May 2022 – Page 58 – Crime Facts

Post Date : May 9, 2022

Jonathan now in APC, says Buhari’s aide

Presidential spokesman, Bashir Ahmad, Monday night, confirmed that former President Goodluck Jonathan has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and has picked one of its presidential nomination forms. Ahmad, who is Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on the New Media had at about 8:35pm, in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle tweeted “so Goodluck Jonathan has dumped the opposition PDP and now member of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC)”. Speaking in a telephone chat, in Abuja, he explained that all circumstances point to the fact that the former President would be seeking to return to office on the platform of the party that removed him from office more than seven years ago. According to Ahmad, a political party will sell nomination and expression of interest forms to only its registered member, adding that nobody will pay so much as N100 million for a cause he is not willing to pursue. “No one will give out N100 million to buy Presidential forms from a party he’s not a member of. The primary criterium for parties to sell their forms to you is that you must first be a registered member”, Ahmad said.

Post Date : May 9, 2022

BREAKING: Jonathan joins APC presidential race

After months of hide and seek, former President Goodluck Jonathan has finally joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential race. A group of supporters of Fulani extraction and Almajiris led by Ibrahim Abdullahi picked the expression of interest and nomination forms for the former President around 6:30 pm. Jonathan, who spoke on his entrance into the race when some women and youths stormed his office to persuade him to contest the 2023 presidential election some weeks ago, had said the process of joining was in progress. With his entrance, APC presidential aspirants have risen to 26. Details Shortly… Culled from TheNation

Post Date : May 9, 2022

IPOB conduct targetted assassinations, behead victims’ – Nnamdi Kanu’s ex-deputy, Mefor alleges

‘ Uche Mefor, the former Deputy Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has accused the separatist group of conducting targetted assassinations across the Southeast. Mefor, who once deputized Nnamdi Kanu, claimed that IPOB beheaded and tortured their targets across the Southeast. He made the remark while accusing IPOB of being responsible for the mindless killings in the region. Mefor described the senseless killing of Igbo people by Igbos as an “abomination”. Taking on his official Facebook page, Mefor wrote: “IPOB, you’re labouring so hard and having sleepless nights to distance yourselves from the atrocities you committed in broad daylight with impunity does not and cannot invalidate the fact that those heinous crimes were committed by you against your fellow Biafrans and especially Biafrans of Igbo extraction. “And let me be clear: IPOB conducted targeted assassinations, beheaded, tortured their victims. “99.9% of them are Igbo Biafrans. These are crimes against humanity. What an abomination!” IPOB had been linked to the killings and insecurity in the Southeast. But, the separatist group had denied involvement in the killings of Southeast residents.

Post Date : May 9, 2022

Punish Peace Mass Transport Boss over over the reckless killing of 15 -year old beggar in Onitsha – Rights Defender urges police

The Anambra State Police Command have been urged not to allow those behind the killing of a 15 -year old beggar to go scot-free. The Human Rights, Liberty Access And Peace Defenders Foundation(HURIDE) in a statement in Onitsha condemned unequivocally the gruesome killing of 15 years old beggar on April 29,2022. They said the girl who was killed by a hit and run Peace Mass Transit driver along the Onitsha/Asaba Express Way before Bridgehead did not stop until he was pursued and arrested by officials of Anambra Road Traffic Agency (ATMA). Unfortunately, said HURIDE, in a statement signed by their Executive Director, Dede Uzor A, Uzor, the management of the transport company has neither met with the deceased’s family nor extend formal tcondolences to them. The group called on the Anambra State Police Command to immediately set up a machinery in motion to arrest all the people involved in the despicable unfortunate killing of the girl and five others who sustained various degrees of injuries to serve as a deterrent to other reckless drivers. They said : Police should not allow any of the perpetrators go unpunished in line with our extant laws. It was learnt that the matter was reported to the Bridgehead Police Station for investigation and we learnt that no member of the company has identified with the diseased family. “How could a driver kill a poor girl, injured five other people and escape before he was caught by patriotic citizens and since then the management of the transport company has not deemed it fit to visit the bereaved family or hospital to see five others who were injured in the process. This is unethical, atrocious and insensitive. It is man’s inhumanity to man. These set of people ought to have been in prison by now,” the human right group fumed. 9th May 2022

Post Date : May 9, 2022

Abuja-Kaduna Train Service Must Not Resume – Families Of Abducted Passengers

The relatives and friends of 62 passengers captured on the Abuja-Kaduna train have warned that the train service must not resume unless all abducted passengers are rescued. Terrorists had on March 28, 2022, planted explosives that derailed train AK-9 while on its last lap from Abuja to Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria. The terrorists had killed nine people and abducted over 60 before they later released the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Ali Hassan. The Nigeria Railway Corporation had hinted last week that repair on the rail track had been completed, even though it did not specifically state when the train service would resume. However, in a press conference in Kaduna on Monday, relatives of the abducted passengers demanded the quick and safe rescue of their relatives being held hostage. They also stated that the Abuja-Kaduna train service must not resume until all the abducted passengers are rescued and adequate security measures are put in place to guarantee the safety of prospective passengers. Speaking through their spokesperson, Dr Abdulfatai Jimoh, the families of the abducted passengers accused the NRC of disregarding President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to engage with them, minute-by-minute. President Buhari had directed the NRC to set up a situation room for the coordination of the rescue mission for the passengers and a minute-by-minute engagement with the families of the captives. “Still, one week after this presidential directive was issued, the NRC has never contacted the relatives of the kidnapped victims nor established any situation room. This display of gross incompetence and insensitivity should lead to appropriate punishment,” Jimoh said.

Post Date : May 9, 2022

I may die soon, says Elon Musk

The new owner of microblogging app Twitter and CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk has tweeted a disturbing post, suggesting that his life might be cut short. Though he did not give full details of what his fears are, the billionaire hinted his life may be threatened. In what seems to be a gesture of lack of regret, Musk declares that it has been nice getting to know “you”. Although it is still unclear who “you’ in this situation refers to, speculations are that he is referring to netizens who have shown him a lot of support. He tweeted: “If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowing ya” “When confronted by a fan that his response was unpalatable Musk says he will do his best to stay alive.” The fan said: “That’s not funny,” To which he replied “Sorry! I will do my best to stay alive.”

Post Date : May 9, 2022

Killing of cattle: We‘re ready for Miyetti Allah – IPOB

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has reacted to a story where Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, an association of Fulani cattle breeders had accused it of attacking Fulani herdsmen in the Southeast and killing their cattle. A statement by the Secretary General of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Engr. Saleh Hassan, threatened IPOB with legal action. “The latest attacks that prompted this emergency press conference just happened yesterday (Sunday) and we have alerted our members, our leadership in the Southeast to take stock of the number of cattle killed and possible lives lost. “The truck that was set ablaze is all over the social media and we saw a full load of cattle. A truck takes about 30 Cows. This is aside isolated cases of killings of herders going on, particularly in southeastern Nigeria by the terrorist group led by the detained Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB which portends a grave danger, because we will not fold our arms to continue to watch an outlawed organization killing our people in the Southeast. That is why we are calling on the security agencies to urgently take action to arrest the situation because we don’t want people to take laws into their hands. “The latest attacks were carried out by IPoB because if you watch the videos which I will share with members of the press in case you don’t have it, they were speaking Igbo, they were proclaiming that their organization was behind it. They want to make sure they chase out every Fulani man in the Southeast, destroy their cattle. So it is not debatable.” However, reacting to the above statement, IPOB’s publicity secretary, Emma Powerful via a telephone conversation told Vanguard that the IPOB is ready for Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, noting that the organisation backed down because IPOB is stronger than them. His words: “They see themselves as strongest, why are they running? They have realised we are stronger than them. They want to go to court. Let them go, we are ready for them. Whichever means they want, we are ready. We will give it to them in full” he said.

Post Date : May 9, 2022

Hanifa: Proprietor Admits Kidnap, Denies Killing School Girl

Abdulmalik Tanko, proprietor of five-year-old Hanifa Abubakar, has once again denied knowledge of how the innocent girl died. He made the denial at High Court number 5, sitting at Audu Bako, on Monday. The court was presided over by Justice Usman Na’abba. Tanko, who previously admitted to conspiracy, denied the remaining three charges against him, including kidnap and subsequent killing of the young girl. While admitting to taking Hanifa to his school and locking her up, he said, “I am not sure if I am the last person who saw her alive because I have earlier communicated to someone else about it. I did neither killed nor poisoned her. I left her sleeping and came back to see her dead. “Myself, the second and third defendants did not know how she died.” Daily Trust reports that Hanifa was abducted on December 4, 2021, on her way home from Islamiyya School and subsequently discovered to have been killed. Earlier, Tanko confessed to kidnapping and killing the victim with N100 rat poison before burying her in a shallow grave in one of his schools. The trio of Abdulmalik alongside his accomplice, Hashim Isyaku and Fatima Bashir were arraigned before the Kano State High court on five count charges bordering on criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, confinement, and culpable homicide contrary to sections 97, 274, 277, 221 of the penal code. The case has been adjourned to May 10 for continuation of the defence hearing.

Post Date : May 9, 2022

ASUU strike: NANS vows to block airports, federal roads

The National Association of Nigerian Students on Monday vowed to block all federal roads and airports in the country to protest the 12-week extension of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. NANS President, Sunday Asefon, in a statement made available to our correspondent, condemned the inaction of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), over the industrial action which started on February 14, 2022. Asefon affirmed that students of public universities would disrupt primary elections and conventions by political parties scheduled for May ending. The PUNCH had earlier reported that ASUU, led by Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, on Monday, ended its ongoing strike for another 12 weeks to give the Federal Government time to resolve all the outstanding issues. The union said its fresh industrial action came on the heels of the government’s failure to satisfactorily implement the Memorandum of Action it signed with the Union in December 2020 on renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, Earned Academic Allowances, funding for revitalisation of public universities, withheld salaries, amongst others. Reacting in its statement, NANS condemned the silence of the government and failure of the government officials to reach agreement with ASUU because they couldn’t afford private institutions for their children. The statement was titled, ‘ASUU Strike Extension: The silence of the Government and the ruling class; the nation must feel the heat’. The statement by Asefon partly read, “Having exhausted all window of constructive engagement with the government. I, on behalf of the national leadership of NANS therefore declare National Action from May 10, 2023. “The National Actions is tagged ‘Operation Test Run’ and shall be held in all the 36 states of the Federation. Federal roads across the 36 states shall be occupied for a minimum of three hours daily. The Operation shall be a precursor to a total shutdown that will be decided during our Senate meeting/pre-convention on Saturday 14th May 2022. “Our proposal to congress on the 14th shall be total blockage of the airport roads across the country and total disruption of political party primaries, blockage of the national assembly until they are committed to passing legislation banning public office holders from sending their children to university abroad. “By this release, all JCC Chairmen, Zonal Leaderships and stakeholders are directed to act appropriately and ensure total compliance to the directive of ‘Operation Test Run’ shut down the federal roads in your State, the nation must feel the heat.” NANS had earlier threatened fire and brimstone, censuring the Federal Government for abandoning students of public universities but politicians including current ministers have shunned the striking lecturers and protesting students. But amid the strike, Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; as well as Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; both of the ruling All Progressives Congress recently picked up the party’s N100m presidential nomination and expression of interest forms each while lecture rooms remained shut for about three months this year. Students of public universities had also been at home for nine straight months in 2020 when ASUU and the Federal Government had a face-off over unpaid areas, choice of payment platforms, amongst other contentious issues.

Post Date : May 9, 2022

Police confirm abduction of Catholic priest in A’Ibom

The police command in Akwa Ibom has confirmed the abduction of a Catholic priest, Alphonsus Uboh, at the church premises in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of the state. SP Odiko Macdon, the State Police Public Relations Officer, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mkpat Enin LGA on Monday. He said that the priest was abducted on Sunday, at Ikot Abasi along Ekparakwa Etinan road in Mkpat Enin LGA by unknown gunmen at about 7:30p.m. “Preliminary findings show that the abductors who came with two motorcycles went to the back fence of the victim’s house and whisked him away. “The Commissioner of Police, Andrew Aniengheme, was very saddened at the development and said that it is unacceptable,” he said. Macdon said that all hands would be on deck to ensure that police rescue the priest and perpetuators brought to book. (NAN)