Benin-Abuja road under seige, as kidnapers take passengers into captivity

 

The ever-busy Benin-Auchi road came under heavy attack early Thursday morning as gunmen suspected to be kidnappers laid siege to the road and kidnapped a sizable number of persons travelling on the route.

Benin-Auchi road from time immemorial had been a den of robbers, kidnappers and other criminal elements.

According to information gathered by DAILY POST on the latest incident, the gunmen were said to have first attacked a commercial bus at the Urhokosa/Obagie end of the road and abducted a number of passengers.

The suspected kidnappers, who were said to be in groups, got a group to lead the first set of the victims to the bush, en route the kidnappers’ den, while a second group caused the driver of the bus to use the vehicle to block the road.

A trailer driver, who saw the blockade and suspected that it might be for the sinister operation of the men of the underworld, was said to have refused to stop and rammed his articulated vehicle into the block, killing two of the passengers.

Other vehicles, which ran into the traffic jam, occasioned by the blockade, were attacked by another group of the kidnappers, who selected victims and marched them to join the earlier captured passengers.

A member of a vigilante group in the area, who acted bravely by confronting the gunmen, was shot dead by the kidnappers, according to an eyewitness, who narrowly escaped into the bush while the confusion reigned on the road as the gunmen operated without any challenge.

The escaped victim, who claimed that he had to abandon his vehicle to run into the bush, added that he met some other persons who also escaped in the bush, just as he said that the gunmen were shooting sporadically for a long time without any resistance from the security agents.

Efforts to reach the Edo Police Command authorities of the incident proved abortive as neither the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, nor the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, answered to the calls to his mobile phone.

- DAILY POST

UK approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for public use

 The UK has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for public use.

It is the first country to give its nod to the mass use of the vaccine.

In November, Pfizer announced that it had developed a vaccine that could offer 95 percent protection against COVID-19.

MHRA, the British health regulator, said the vaccine is safe for public use.

According to the BBC, the UK has placed an order for 40 million doses enough to vaccinate 20 million people — with two doses each.

Vaccination is scheduled to start within days in the country.

The vaccine is touted to be the fastest ever produced as it took 10 months to be developed.

The feat of Moderna, a US company, is another breakthrough story in the development of an effective vaccine against COVID-19.

The company had developed a vaccine that offers over 70 percent protection against the infection.

It is currently seeking the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration for a mass rollout of the vaccine.

So far, there are over 64 million cases of COVID-19 globally and with nearly 1.5 million deaths recorded.

- THECABLE

How SARS tortured two friends to death – Families cry out in Ogun

 

Policemen attached to the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have been accused of torturing two friends to death inside their popular Magbon office in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

DAILY POST learned that the two friends, Monsuru Bakare and Babatunde Ismaila were arrested in November 2018 by a team of SARS operatives led by one Inspector Adedeji Oladipupo for alleged robbery.

While the corpse of Bakare is still in the mortuary, Ismaila, it was gathered, had been buried, with the SARS operatives paying his burial expenses.

A brother to the late Bakare, Adekunle Bakare and the wife of his late friend, Rashidat Ismaila, both filed a petition before the Ogun State Judicial Panel of Investigation.

Adekunle Bakare told the panel that his brother was arrested and denied access to his family members, who he said did not know the reason for his detention at Magbon.

“On November 25, 2018, one officer KC called me to come to Magbon. When I got there, he told me my brother’s clothes were dirty, that I should bring another one. I went back the same day with another cloth. That was when I met their boss, SP Ubah, and he told me that my brother was dead. I cried and sought to know how he died. They took me to the mortuary at Ijaiye General Hospital to see his corpse. I saw wounds all over his body. He was tortured to death,” the bereaved brother told the Ogun judicial panel.  

Adekunle Bakare appealed to the panel to help in releasing the body of his brother for burial, saying the police had refused to do so despite appeals from the family.

But, the accused police officer, Adedeji Oladipupo, countered Bakare during cross-examination, saying he had called him to come for the corpse of his brother.

While explaining the circumstances surrounding the death of her own husband, Rashidat Ismaila told the panel that the same team of SARS operatives invaded her house around 1am on November 19, 2018, with Bakare, claiming that the two friends were in possession of a gun.

Rashidat said the policemen took her husband away, even when they could not find a gun in their room.

“I made several efforts to see my husband but I was denied access to him. A few days later, I was called by one officer John Jagaban that my husband was in a coma and he had been taken to the hospital. When I saw him at the hospital, I could see he was tortured and burnt with hot pressing iron.

“After about two months in a coma he was moved from the ICU to the normal ward by the doctor, but nothing had changed. Later, blood and pus started coming out from his private parts and he eventually died on January 31, 2019,” the widow submitted.

She appealed to the panel to get her justice for the “unlawful killing” of her husband.

- DAILY POST

4 killed in building blast near Bristol

 A large blast at a water treatment site on the outskirts of Bristol in England killed four workers and injured a fifth, emergency services said on Thursday.

“Sadly, despite the best efforts of all those involved, we can confirm that there have been four fatalities,” Chief Inspector Mark Runacres of Avon and Somerset Police told reporters outside the site in Avonmouth in southwest England.

Three of the dead were workers at Wessex Water, which operates the plant, while the fourth was a contractor.

The fifth person injured is not in a life-threatening condition.

Police said emergency services had contacted the victims’ families, and that there was no connection to terrorism or any ongoing threat to people living nearby.

The blast occurred in a silo containing what Runacres called “treated biosolids” intended for use as fertiliser.

Government health and safety officials would conduct an investigation into the exact cause of the explosion, he added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement on social media that he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the deaths and thanked emergency services for their response.

Luke Gazzard, a senior manager at Avon Fire and Rescue Service, described the scene as “a very challenging incident”.

Since 2002 Wessex Water has been owned by the Malaysian company YTL Power International.

- PM NEWS

‘Criminal gangs planning to supply fake COVID-19 vaccine’ — Interpol raises the alarm

 

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has raised the alarm over plans to sell fake COVID-19 vaccines, thereby disrupting the supply chain and endangering lives.

Globally, 65 million COVID-19 cases have been recorded with nearly 1.5 million deaths.

In Nigeria, over 67,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed with more than 1,100 deaths according to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Successes have been recorded on vaccine production globally, as the United Kingdom has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for public use.

On Wednesday, in a statement titled “Interpol Warns of Organised Crime Threat to COVID-19 Vaccines”, Jürgen Stock, Interpol secretary-general, said law enforcement agencies in various countries must be at alert.

He said the criminal gangs will target unsuspecting members of the public via fake websites and false cures.

“As governments are preparing to roll out vaccines, criminal organisations are planning to infiltrate or disrupt supply chains,” the statement reads.

“Criminal networks will also be targeting unsuspecting members of the public via fake websites and false cures, which could pose a significant risk to their health, even their lives.

“It is essential that law enforcement is as prepared as possible for what will be an onslaught of all types of criminal activity linked to the COVID-19 vaccine, which is why Interpol has issued this global warning.”

The global police organisation said an analysis by its cybercrime unit revealed that of 3,000 websites associated with online pharmacies suspected of selling illicit medicines and medical devices, around 1,700 contained cyber threats, especially phishing and spamming malware.

It urged members of the public to adopt caution during online searches for medical equipment or medicines.

- THECABLE

End SARS: Huriwa slams IG Adamu, as Police file suit to stop judicial panels

 

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has slammed the Inspector General of Police over what it termed “open and brazen disobedience and disloyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari” who gave clear directive and instruction openly and publicly to the state governments in Nigeria to constitute judicial panels of inquiry into police brutality, which was the basis of the End SARS protests.

The group in a statement on Thursday, described the decision of the police high command under the headship of Mohammed Adamu to institute a suit at the Federal High Court seeking to abort the proceedings at the different judicial panels of inquiry in different states of the Federation, as disgraceful, and a direct affront to the authority of the President of Nigeria and an unmitigated desecration of the Constitution.

HURIWA stated that it is irresponsible, insanely irrational, and senseless for the IGP to deep his hands into the public to file a case against the same public – his employers, adding that the Nigerian people are the employers of the police.

According to the association, “It is an indescribable disgrace that the IGP wants the court of law to stop the victims of police brutality from ventilating their grievances before the properly constituted judicial panel of inquiry.”

“So, what is the IGP afraid of or are his hands stained with the blood of the innocent citizens killed over the many years by Special Anti-Robbery squad of the Nigeria Police Force?

“Why is the IGP scared of the truth that are coming out from the panels of inquiry and why does he not want the victims of police brutality to obtain justice?

“The suit instituted at the Federal High Court by the IGP is provocative, unconstitutional, illegal, primitive, despicable and must be withdrawn forthwith or the IGP must be asked to refund the money used to institute the matter and be fired.

“The IGP will have to state if the instruction to go to court was given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari in which case Nigerians will have to see that the President is not honest about changing the status quo of policing which is deeply enmeshed in the use of torture and extralegal executions.

“This frivolous suit shows that the police hierarchy indeed supports the use of torture and extrajudicial killings by operatives of the Nigerian police,” the statement said.

- DAILY POST

Village head killed, eight others abducted by Zamfara bandits

 

An attack by bandits in the Gwaram community, Talatan Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State has left the village head dead and eight others abducted.

Zamfara State Police Command spokesperson Superintendent Shehu Mohammed confirmed the attack.

He said one of the abducted victims is the wife of the District head, Musa Makeri, who is also the former ward chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mohammed said the Village Head was shot dead after refusing to be kidnapped by the bandits.

- PM NEWS

JUNGLE !!! #EndSARS: Police seek court order to stop state judicial panels

 

The Nigeria Police Force have filed a suit in a federal high court in Abuja praying the court to stop the judicial panels of inquiry set up by state governors to probe police atrocities.

The suit was filed by NPF lawyer, Mr. O. M. Atoyebi.

It claims that state governors do not have the power to constitute the panels to investigate activities of the police force and its officials as they conducted their statutory duties.

In the suit marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/1492/2020, the police asked the court to restrain the Attorneys-General of the 36 states of the federation and panels of inquiry from going ahead with the probe focussing on police brutality.

The police claimed that the panels violated the provisions of section 241(1)(2)(a) and Item 45, Part 1, First Schedule to the Constitution and Section 21 of the Tribunals of Inquiry Act.

It argued that by the provisions of 241(1)(2)(a) and Item 45, Part 1, First Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution only the Federal Government has exclusive power to “organise, control and administer the Nigeria Police Force”.

The NPF said the action of the State Governors “is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”

Although the case was listed for December 3, it has been rescheduled for December 18 as the court where the matter was listed did not sit.

Amidst the #EndSARS protests, the National Economic Council (NEC) directed state governors to establish judicial panels across the country.

The move was to deliver justice for all victims of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other police units.

- PM NEWS

Ibrahim Shekarau: Buhari is breaking the law by keeping service chiefs

 Ibrahim Shekarau, senator representing Kano central, says President Muhammadu Buhari is breaking the law by keeping the service chiefs beyond their years of service.

There have been renewed calls for the president to sack the nation’s service chiefs amid the growing security challenges across the country.

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Thursday, Shekarau said the service chiefs ought to go when they are 60 years of age or when they complete 35 years of service.

The former governor of Kano state said the service chiefs are public servants and should be treated like their counterparts in the service.

“He (Buhari) is breaking the law. The law says if you are 60 you must go, it is so automatic. If you are 35 years of service, you must go. In fact, they are not staff of the president, they are staff of the federal republic of Nigeria and there is a rule, it is just like in the civil service. If you are an ordinary civil servant and you hit 60 years, automatically you must go”, he said.

“The president hasn’t the right to extend beyond what the law says, that is the rule of law.

“The issue of this sacking of the service chief; it has been on for almost two to three years now. There is one point I think the presidency is missing and the public has not been brought on to it.

“Before you get to the point of whether they are performing or not performing, there is a question of rule of law. The military is one of several public services. It is governed by laws, by scheme of service as we call it. In the scheme of service as it is all over in public service including the military, there are conditions on when to leave automatically. You either attain the age of 60 or put into service for 35 years. Whichever comes first, you are supposed to retire all of them. None of them have less than 35. I think the chief of defence staff has put in 39 years of service. All of them except the chief of defence staff who is 58 now, all of them are more than 60 and the chief of air staff has put in about 37 years, chief of naval staff has put in about 41 years.

“What we are saying is that even if Mr president has found them indispensable; allow them to retire just like any public service as the rule specify and you can hire them as minister of defence, adviser on defence, national security adviser (NSA) or whatever.

“You see, there is a difference between you are still within the service period and the president can keep you as long as he so wishes. If you are 50 and have put in 25 years of service which means you have 10 more years to go. If you are chief of army staff, for the next 10 years the president is at his own pleasure to keep you. But automatically if you hit 60 years, you must go. If you hit 35 years of service, you must go. This is within the scheme of service. So as far as I am concerned, there is rule of law, we should respect the law before you even talk of whether they are performing or not.”

- THECABLE

ALOOTER CONTINUA !!! Boko Haram: Insurgency, terrorism may continue for 20 years – Buratai

 The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has hinted that insurgency and terrorism may continue in Nigeria for another 20 years.

Buratai made the remark on his verified Facebook handle few days after Boko Haram massacred rice farmers in Borno State.

Boko Haram had beheaded about 110 rice farmers in Zabarmari, Jere Local Government Area of Borno State.

However, Buratai noted that Nigerians generally misunderstand what insurgency and terrorism mean.

According to the Army boss: “There is general misunderstanding of what insurgency and terrorism entail. There is likelihood of terrorism persisting in Nigeria for another 20 years.

“Citizens responsibility is equally important and imperative. All must cooperate to contain the lingering insecurity. Let there be collective action and responsibility.”

- DAILY POST

Court sends serial Facebook hacker to prison

 

Justice Agatha Okeke of the Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has remanded one Vincent Harrison Chukwuemeka, an alleged serial Facebook hacker, in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service following his arraignment on one count charge of fraud to the tune of N407, 000 fraud.

Trouble started for Chukwuemeka when a certain Felicity Felix Ekpezu petitioned the Commission on January 5, 2020, alleging that on December 26, 2019, she received strange chats on WhatsApp from the accused who claimed to be a female representative of Facebook and WhatsApp from the United States of America, by name Lisa.

The complainant alleged that the defendant informed her that she had won $971 (Nine hundred and seventy-one United States Dollars) and an iPhone 6s, and requested her to pay N407, 000 (Four hundred and seven thousand naira) to redeem the items. But after making the payment to the defendant, the complainant said she started receiving calls from her friends and family members who accused her of duping them using her Facebook account.

According to the complainant, it was at this point that it dawned on her that “Lisa” had hacked her Facebook account and duped her friends and family members.

The defendant who was arrested on October 17, 2020, in his apartment at Ogidi Local government area of Anambra state, and confessed to the crime.

The one-count charge against Chukwuemeka reads; “That you Vincent Harrison Chukwuemeka “M” on or about the 26th of December, 2019 at Uyo within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud did obtain the total sum of N407, 000.00 (Four hundred and seven thousand naira only) from one Felicity Felix Ekpezu “F” under the pretence that you are Lisa a representative of Facebook/WhatsApp and that the said Felicity Felix Ekpezu had won $971 and an iPhone 6s thereby requesting her to pay some money into your account in order to redeem the prize she won which she did, a pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.

The defendant pleaded “not guilty”.

In view of his plea, Nwandu Ukoha, counsel for the EFCC prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service.

- PM NEWS

Amotekun arrests ‘killers’ of Ondo monarch

 

The Ondo state chapter of the Western Nigeria Security Network, Amotekun, says it arrested some suspects involved in the killing of Israel Adeusi, the Olufon of Ifon in Ose local government area of the state.

Adetunji Adeleye, commander of the state’s Amotekun corps, disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the Akure office of the security network.

Adeusi was shot dead on November 26 at Elegbeka, a few kilometers from Owo town on his way from a meeting of monarchs in Akure, the state capital.

According to Adeleye, the suspects were arrested by a combined team of security operatives that stormed Elegbaka forest after the incident.

He said three victims were rescued from their abductors in the forest during the search.

He said the corps launched “Operation Clean Up,” on Tuesday and has secured the arrest of over 15 criminal suspects in Akure and its environs.

“We combed the forest in Elegbeka and we are able to arrest some suspects and they are undergoing interrogation. We rescued three victims from the Elegbeka forest on the same night that the traditional ruler of Ifon was killed,” Adeleye said.

“On the recent kidnap in the state, our men, in collaboration with the conventional security agencies, local hunters, vigilantes and the OPC went into the forest and we were able to make some arrests and those arrested are undergoing various levels of interrogation

“In the past few weeks, Ondo State had witnessed increase in kidnappings, armed robbery and men of the Amotekun Corps went into action in collaboration with other security agencies.

“We observed a downward trend after banning motorcyclist (okada) at night so we had to change tactics. That was why we launched the Operation Clean Up, which is intense patrol across the nook and crannies of Akure and other parts of the state.

“We arrested about 15 suspects during the ‘Operation Clean Up’ that we commenced yesterday (Tuesday). Most of these criminals would be turned over to the conventional security agencies for prosecution where necessary.”

Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo governor, said the state is in a serious security crisis.

- THECABLE

Obinwanne Okeke Yahoo Yahoo Big Boy forfeits N235.4m to FG

 

Obinwanne Okeke: forfeits N235m to FG

Yahoo Yahoo Big Boy and Invictus Group CEO, Obinwanne Okeke has finally forfeited N235. 45m seized in his account to the Nigerian government.

Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos made the final forfeiture order against the convicted fraudster on Wednesday.

Liman had on 23 March ordered the interim forfeiture of the money domiciled in First City Monument Bank.

This followed an ex parte application dated 18 December 2019 filed by the Lagos Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In granting the interim forfeiture order, the Judge ordered the Commission to advertise same in any national newspaper for anyone to show cause why the said money should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Following the publication of the order in a national newspaper, the Commission, on June 2, 2020, filed a Motion on Notice seeking the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.

During the proceedings on November 12, 2020, counsel to the Commission, I. Sulaiman, urged the court to grant his prayers for final forfeiture of the money, which is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.

In his ruling, Justice Liman granted the applicant’s prayers and also ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.

Okeke, who is the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Invictus Group, was arrested sometime in August 2019 in the United States of America, USA, and charged with two counts of computer fraud and wire fraud

He pleaded guilty to the charge in a trial in US District Court in Norfolk Virginia.

His sentencing was initially fixed for 22 October, but was postponed till 16 February 2021.

The 36 year-old scammer faces up to 20 years in jail and $250,000 in fines.

As a scammer, Okeke was involved in business email compromise.

In one of such scams, he defrauded UK based UNATRAC Holding, a subsidiary of American company Caterpillar of $11million via spurious wire transfers.

In June 2018, representatives of Unatrac Holding Limited contacted the FBI.

Okeke was arrested on 6 August 2019, during a visit to the United States.

Before his arrest, Forbes listed him as one of the influential young entrepreneurs in Africa.

- PM NEWS

Buhari feels no empathy, Nigerians are dying – Northern Elders Forum

 

Northern Elders Forum, NEF has said President Muhammadu has no empathy and has failed to recognise that Nigerians are scared and dying.

The Spokesman of the group, Hakeem Baba Ahmed said this while speaking with Channels Tv over the increasing rate of insecurity in Nigeria.

He said the Presidency keeps telling Nigerians to pray but has failed to do anything serious about the killings in the country especially in the North.

“I feel sorry for the president, if he does not do anything and we just hear excuses then we are in serious trouble.

“The Presidency does not feel empathy. We don’t see a presidency who recognises the fact that we have serious problems but all we hear is we should pray.

“We are praying that God shows Buhari the way to fix the country. As northerners we are dying and Southerners are being killed.

“Buhari needs to do something serious, we measure him by just one thing and that is ‘What is the outcome of your commitment’ the country has become so dangerous to live in.

“How many have to die before Buhari do something serious? Ahmed questioned.

- DAILY POST