in part, “That you, Emmanuel Samson, Tunji Olanrewaju, Joshua Ogunnusi and others at large on the 8th of September, 2013 at about 3am, at Akainimodu area of Alapere, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill one Seyi Jimoh, aged 30, by cutting him with cutlass.”

The prosecutor, Cousin Adam, said the offences were punishable under Sections 409, 221, 171 and 42 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.

Rebel govs may soon dump PDP for APC

The  ongoing efforts  to reconcile aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party members with the Bamanga Tukur-led National Working Committee of the party,appear to have finally hit a brick wall.

A hint of this emerged when Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, told a visiting All Progressives Congress delegation  on Wednesday, that himself and  the six other aggrieved PDP governors, might dump the PDP for the  “warm embrace of the APC.”

The other aggrieved governors otherwise known as rebel governors are prominent members of the New PDP led by Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.

They are Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano); Rotimi  Amaechi (Rivers); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto).

 It was learnt on Wednesday that the National Vice-Chairman North-East of the  APC, Umar Duhu,  who led the delegation to the government residence in Yola, offered Nyako  a piece of kola nut and an invitation in accordance with the northern tradition.

The Director of Press to the Governor, Ahmad Sajo, who confirmed the development  to our  correspondent,  said Nyako   expressed his desire and those  of  his colleagues to join the opposition APC as “soon as the situation in the PDP becomes unbearable.”

Sajo said, “The governor told them he is committed to supporting them; he admires all the APC governors for the way they are focused in their performance.

“He abhors the injustice and impunity that are  going on in the PDP and  he also frowns on the fact that someone would emerge as the party’s candidate at the local level and the PDP will change the name of the person  in Abuja and submit a different person’s name.”

He quoted the governor as saying, “These are the reasons (injustice and impunity) why we may have to dump the PDP, if they will not change their ways.

“We may definitely be pushed to the warm embrace of the APC because there is so much injustice in the PDP.

“It is a party which renders your efforts null and void  after you  have gone through the process and secured nomination;  a system that takes over your property without giving you an opportunity to defend  yourself for whatever infringement you may have committed.

“The PDP operates a system that does not respect other people’s point of view; a system that operates on a pre-determined position on all matters is not healthy for democracy.”

Earlier, Duhu had told the governor that they were at his residence after consultation with the   APC leadership  to formally invite him to join the party.

Attempts to get a response from the PDP were futile as its  National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh,  neither picked his calls nor replied to a text message sent to his mobile phone.

A phone call to his deputy, Alhaji Abubakar Jalo,  indicated that his set was switched off.

Meanwhile, information available indicates that members of the New PDP have scheduled a series of meetings for Thursday(today) and Friday to prepare a unified response to the renewed clampdown on some of  their colleagues by the Federal Government.

A member  of the faction, who was privy to one of  such  meetings,  confided in our correspondent that the meetings had become necessary in the light of recent developments.

The member, who spoke in confidence, said, “We have to meet to review our strategies; it has become obvious that the Tukur-led PDP is not interested in a peaceful resolution of this crisis.”

APC condemns Jonathan’s wife’s honorary degree

Mrs. Patience Jonathan

The All Progressives Congress has said the decision of the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, to receive a honorary doctorate degree from a South Korean university while Nigerian universities have been shut for months was the height of insensitivity.

This was contained in a statement signed by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday.

The party said if Patience and her advisers had been perceptive enough, they would have known that embarking on such “a jamboree at this time is an assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians in general, and the students who have been marooned at home for almost four months in particular.”

The statement read, “In their eagerness to gobble up one spurious award after another, they forgot that if the Hansei University in South Korea had been shut by a strike because the government there has repudiated an agreement it willingly signed with the teachers, the institution would not have been able to give any honorary degree to anyone.

“A government that is unwilling to spend the nation’s resources on the education of its youths has no qualms about wasting the same resources for a junket by the First Lady and her cheerleaders halfway around the world for what is nothing more than an ego-massaging award.”

APC said the reasons given for the award of the honorary doctorate degree to the President’s wife were particularly interesting “She’s a humanitarian who has dedicated her life to working for the less privileged in Nigeria and Africa especially for women and children.

“Her vision as the defender of the poor in Nigeria fits into Hansei University’s motto of a practising Christian.”

The party said there was no indication that she and her husband were sparing any thought for the poor Nigerian students whose dreams for a better future had been put on hold by the long strike.

When contacted, the Director of Information in the office of the First Lady, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba said, “I am not in Abuja presently, I will let you know if there is a response.”

Ministry confirms purchase of N255m vehicles for Oduah

Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah

The Ministry of Aviation has confirmed that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority bought two bulletproof vehicles worth $1.6m (N255m) for the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah.

An online news medium, SaharaReporters,had reported on Tuesday that the armoured vehicles were delivered to the minister in August.

The medium reported that documents in its possession showed that the transaction for the purchase of the two BMW cars started in June, but the request for the delivery of and payment for them was fast-tracked between August 13 and 15, 2013.

The transaction involved the NCAA, First Bank of Nigeria, and Coscharis Motors Limited, according to the report.

The two black BMW 760 Li HSS vehicles had chasis numbers WBAHP41050DW68032 and WBAHP41010DW68044, and were reportedly delivered to the NCAA on August 13, 2013. They were received by two store managers, F. Onoabhagbe and Y. A. Amzat, who is also the agency’s head of transport.

Meanwhile, two major air crashes have occurred under Oduah’s watch.

These were the Dana Air crash in Lagos on June 3, 2012, in which 163 people died; and the Associated Airlines crash of October 3, 2013, also in Lagos, which claimed 15 lives.

A day after the Associated Airlines’ crash, a Kabo Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 plane carrying 512 pilgrims made an emergency landing at the Sokoto airport with deflated tyres and damaged the airport’s Instrument Landing System.

On Sunday, an IRS Airlines Fokker 100 plane carrying 99 passengers also made an emergency landing at the Kaduna airport, after developing hydraulic problems mid-air.

Four days after the tragic crash involving Associated Airlines’ Embraer 120 plane, Oduah described air accidents as God’s will that were inevitable.

She said notwithstanding this reality, the Federal Government would continue to ensure that there were no accidents.

The minister made the submission while fielding questions from State House correspondents on investigations into the crash.

The minister said, “We do not pray for accidents but they are inevitable. But we will continue to do everything to ensure that we do not have accidents. But an accident is an act of God.

“Again, we do not speculate on the causes of accidents.  Until they happen, you cannot say this is the cause or that is not the cause. But what is obvious and is the truth is that in aviation, there are shared responsibilities, starting from the man that carries your luggage to the man that makes sure that your boarding pass is issued to you.

“And so, the regulatory agency, the operators, the management, everybody has his/her  responsibility and all must work in tandem for there to be an optimal, secure and safe aviation sector in the country. And that is what we have been working on.”

Oduah described those saying that she left the issue of safety in the airspace to dwell on money-making ventures as ignorant.

However, much criticism had since followed her comment.

She had explained that security and safety could not be achieved without proper funding.

However, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, who confirmed the development on Wednesday, said the vehicles were purchased to protect the minister from some external threats.

He said in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, “Yes, it is true that some security vehicles were procured for the use of the office of the honourable minister in response to the clear and imminent threat to her personal security and life following the bold steps she took to reposition the sector.

“When she came on board as the minister, she inherited a lot of baggage in terms of the concession and lease agreements in the sector, which were clearly not in the interest of the government and people of Nigeria.

“And so, she took bold steps and some of these agreements were reviewed and some were terminated, and these moves disturbed some entrenched interests in the sector, and within this period, she began to receive some imminent threats to her life; therefore, the need for the vehicles.

“It should be noted that these vehicles are not personal vehicles and were not procured in the name of the honourable minister; they are utility vehicles and are for the office of the minister, and if she leaves the office, she will not be taking the vehicles along with her.”

On his part, the spokesperson for the NCAA, Mr. Fan Ndubuike, feigned ignorance of the development.

“I am not aware of anything like that,” he told our correspondent at 8.05pm on Wednesday.

The NCAA is the agency charged with ensuring the airworthiness of commercial planes flying within the country’s airspace.

The agency has been under fire lately over a series of mishaps and near crashes involving planes being operated by domestic airlines that were certified fit for flight operations by the NCAA.

There have also been rumours that the NCAA does not have enough funds to upgrade its equipment, send its employees for critical training and hire enough qualified hands, while questions are also being raised by industry watchers on the ability of the cash-strapped agency to procure such expensive vehicles.

However, the Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, had on Monday denied the claims of being cash-strapped, saying that the agency was buoyant.

He said, “We are not broke, we have been carrying out all our responsibilities and have been undertaking the training of our staff as and when due.

“I can tell you that right now, some of our staff members are undergoing training abroad and we still have others that are waiting for approval; we do not joke with training here and I challenge anyone to come up with anything otherwise to that effect.”

Policemen threaten strike over transfer to troubled states

Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed

Some police inspectors and rank and file from the Imo State Police Command have threatened to go on strike over their redeployment to some violence-prone states in the North.

The aggrieved policemen who met in Benin, the Edo State capital, said they would start the strike in November.

But the Force headquarters has said that the redeployment will not be revisited or changed and warned the affected officers against blackmailing the police authorities.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, who was reacting to the threat of a strike by some policemen in Imo State Police Command, said that the Nigeria Police Force was a national organisation where police personnel could be deployed to serve in any part of the country.

Mba, who spoke over the phone on Wednesday, described the reported threat by the policemen as a rumour, adding that the same rumour was peddled when some policemen were transferred out of Lagos.

Some policemen that were redeployed to some northern states had threatened to embark on strike in November if their demands were  not addressed.

They were demanding the reversion of the mass transfer of officers numbering about 100 from the cadre of Inspectors, Assistant Superintendent of Police and the Chief Superintendent of Police to the troubled areas in the North.

The officers alleged that their transfer which they described as punitive, was masterminded by the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammad Katsina, adding that some of them had stagnated on a rank for many years without promotion.

But Mba faulted the position of the protesting officers. He said that they could not choose where they would serve, noting that the policemen in the North had as much right as those in Imo State to serve in any part of the country.

“The Nigeria Police Force is a national police, not a state civil service or a state police force. The implication is that you can be asked to serve in any part of the country, and as a police officer, you don’t have the right to choose where to serve or when to serve. It is a call to service. The benefits of being a police officer comes with the burden of discharging the responsibilities attached to being an officer and you can’t choose the benefits and reject the responsibilities,” he said.

Govts tells Corps members to Create jobs for themselves

Some 2012 Batch C corps members after their passing-out parade in Lagos ... on Thursday.

The National Youth Service Corps on Thursday organised a passing out ceremony for the 2012 Batch C NYSC members across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory with  some governors advising them to deploy their energies towards nation building. They also advised them to create jobs for themselves.

In Akwa Ibom State, the governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, advised them to continue serving the nation in whatever sector of the economy they find themselves.

Speaking through the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Ita Umo, during the passing out ceremony in Uyo on Thursday, the governor urged the youth corps members to develop positive attitude towards the country.

He said, “Let me advise you that the task of nation building does not end with your one year mandatory service. As you step out of the scheme and Akwa Ibom State today, you need to be reminded to always have positive attitude towards Nigeria, by aspiring to lift our nation high as inscribed in the NYSC anthem.

The governor advised the outgoing 2,893 corps members in the state to embrace self-employment.

Also, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, urged the corps members to deploy their creative thinking into how to create jobs for themselves rather than roaming the streets in search of paid jobs.

Aregbesola said this at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Ede, Osun State on Thursday at the passing out ceremony of 2012 Batch C  corps members deployed into the state.

He said, “ It is imperative to stress that gone are the days to expect that immediately after service, one would secure an automatic life-time job even among several alternatives. The attitude and orientation of majority of our young graduates was that creative thinking and individual initiative ended when they wrote their final examination.

“This is absolutely wrong. You need to apply creativity more now in the face of unemployment bedeviling the nation. Focus more on self employment.”

Also, the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, advised the outgoing corps members to train themselves to become self-reliant in order to assist government to tackle the problem of unemployment.

Amaechi, who gave this advice on Thursday while addressing the 2012 Batch ‘C’ corps members at the passing-out of 3,431 corps members in Port Harcourt, said that white collar jobs were no longer available for employable Nigerians.

“As you are now faced with the task of seeking gainful employment, I advise you to nurture and apply yourselves to the practical lessons of self-employment, which you were exposed to in the course of your service year, through the skills acquisition and entrepreneurial development programme, as white collar jobs are no longer available for all employable Nigerians as in the past.

“I therefore urge you to be self-reliant so as to assist the government in fighting the rising rate of unemployment in our society,” Amaechi said.

However Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State urged them to make the necessary sacrifice required to achieve success in their chosen careers.

The governor said this on Thursday, at their passing-out ceremony in Enugu.

He said, “Some of you may be rightly apprehensive of what tomorrow holds for you. I want to assure you that it is bright. As educated young men and women with requisite skills, the sky is your limit.

“However, you must recognise that the road to success has never been easy. History has shown that no individual or nation has ever achieved success without sacrifices.”

He said that through their education and participation in the NYSC scheme, they had been equipped for survival in a competitive world.

Also, Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State commended the outgoing corps members for their contributions in tackling developmental challenges in the country.

Yero gave the commendation on Thursday at the passing out parade of 2012 ‘’ batch C ‘’ Corps members in Kaduna.

Represented by his deputy, Nuhu Bajoga, the governor noted that the scheme had impacted positively on the lives of the people, especially in the rural areas.

However, in Gombe State, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo offered automatic employment to 13 NYSC members who distinguished themselves in the service year.

The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the appointment included the 12 state merit awardees and the parade commander of the passing out parade ceremony.

The governor also announced N20,000 transport fares to each of the 720 youths, N500,000 to the overall best corps member and N1m to the soldiers that conducted the passing out parade ceremony.

Pastor abducts daughter, assaults lover

Ujiatolor

A man, who claimed to be the pastor of Prayer Mountain Ministries, Lagos, Olusola Adewunmi, has been accused of aggravated assault against his lover, Queen Ujiatolor, in the Onipanu area of Lagos State.

Although not legally married, the couple are said to have two children together. Their five-year relationship is said to have been fraught with domestic violence.

The victim layed in the hospital with her legs and hands bandaged while she was also placed on drip.

She said, “I met Adewunmi in 2009; he had just returned from Pakistan where he was said to have served a prison term. He told me he was a changed man and a pastor; I believed him.

“Soon after, we had a marriage introduction and our two families met and subsequently, we started living together.

“However, months into the relationship, he started beating me. Sometimes, he would use a belt or any object he found. After the beating, I would report to his parents and they would come begging me to forgive him.”

The victim alleged that even during pregnancy, Adewunmi did not stop the beating.

Ujiatolor said she was driven out of their home six months after she had put to bed.  A member of Adewunmi’s church allegedly took her place as the pastor’s new lover.

She said a year later, in 2012, the pastor came back to her for reconciliation and promised to wed her legally. However, this was not to be as the physical violence allegedly continued.

Ujiatolor claimed to have sustained a fracture in the process and was rushed to Regina Mundi Hospital, Mushin in Lagos.

The victim said their relationship got worse when the pastor told her that she must change her last name but she refused because they had not done a proper wedding. She was forced to move out of the home after the birth of the second child in May 2013.

Things allegedly took a turn for the worse on September 22, when Adewunmi forcefully abducted one of their children in her absence.

She said, “On that day, I was at a seminar in Ilupeju when he called me on the telephone, calling me a prostitute. He told me he had taken our older daughter and that I would never see her again. So, I went to his church and attempted to take her away. He hit me from behind and pushed me into a glass door. After he saw the extent of my injuries, he fled.”

The doctor, Gani Yahaya, said the victim sustained lacerations on her calf muscle and had splinters of glass in her wounds.

The incident was reported at the Alakara Police Division and later transferred to the Area D Command.

A non-governmental organisation, Project Alert on Violence Against Women, which took over Ujiatolor’s case, called on the police to take the case seriously.

The Director, Dr. Josephine Effa-Chukwuma, said, “We are appalled at the situation and no one should condone any form of domestic abuse. The police should also take the matter seriously rather than regarding it as a family affair.”

When contacted on the phone, Adewunmi said, “I cannot tell you if it is true or a lie. I have no comment and I don’t want to get involved in press matter.”

The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Damasus Ozoani, confirmed that the matter had been reported to the police and investigations were ongoing.

Two arrested for killing and dumping friend’s corpse in river

Two men have been arrested by the police in Ibadan for allegedly killing their friend and dumping his remains in a river.

The deceased, identified as Emmanuel Oluwaseyi,36, also known as King of Boys, lived at Ajadi area of Ologun-eru in Eleiyele, Ibadan, before his death.

Moruf Adetunji, 34, aka King of Arometa and Kehinde Akanni, 36, of Eleiyele area, were arrested after a caller informed the police of a corpse floating on Eleiyele Dam. The caller told the police that he discovered the body on October 5 and that he suspected that it must have been dumped by Adetunji and Akanni, who were last seen with the deceased.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Command, Olabisi Ilobannafor, told our correspondent on Thursday that Oluwaseyi must have died of complications resulting from an injury in his neck.

She said, “We received information about the discovery and quickly moved our men to the scene. The decomposing body of Oluwaseyi was floating on the dam when we got there. Information from the caller also revealed the possible hideout of the suspected killers. Our men combed the area and arrested two men in connection with the crime.”

The PPRO added, “They led us to the dam where we recovered the body. There was a clear sign of violence because Oluwaseyi had a deep gash in his neck and he must have died of the wound. Investigation is still ongoing.”

The deceased’s body was deposited at the morgue of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, for an autopsy, but his remains were said to have been released to his family for burial.

Ilobannefor called on the public to assist the police in ridding the society of criminals by giving information about suspicious activities in their communities.

“We need the people to succeed in our work. This would have been a complex case if the caller had shied away from calling on us,” she said.