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Three Kidnappers Killed By Police In Delta

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Three Kidnappers Killed By Police In Delta
Jessica Tamaraduoye, Asaba
The police in Delta State have shot and killed three suspected members of a kidnap gang including a 21-year-old student of Business Administration of the Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku.

The suspects killed are Eze Ogugua, a 24-year-old interior decorator,  24-year-old Onyema Biggy and Lucky Onochie.

The three suspects were allegedly shot dead by the Police during a shoot-out along Ogwashi-Uku/Issele-Azagba Road.

According to the Command’s acting public relations officer, Charles Muka, a deputy superintendent of Police, Onyema who leads the group, had organized his partners to kidnap his 81-year-old relative, Young Norbert Okafor, on January 16, 2014 while he was going for morning mass.

He said Okafor was seized at his compound by five gunmen who bundled him into his dark ash-coloured Mercedes Benz car with registration number BF 499 KTU and whisked his to an unknown destination.

Muka told journalists that the suspected kidnappers initially demanded for the sum of N16 million from the family members, which they later reduced to N850, 000 during negotiation.

He said the police, acting on information, engaged the unsuspected kidnappers in a fierce gun duel at the point of collecting the ransom, leading to the death of all the three suspects.

The Force PRO however, said that the suspects had made confessional statements about their respective roles in the kidnap saga before they were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Asaba where they were later confirmed dead.

Meanwhile, irate youths in Ogwashi-Uku went on rampage to the residents of the deceased suspects and razed their properties.

The Police urged the youths not to take the laws into their hands, warning that those caught would be dealt with according to the law.

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Divided Senate Summons Police IG Over Rivers Crisis

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Divided Senate Summons Police IG Over Rivers Crisis

The Senate has summoned the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, to brief it on the crisis that erupted during a rally in Rivers State on January 12, that led to the alleged shooting of a senator, Magnus Abe.

In a voice vote, however, the lawmakers rejected the call for the redeployment of the state commissioner of police, Joseph Mbu, and the condemnation of the state police command for allegedly ordering the shooting of Abe.

Before reading out the resolutions of the House to members of the Red Chamber, Senate President David Mark frowned at the series of crisis that has continually placed the state in the spotlight politically.

“What is happening in Rivers is clearly unacceptable and must be condemned irrespective of who is behind it. The Senate must take immediate step to protect democracy and we must ensure that Rivers State gets back to the right,” Mark said.

He assured that the National Assembly would do everything to defend democracy – “Let no one be in doubt that we are committed to defending the voiceless in the country,” he said.

Earlier, three senators – James Manager, Ahmed Lawan and  Abdulkadir Jajere – were engaged in heated arguments following a debate on a motion raised by Wilson Ake and 48 others, which nearly degenerated into fisticuffs but for the intervention of the Senate President.

Ake had in the motion sought four prayers including resolution of the Senate to condemn what he termed “unjustifiable disruption and interruption” of the rally by men of the Rivers State police command, occasioned by sporadic shootings on January 21.

He also wanted the Senate to immediately put in motion the implementation of an earlier resolution calling for the redeployment of Mbu, without any further delay.

Another prayer was for the Senate to invite the IG to brief the House on the issue and give situation report on the state crisis.

The motion also condemned the Rivers State Police Command for ordering the shooting of Abe and other victims of the attack on January 12, at Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Port Harcourt.

Another lawmaker from Rivers State, George Sekibo, however, stressed the need for the Senate to investigate the matter before making conclusions and suggested that a delegation of the Senate sent to visit their ailing colleague at a London hospital where he is admitted, should inform the house on the position of his health so that it can take informed decisions.

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20 PDP Lawmakers In Kwara State Defect To APC

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20 PDP Lawmakers In Kwara State Defect To APC

Twenty members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kwara State on Wednesday defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, citing the crisis within the ruling party as reason for their defection.

The lawmakers said their decision to leave the PDP was made without thorough evaluation and extensive consultations with elders and the electorates in their constituencies.

Speaker Rasaq Atunwa, who announced the defection of the members in a letter read during Wednesday’s plenary, said the defection was in consonance with the provision of Section 109 sub- section 1 and G of the Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.

The defectors led by principal officers of the House stood up one after the other to confirm their decision to join APC. Three of the them who were absent during the session were represented by their colleagues.

The two APC members in the House before Wednesday’s mass defection, Hassan Oyeleke and Tope Olayonu expressed happiness over their colleagues’ decision to join their party.

They described the action of their colleagues as unprecedented in the history of the legislative arm of the House.

With the decampment, the Assembly now has 22 APC members out of  24  lawmakers.

Non Indigenes Get Free Education In Nasarawa

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Non Indigenes Get Free Education In Nasarawa

By Godwin Ojoshimite, Lafia

Nasarawa State government Wednesday said children of non-indigenes resident in the state have been considered in the free education programme recently introduced by governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.

State commissioner for education, Sani Yakubu Hauwa, dropped this hint while  interacting with journalists in his office in Lafia, the state capital.

He explained that this action is in line with the governor’s appreciation of the plight of the less privilege members of the society, including non-indigenes.

“They are residence in Nasarawa state, hence we felt there is cause to provide it for them too,” he stated.

He added:“For the provision of the free education, we take into cognisance the total  number of students in the state’s schools irrespective of where they come from. I think this is the first time any state in Nigeria is doing that,” he observed.

Hauwa stated further that “to us they are truly here and our assumption is that if they are resident in Nasarawa state and they found our schools worthy for their children to pass through, Nasarawa state government is ever ready to provide it for them”.

He also berated school principals collecting tution fees from students, warning that sanctions await anyone of them caught in the act.

Fire Guts Three-Storey Building In Abuja

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Fire Guts Three-Storey Building In Abuja

By Kevwe Ebireri

A fire has gutted a three-story building opposite the Cyprian Ekwensi house (Arts and Culture Centre), Area 10, Garki, Abuja.

The building houses a branch of the Union Bank (ground floor), an exquisite furniture showroom and a photography workshop on the top floor, amongst other businesses.

More than 30 minutes after the fire started, the fire service which is just about 200 meters from the scene was yet to arrive as the fire spread uncontrollably.

When fire fighters eventually arrived, they were ill-prepared to match the raging inferno which had then consumed the first two floors and ran out of water in less than five minutes.

The crowd that gathered around to watch the destruction, angrily criticised the fire fighters for their incompetetence and booed at the emergency vehicles that paraded the areas at top speed.

Some hoodlums, however, were seen trying to break into the Union Bank on the ground floor, obviously to loot what they could before the fire ravaged the offices.

The cause of the fire is not known but its was first sighted at the top floor that housed the photography workshop for photo frames and the like.

The fire quickly spread due to the materials used in the workshop which are believed to be highly flammable.

There was huge traffic in the area due to the incident as vehicles were prevented from plying the roads closest to the burning building.

Policeman To Die By Hanging For Killing 20-Year-Old

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Policeman To Die By Hanging For Killing 20-Year-Old

A policeman, Mathew Egheghe, attached to the Bayelsa State Police Command is to die by hanging for killing a 20-year-old man, Victor Emmanuel.

Egheghe shot Emmanuel at a checkpoint on Sani Abacha Expressway, Yenagoa on October 16, 2011.

After a protracted legal battle spear-headed by the mother of the deceased, Grace, and human rights activists, a Bayelsa High Court in Nembe found Egheghe guilty of murder.

The court, presided over by Justice Lucky Boufili, however, discharged and acquitted two other men who were also charged with the offence.

The two men, Lucky Oberemelu and John Imeh, were acquitted by the judge for failure of the prosecution to directly link them with the murder.

Boufili held that the bullets that eventually killed Emmanuel were fired by Egheghe.

“The pathologist certified the cause of death to multiple gunshot injuries,” he said, adding that five of the bullets hit the deceased in the head.

The judge gave the sentence after listening to pleas for leniency from Egheghe’s counsel.

“I have listened to the pleas of the defence counsel but the second accused person deserved a sentence to die by hanging,” he said.

In another development, a mobile police officer in Bayelsa State has been shot to death in error by a member of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, during a shoot-out with armed robbers in Yenagoa.

The Police public relations officer in the state, Alex Akhigbe, who confirmed the incident, described the death of the policeman an unfortunate.

“They were colleagues attached to the state special security outfit known as Operation Door Akpor.

The police received a distress call on Monday night that armed robbers had attacked a popular petrol station at Edepie Roundabout in the state capital.

“When the patrol team got there, the robbers opened fire on sighting the police van. So, there was a shoot-out and in the process, the NSCDC personnel mistakenly shot his patrol team colleague,” Akhigbe said.

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Facebook Fraudster Nabbed By EFCC

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Facebook Fraudster Nabbed By EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is set to arraign a 34 year-old graduate of the Lagos State University, Anthony Ezechukwu, who allegedly used the names of political figures to dupe unsuspecting members of the public via Facebook.

Ezechukwu was said to have cloned the Facebook accounts of the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the wife of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Aisha Bala Muhammed, wife of the Lagos State governor, Abimbola Fashola as well as the director of the Abuja Geographical Information Systems, AGIS, Jamilah Tangaza and cleverly used them to solicit for funds from members of the public.

According to a statement from the EFCC, once Ezechukwu successfully opened a Facebook account with the false identity, he sends out messages and soon requests for friendship flooded his account.

“He exploited the frenzy by the unwary Facebook crowd that wanted to be friends with a first lady, by directing some of them to meet with ‘her personal assistant’, who in turn demanded for various sums of money from them in order to connect them with influential people in government and the society,” the statement said.

On the Facebook account he opened using the name and photograph of Okonjo-Iweala, the suspect claimed he had job offers and directed interested job seekers to her schedule officer for subsequent payments into a designated bank account.

However, luck ran out on him when he cloned Tangaza’s Facebook account and set about using her office to exploit those desperate to own land or houses in Abuja, by making them pay up to N100,000 to access soft loans worth N10 million being given to Nigerians by the FCT administration.

The message he posted on the Facebook account read: “In my certified, endorsed and approved capacity, as the director general of Abuja Geographical Information system, AGIS, officially appointed by FCT minister (Senator Bala Mohammed) and his administration on presidency acceptance and approvals (sic) to take control of all lands and houses sales (sic) in FCT Abuja. Then I warned, using this medium to advised (sic) the general public those who wish to buy land and houses in FCT Abuja to channel all there inquiries, consultation and payment to me…”

The poorly constructed message notwithstanding, this bait still managed to hoodwink many gullible Nigerians, one of them being a certain Usman Ahmed who paid the sum of N100, 000 into a designed account with a new generation bank.

Ezechukwu was, however, nabbed following a complaint by Tangaza and he is currently assisting investigators probing the scam.

The commission says he will be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is concluded and has warned members of the public to be wary of relationships on the social media where solicitations for funds are made.

Tukur Chairs NRC Board, As Obanikoro, Boni Haruna Make Ministerial List

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Tukur Chairs NRC Board, As Obanikoro, Boni Haruna Make Ministerial List

In prompt fulfilment of his promise to give him another job, President Goodluck Jonathan has appointed the immediate past national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, to chair the board of the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC.

Jonathan also today sent a list of ten persons to the National Assembly for screening as ministers.

This is contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Anyim Pius Anyim.

Tukur, 79, had resigned his position as the national chairman of the ruling party on January 15 and has since been replaced by former governor of Bauchi State, Adamu Muazu.

According to the statement, the president also approved the appointment of Ghaji Ismaila Bello as the Director-General, National Population Commission with effect from January 8, 2014.

Those on the ministerial list include Musiliu Obanikoro, (Lagos) former governorship candidate of the PDP in Lagos and Nigerian ambassador to Ghana; Boni Haruna, former governor of Adamawa (Adamawa); Mohammed Wakil (Borno), Jamila Salik (Kano), Akon Eyakenyi (Akwa Ibom), Aminu Wali (Kano) and  W. Danagogo (Rivers).
Others are Asabe Ahmed (Niger), Abduljelili Adesiyan (Osun), Lawrencia Mallam (Kaduna), Aliu Gusau (Zamfara) and Khaliru Alhassan (Sokoto).

The Assembly also received for confirmation the names of the newly appointed service chiefs – Air Marshal Alex Badeh (Chief of Defence Staff), Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu (Chief of Air Staff), Major-General Kenneth Minimah (Chief of Army Staff) and Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin (Chief of Naval Staff) – from the President for confirmation in compliance with Section 18(1) of the Armed Forces Act.

Jonathan expressed hope that the Senate would treat the requests expeditiously.

Edo Lawmaker Walked Out Of House For Improper Dressing

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Edo Lawmaker Walked Out Of House For Improper Dressing

From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

A member of the Edo State House of Assembly, Patrick Osayimen (APC Oredo East) was walked out of the chamber for what the Speaker of the House referred to as improper dressing.

The lawmaker who appeared on the floor of the House in traditional attire, was prevented from taking part in Monday’s plenary as the Majority Leader of the House, Philip Shuaibu (APC Etsako west 2 ), challenged him for wearing traditional beads to the chamber.

Shuaibu argued that while it was proper that lawmakers project the cultural heritage of the people, the lawmaker was however not supposed to come to the hallowed chambers in beads.

In defending his appearance, Osayimen argued that there was nothing unusual about his dress as “a typical Benin man representing Oredo people in Edo, the heartbeat of Nigeria.”

However, when the Speaker, Uyigue Igbe, put the matter to vote, majority of the lawmakers showed disapproval for his dressing and that ultimately sent his home.

It is not the first time that the legislature’s dressing had raised eyebrows in the Assembly.
It would be recalled that at a special session held late last year to enable Governor Adams Oshiomole to present the 2014 Appropriation Bill, Shuaibu had also raised concerns over Osayimen’s dressing.

Murdered Nigerian Student’s Parent Warn Against Studying In Cyprus Varsity

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Murdered Nigerian Student’s Parent Warn Against Studying In Cyprus Varsity

By Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

The bereaved parent of 20-year-old Gabriel Peremiyentei Sorowei, a 100-level Electrical/Electronic Engineering student of Cyprus International University, in North Cyprus, who was allegedly killed by a drunken woman driver, has warned Nigerians to be wary of the institution.

Patrick Dubamini Sorowei, father of the deceased gave the warning Tuesday in Benin while addressing journalists over the death of his son, alleging that the university was not among the tertiary institutions on the country’s ministry of education list.

Sorowei said he was briefed by staff of the school last Saturday that his son had been hit down by a drunken woman-driver on July 13, 2013 and eventually died on September 7, 2013 but that the government of the area where his son lived which is governed by Turkish Republic is shielding his son’s killer as it has refused him access to her neither has it prosecuted her.

“I demanded to see the woman that knocked down my son, but the Turkish police bluntly refused. My contact in the place said the police is doing nothing about the matter. The authorities of the Cyprus International University sent Gabriel’s corpse to Nigeria as a cargo on September 12, 2013 without his belongings.

The father said following the intervention by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Diaspora, the University sent about half of his son’s belongings to Nigeria in December 2013.

“A bank statement of my boy’s account showed that while the boy was involved in the accident on the July 13, 2013 and was in coma, between July 15, 2013 and July 16, 2013, the entire money in the boy’s account had been withdrawn, meanwhile, his ATM card was with the Nicosia Police,” he alleged.

Sorowei said he was sharing his story to serve as deterrent to other parents whose children were running various programmes at the university, as there were about 700 Nigerians in the school.

“As I am talking to you, we have over 700 Nigerian students in the school and more could still be going. We have to do everything to stop them. We are informing Nigerians that the place is dangerous. Politically, that country is not recognized by any nation,” he warned.

Chairman, House committee on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri, had drawn the attention of Nigerians to a suspicious move by the authorities of the Cyprus International University, to lure Nigerian students to the university.

She noted that apart from Sorowei , a Bayelsa born Musician, Stanley Ateimo, was also murdered on August 12, 2013 because of a disagreement he had with a white student over a girl in Nicosia.

“The team from Cyprus International University, Nicosia, North Cyprus held a seminar at Rockview Hotel on January 14, 2014 to lure Nigerian students to their university and they are currently heading to Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Uyo. They left out Benin and Bayelsa because the late Soriwe is from Benin and Stanley is from Bayelsa State,” she said.

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