Crime Facts

My purported detention by EFCC, falsehood fabricated from pit of hell ― Akpabio

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has described his purported detention by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC over alleged attempt to bribe the agency’s Chairman with $350,000 as false, fake and unfounded. Akpabio, who stated this while reacting to a report published by an online medium, to the extent that he was detained by the anti-graft agency for two hours after an attempt bribery allegation, said the report was falsehood peddled by the authors of the false and malicious publications. The minister, therefore, urged the general public to discountenance the said publication as ‘It was propelled by persons whose stock-in-trade is politics of blackmail now occasioned by the very serious progress made in respect of the on-going Forensic Audit of the NDDC.” Senator Akpabio noted via a statatment issued by his media aide, Anietie Ekong on Saturday in Abuja, that, ”The attention of the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, CON has been drawn to a defamatory article written by SAHARA REPORTERS titled: “How EFCC detained Godswill Akpabio for two hours after attempting to bribe Agency Chairman with $350,000.” ”For the information of the general public, the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio has no reason to offer bribe to the new Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa and never did. ”On Wednesday, April 14, 2021 the Honourable Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio through a telephone call sought audience with the new Chairman of the EFCC to discuss the transfer of funds belonging to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in respect of the 3% statutory remittances from Oil and Gas Companies in the custody of the EFCC. ”President Muhammadu Buhari had since December 2020 approved the transfer of monies earlier paid by International Oil Companies into the CBN/EFCC account now to be transferred to the CBN/NDDC account. ”The Distinguished Chairman granted the request for 10.00 am but due to other exigencies, the Honourable Minister requested for a change of time to 11.30 am whereupon the Chairman amended the request to 12noon due to his busy schedule. ” The two Senior Officials met and had a robust discussion and the Honourable Minister received very intelligent and useful input from the EFCC Chairman, Abdulrashed Bawa on the ongoing forensic audit of the NDDC. ”However, the discussion was inconclusive since the Minister needed to attend a security meeting with select South-South/South-East leaders and Governors in the Office of the National Security Adviser then slated for 1.30 pm of the same day. Both Officials resolved to reconvene same day by 5.00pm to conclude their interactions. ”The Honourable Minister returned to the office of the EFCC Chairman at about 5.45pm and departed thereafter at about 6.20pm after very resourceful deliberations. ”There was no issue of detention and Senator Akpabio could not have carried $350,000 into the office of the Chairman of the EFCC as he went there without a bag or a container. ”’The EFCC Chairman Bawa gave useful and intelligent advice on the methodology of achieving success in the ongoing forensic audit of the NDDC. The Honourable Minister sought the cooperation of the EFCC to actualize recoveries of further 3% levies due to the Commission still being owed by some Oil and Gas Companies. ”The meeting between the duo was not arranged by the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN and for the umpteenth time, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs did not bribe the Honourable Attorney-General with $5 million as alleged to get Mr. Effiong Akwa elevated to the position of the Interim Administrator of the NDDC. ”It could be recalled that the appointment of Mr. Effiong Akwa was duly made by Mr. President in obedience to an exparte order of court in suit number ABJ/CS/616/2020, before the Federal High Court, Abuja which restrained named Members of the Interim Management of the NDDC from carrying out their duties until the application for an order of Mandamus was argued and disposed off. ” In that suit, the Court had ordered that the headship of the NDDC should be handed over to the most Senior Director pending the conclusion of the suit. ”The most Senior Director at that time happened to be Mr. Effiong Akwa, who, months earlier had replaced the late Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Chief Bassey Etang who passed on in May 2020 after a brief illness, and the originators of the suit did not replace the late Chief Etang with Mr. Akwa as a party in the suit hence his emergence as the Interim Administrator. ”How then does the name of the respected Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN come into the appointment of the Interim Administrator that was clearly a child of circumstance? ”The above explanation is to disabuse the minds of the general public against the falsehood peddled by the authors of the false and malicious publications. ”The general public is hereby advised to discountenance the said publication as it is propelled by persons whose stock-in-trade is politics of blackmail now occasioned by the very serious progress made in respect of the ongoing Forensic Audit of the NDDC.”

Kaduna Abduction: Buhari Condemns ‘Barbaric Terror Attacks’, Killing Of Three Students

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killing of three students of the Greenfield University in Kaduna State by bandits, describing the incident as barbaric. The President in a statement issued on Saturday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the bright youngsters were cut down by evil people in their prime. “My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace,” President Buhari was quoted as saying. He extended his condolences and that of the Federal Government to the relatives, associates of the murdered students and the Kaduna State Government. While lamenting the recurring incidents of kidnappings and killings, President Buhari described as “unfortunate the tenor of some political and religious leaders that seem to further incite and stoke the pain and anguish of mourning families who are forced to confront these tragedies.” “Addressing this scourge requires a great show of empathy and coming together as a society to squarely confront these elements and the danger it poses to our democracy and peaceful life in the country.” He gave strong assurances that those who think that profits can be made, either from money paid as ransom or in politics, “will suffer from an equal measure of recompense under the full weight of the law for their wickedness and brutality.” President Buhari also reassured his administration’s commitment to tackling the numerous security challenges in the country, noting that “Banditry, kidnapping and the politics of murders will be fought with all the resources available to our country.” His reaction comes barely 24 hours after the three students of the Greenfield University were discovered dead. The students were among those that were abducted by bandits from the private university located along the Kaduna- Abuja highway on April 20. The armed bandits on Tuesday night kidnapped an unspecified number of students at the institution located at Kasarami village off Kaduna-Abuja Road in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State. Eyewitnesses had said the gunmen stormed the university and started shooting sporadically, before taking some of the students away. The locals said that the university with about forty students population does not have enough security on the ground, despite being located in one of the epicenters of kidnapping, a situation which they believe made it easier for the bandits to gain easy access into the institution. In recent times, Kaduna has been facing series of attacks by bandits including assaults on schools. On March 11, they attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization Afaka in the Igabi Local Government Area of the state and kidnapped 39 students.

Commissioner: Ebonyi First Lady Never Said She Won’t Vote For Her Husband In APC

Barrister Orji Uchenna Orji, Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, has reacted to a false report about the First Lady of Ebonyi State. The wife of Governor David Umahi had been quoted as saying she will not vote for her husband in the All Progressives Congress (APC). Reacting in a statement, Orji said the wife of the governor is fully in support of her husband and his administration. “The attention of Ebonyi State Ministry of Information and State Orientation has been drawn to a vicious, mendacious and faceless post captioned: ‘I will not vote my husband in APC’ falsely credited to Her Excellency, wife of the Governor of Ebonyi State and made to trend in social media by political jobbers. “They have resorted to writing helplessly and derogatorily about the quintessential mother of the State and doyen of gender mainstreaming, Her Excellency, Chief (Mrs) Rachel Ogonna Umahi (Ogoo Nwanyi), Wife of the wonder working Governor of Ebonyi State. “While we take exception to this cheap and disrespectful blackmail, we make bold to state that the wife of our dear Governor is a proud card carrying member of All Progressives Congress, APC with registration number, EB/BZR/11/04202; she is a great pillar of support to our Divine Mandate Administration and champion of mobilization to the cause of APC in the State. Let it be further reiterated that the elegant and superlative amazon of our dear State joined APC with her husband as a response to the clarion call for South East to reintegrate into a party of national spread. “We therefore want to use this medium to admonish the remnants of PDP in the State that no amount of lies and fake news shall mitigate the tsunami that has brazenly befallen them since the glorious defection of the government and people of Ebonyi State to All Progressives Congress, APC . We also invite the members of the public to discountenance all the social media posts against the First Family of Ebonyi State as a worthless political strategy to misinform the gullible and elicit public sympathy to their unpleasant political fate . “Ebonyi State is irreplaceably APC and our dear Governor is indomitably delivering in his social contract with the people.”

Black Saturday in Nasarawa as gunmen allegedly kill 9, scores injured

Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, at the early hours of Saturday killed over nine persons and injured scores in Ajimaka, a Tiv settlement in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. The killers who invaded the community at about 2:00am Saturday, started shooting sporadically and chanting war songs were allegedly carrying sophisticated weapons, The affected victims according to an eyewitness account are women and children while others scampered for safety in the village as well as calling for help from the neighbouring villages. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the Nasarawa, Command, ASP Ramhan Nansel said he has been receiving calls concerning the incident. According to the PPRO, the Command was yet to receive an official report on the incident adding however that as soon as the attack is confirmed, the command would as usual step up investigation to unravel the cause of the incident. Meanwhile he has appealed to the community in particular and the state at large not to take the law into their hands. Resting to the incident while speaking to Journalists on the incident, President, Tiv Development Association (TIDA) in Nasarawa state, Peter Ahemba who confirmed the incident in Lafia condemned the killings and described the dastardly act as unprovoked and unfortunate. The TIDA president regretted the attacks on Tiv people of the state, particularly those living at the border areas between Benue and Nasarawa states whom he said have become a recurrent decimal despite efforts by the Nasarawa state governor, Abdullahi Sule and his Benue counterpart, Samuel Ortom to ensure lasting peace. According to him, “Each time the suspected Fulani herdsmen have issues relating to implementation of the anti-open grazing law by the Benue state government, they turn back to attack our (Tiv) people in Nasarawa state. We are Tivs in Nasarawa state. We are peace-loving people. The Fulani herdsmen must stop attacking our people for things we do not know about” While lamenting the ugly development that has led to the displacement of thousands of Tiv farmers in the area, the TIDA President said the incident was coming at the time farmers were set to commence the current farming season. Ahemba who acknowledged the efforts by the Nasarawa state government at ensuring that peace and security is strengthened and maintained at the border areas of the state, appealed to the state government to direct the deployment of security operatives to the area to forestall reappraisal and the break down of law and order. He called on the Tiv people to remain calm and avoid taking laws into their hands despite the unprovoked attack as the state government was taking measures to restore normalcy.

Fire fighter shot dead at Imo governor’s house attack

An exclusive investigation by Vanguard on Saturday, into the attack by suspected hoodlums on the house of the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, at Omuma in Oru East local government area of Imo State, revealed that an officer of the Imo state fire service, was shot dead by the hoodlums. Vanguard in Owerri, got the name of the officer, as Atenesuis Iheakor, a level eight officer. It was gathered that Iheakor is married with about five children. Details coming

Attack on Uzodinma’s country home claimed three security operatives —Police

The Imo State Police Command has confirmed that three security operatives lost their lives on Saturday when gunmen attacked the country home of the state governor, Hope Uzodinma. The Police Spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, told The PUNCH in Owerri, the state capital, that a police sergeant and two personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were the casualties. Ikeokwu explained that while the gunmen killed one NSCDC operatives in the governor’s compound, another NSCDC personnel and a police sergeant were killed by the attackers while escaping from the compound. He said that the police sergeant and the NSCDC personnel were killed by the fleeing hoodlums at Mgbidi- Oguta junction. Ikeokwu also said two cars parked at the governor’s compound in Omuma in the Oru East Local Government Area of the state were burnt during the attack. The Police Spokesperson disclosed that the invaders threw petrol bombs inside the governor’s compound. Ikeokwu said, “I can confirm the attack on the governor’s house. The hoodlums attacked the governor’s house by throwing in petrol bomb as a result of which two cars were burnt but they were successfully repelled and none of the building was set ablaze. “However, one unarmed personnel of the NSCDC was killed in the process. The hoodlums while escaping also killed a Police Sergeant and another NSCDC personnel both in their private vehicles at Mgbidi junction.” Source The Punch

BUSTED: Unsettled life of Lagos cultists; ways to identify members

Cultism is one major social ill that the Police are battling to curtail in Lagos State. This is because a good percentage of robbers so far arrested have been discovered to belong to one confraternity or the other. Areas like Oworoshoki in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos, Ifako in Gbagada and Bariga, are major places where rival cult battles have lingered for several years. Arrest Some arrests have been made by the Lagos State Police Command. But one of the suspects that has been on the command’s wanted list was arrested last week. He is 21-year-old Tomiwa Adebore, a self-confessed member of Aiye confraternity. He was alleged to have participated in about 15 killings in Oworoshoki and other areas. His group, as gathered, had seven guns, among which are an AK 47 and a pump-action rifle, suspected to have been stolen during the EndSARS protest that went violent last year. One of the group’s victims was an elderly man identified as Shola, who was killed two weeks ago, right in front of his family members. His offence was that he revealed identities of some cultists who were also robbers terrorizing Oworoshoki and its environs, to members of the Amotekun group. In this interview with Crime Guard, the self-confessed Aiye confraternity member revealed how Shola was killed, as well as other members of rival groups. He and other arrested members of Aiye confraternity, in this interview, expressed regrets over their decision to join cultism, as they disclosed that life as a cultist was that of a man in bondage because there was no going out once initiated. Initiation Adebore, a barber, told Crime Guard that his woes began shortly after he was forcefully initiated into the Aiye cult group two years ago, by a friend he identified simply as Edgar. He said: “Edgar, invited me and some other youths in Oworo to a party. But when we got there we discovered it was an initiation party. “They blindfolded us and started beating us. They piqued our thumbs with a sharp object and ordered us to lick the blood. They called that blood oath. “They used cutlass to inflict injuries on our heads which they called axe marks and said we had blended into the Aiye system. “They warned us never to tell anyone and that if we failed to participate in the cult’s activities, its members would come for us and kill us”. Harassment “Immediately, one is initiated, the new intakes are expected to give themselves new names by which they would be identified. This is part of measures to hide our true identities during operation. My nickname is small police because I am gentle and like making peace. ”Before I joined cultism, I was a barber. But after initiation, members would come to my shop to demand for money and if I told them I had no money, they would destroy my things. I was forced to lock my shop when it got to a point I could not pay the rent. Killings “I have participated in the killing of five persons, not 15 as alleged. Four of them were Eiye members who were marked for death. The first one was killed at Car Wash bus-stop during a reprisal attack by our members. “He could not escape like his mates and he was shot. The second person was axed to death at Car Wash too. The third person was killed at Saw Mill, while the fourth was killed at Ifako. Informant’s death “The fifth person was an elderly man who usually collected money from Amotekun members after giving them information about cultists. I was not the one that killed him, it was Swagger. “Five of us walked up to his house around 7.30 pm on Sunday, March 11,2021, where he sat with his wife and children. Swagger dragged him out of their midst and shot him. “Three other members used cutlass to cut him so that he won’t survive the attack. While that was going on, I was on guard, looking out for intruders” Fund raising To raise funds for the group, five other self-confessed members of Aiye confraternity alleged to have been terrorizing Ijeshatedo and Ikotun areas of Lagos, lamented that members were tasked financially. One of them, Adewale Sadiq, whose confessional statement led to the arrest of Lekan Baruwa, Mattew Majemu, Ope Ajayi and Isa Balogun, said he had made several attempts to leave the confraternity without luck. He disclosed that he was initiated in 2008 but that after his wedding in 2015, his wife threatened to walk out of the marriage if he did not renounce his membership. According to him, “ I stopped attending their meetings after I got a job as a private guard. I also relocated from Ijesha to Ikotun, so as to dissociate myself from them completely. “I was not even involved in the fight that broke out between Aiye and Eiye groups in Ikotun during which one Tunde Alado, leader of Eiye was shot dead, in January, 2021. “Eiye members staged a reprisal attack on January 24, 2021, on our members at Governor road and killed our leader, Munero. “At that point, all axe men (Aiye) were directed to assemble at Ijesha, to wage war against Eiye members, at Pako bus-stop, close to a canal. “I could not decline the order because members would come after me. I wanted to leave but I was scared of the repercussion”. Our fears On his part, Baruwa said he had also made several attempts to leave the group but that he was warned never to, else, he would be killed. He said, “had I known, I would not have joined cultism. Every time we would be asked to pay money. For instance, members contribute N2000 to our leader, Munero (who was killed three months ago), to buy guns for the group’s armory. “These guns are released whenever there was crisis. In the time of peace, he leased them out to members who paid

50 Suspects Arrested Over Imo Attacks, Says Uzodinma

Following the attacks on the headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service and the Nigeria Police in Imo State, Governor Hope Uzodinma said about 50 suspects have been arrested. Gunmen had invaded the two public facilities on April 5, razing down the institutions and freeing over 1,800 inmates. During the attack, one person suspected to be a fleeing inmate was hit by a bullet while carrying his travel bag. But speaking during a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa on Friday, the Imo State Governor said the arrested suspects are helping security agencies with useful statements. “As at the last count, we arrested almost 40 to 50 people, who also made useful statements and confessed to the crime,” he said. “I continue to tell you that this issue of banditry is something that we must all rise up as people to condemn and then support security agencies to be able to provide an enabling environment for people to go about their businesses, without fear of any molestation.” He also blamed the criminal activities happening across the country on opposition elements, insisting that they were funding criminals to discredit President Buhari’s administration. While condemning the recent attacks by armed bandits on communities, especially in the northern part of the country, Governor Uzodinma challenged the security agencies to urgently reveal the names of their sponsors. The Imo governor also condemned the call for secession, stressing that criminals particularly in Imo were a combination of individuals within and outside the state. He added, “What people are doing is to sponsor crisis to the extent that those funding banditry are politicians and I challenge and call on the security agencies to make their names available to the press because what they want to do is to distract a government that is focused.”

We were negotiating ransom when they were killed, says parent of Kaduna varsity student

A parent of one of the abducted students of Greenfield University in Kaduna says they were already negotiating with the kidnappers for the release of their children. A yet-to-be-known number of students were on Tuesday abducted from the private academic institution after some gunmen attacked the school. Three days after the incident, the bodies of three of the students, a male and two females, were found in Kwanan Bature village, a location close to the university. Two of the victims were identified as Abubakar Yusuf Sanga (male) and Dorathy Tirnon Yohanna (female). According to THE NATION, a parent who spoke on condition of anonymity said they did not expect the students to be harmed as they were already in contact with kidnappers. The parent said the kidnappers demanded a collective ransom of N800 million to release all the abducted students. “We are still in shock. We did not expect the bandits would resort to killing our children because they had contacted us since Wednesday and demanded ransom,” the parent was quoted to have said. “They called us (the parents) directly and individually, but they demanded a collective ransom of N800 million. “So, yesterday (Thursday) we (the parents) met on the school premises and we called them trying to negotiate the ransom, but they insisted on the N800 million. “Yes, we pleaded with them (bandits) that the amount they were asking for was too much and beyond our power, but we never imagined or expected they were going to be so cruel and resort to killing our children.” Nasir el-Rufai, the state governor, said the killing of the students was “sheer wickedness, inhumanity and an outright desecration of human lives by vile entities”.

Uzodinma home: Security operatives repelled attack by gunmen, says Emelumba

Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri The Imo state commissioner for information and strategy, Declan Emelumba has said that security forces in the state repelled the attack on Imo gov’s country home. Crimefacts.news had reported how unknown gunmen set Hope Uzodinma’s country home on fire thereby killing two officers, many vehicles burnt. Emelumba in a statement on Saturday morning said the gallant security operatives on Saturday morning repelled an attack on the Omuma country home of the governor of Imo State, Sen Hope Uzodimma. He said, “At about 9am today, Saturday, April 24th, a group of hoodlums numbering about 15 driving in a motorcade of three vehicles accompanied by a tipper loaded with used tyres, stormed the country home of the governor in Omuma, Oru East LGA and attempted to burn down the house. “However, vigilant security operatives attached to the Governor’s house successfully repelled the attack and consequently minimised the damage they had planned to unleash. “In the cross fire that ensued a few casualties were recorded. Preliminary investigation suggests that the foiled attack may have been politically sponsored Speaking further, “The government has directed the relevant security agencies to expedite investigation on the incident and promptly apprehend the sponsors and their agents and bring them to justice, “the commissioner said.