Crime Facts

DAILIES TOP STORIES: Buhari’s aides, ex-govs, APC bigwigs intensify lobby for ambassadorial appointments

  Saturday 8 November 2023 Court remands Emefiele in Kuje prison till Wednesday Kano calm as A’Court removes gov, confirms Mohammed in Bauchi Mohbad: Naira Marley, Sammy Larry released from police custody 50 terrorists killed, 122 arrested in one week – DHQ Liberian Challenger Boakai Close To Election Victory Over President Weah EFCC Releases Seven NAF Personnel Linked With Internet Fraud Uzodimma Receives Certificate Of Return, Says Imo Election ‘Most Peaceful’ Diri, Ododo Receive Certificates Of Return In Bayelsa, Kogi President Tinubu To Attend G20 CwA In Berlin Court Remands Suspects In Custody Over Rivers DPO’s Murder Otti Begins Payment Of Abia Judicial Workers’ Eight-Year Salary Arrears Digital Loan Sharks: Shaming, Recovery Techniques Pushing Nigerians To The Brink Wike, Fubara, Makinde woo foreign investors Imo Police chief vows to stop sit-at-home Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

Delta carpenter beat apprentice to death

  An apprentice carpenter identified simply as Onome, has been reportedly beaten to death by his master in Sapele, Delta State. Witnesses said the incident occurred at the master’s workshop located along New Ogorode Road, Sapele few days ago. PUNCH Online gathered that the apprentice was disciplined by the boss named Orunor over an alleged lateness to work. In addition, Orunor allegedly accused the apprentice of stealing his Automated Teller Machine card. Consequently, it was reportedly resolved that the boy should be disciplined decisively through beating. However, the alleged beating reportedly took a new twist for the apprentice who, on reaching home, was said to have complained of pains all over his body, to his parents. The apprentice further reportedly explained to his parents all that transpired between him and his master at work. The parents of the apprentice were said to have decided to take him to the hospital for treatment but he reportedly died before he could be attended to. It was gathered that when Orunor, master to the apprentice, was intimated of the demise of the boy, he allegedly went into hiding. Meanwhile, operatives of the Nigeria Police, Sapele Area Command, are said to be on the trail of the fleeing master with a view to arresting him. The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, could not be reached for comments on the incident as of the time of filing this report.

EXTRA: I Would Have Relocated My Mother To Abuja If Diri Had Lost – Jonathan

  Former President Goodluck Jonathan has hailed Governor Douye Diri’s efforts at tackling insecurity, saying the Bayelsa leader’s re-election means the state would be a lot safer. Jonathan, who is a former governor of the oil-rich state, spoke on Friday when he visited Diri in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, almost one week after the governor stormed to victory in a keenly contested poll. While congratulating Diri for winning the exercise, the former president said if Douye had lost, the gains made in curbing insecurity would have been lost. “We don’t want to go into unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted. We believe the governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with the governor. Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead,” he said during the gathering. “There should be nothing that will push the state backward. We should think about the development of the state starting from the issue of peace and security in the state which within this last period, three years plus, there are significant improvements in terms of cultism and kidnapping and so on and so forth. “I was saying before this election that if Diri loses this election, I would have relocated my mother to Abuja.” While recounting how his cousin was kidnapped and killed, Jonathan expressed optimism that with Diri returning as the governor of the state, the situation would soon be a thing of the past. “My cousin was kidnapped two times on one of those occasions, one of my cousins, Solo, was killed because they threw him into the river and he didn’t know how to swim,” he added. “So, we’ve passed through hell in this state and we’ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel. So, people should calm down, and allow Diri to focus on governance so that he will be able to propel this state forward so that we will benefit as citizens of the state.” Diri had earlier in the day received his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a second term in office. He will be sworn in for another four-year tenure next year.

24 Die At Gaza Hospital As Israel Hunts Hideouts, Says Hamas

  The health ministry, under the control of Hamas, reported on Friday that 24 patients at a hospital in conflict-ridden Gaza had succumbed within 48 hours due to power failures, while Israeli forces were conducting searches in the facility for potential Hamas hideouts.   This news was released shortly after Israel consented to a US plea to permit two fuel trucks daily into Gaza, in response to a UN alert that the scarcity had stopped aid distributions and exposed people to the threat of famine. The circumstances were critical at the Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest, where the Israeli military stated it was conducting a third day of searches for suspected hideouts of militants from the Islamist group’s armed faction. Hamas dismisses an Israeli accusation that it operates a command centre at the hospital, where it is estimated that thousands of individuals, including injured patients and premature infants, are present. The hospital also refutes the allegation. In retaliation to Hamas’s October 7 assault, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, and around 240 hostages, Israel has pledged to “demolish” Hamas, as per Israeli authorities. The military’s aerial and terrestrial offensive has resulted in approximately 11,500 fatalities, including thousands of children, as reported by Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza since 2007. “Twenty-four patients… have perished in the past 48 hours” at Al-Shifa hospital “due to the malfunctioning of crucial medical equipment caused by the power blackout”, stated Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for the Gaza health ministry. In response to a request from the US, the Israeli war cabinet unanimously agreed to permit “the daily entry of two diesel fuel tankers to meet the UN’s requirements for water and sewage infrastructure… on the condition that it does not benefit Hamas”, according to Israeli officials. ADVERTISEMENT The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) previously reported that its relief trucks were unable to access Gaza from Egypt for two consecutive days due to a fuel shortage and an almost complete communication shutdown. ‘Fear and Chaos’ UNRWA announced that it would not be able to “organize or oversee humanitarian convoys” from Friday due to the disruption in telecommunications. “The conditions in Al-Shifa are disastrous” for patients, evacuees, and healthcare providers who are packed inside without power, water, and food, the hospital’s director, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, informed AFP over the phone during a short period of restored communications. Israel has justified its Al-Shifa operation, with the military claiming it discovered guns, ammunition, explosives, and the entrance to a tunnel shaft within the hospital compound. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, suggested that hostages might have been kept at the healthcare facility. “He stated on ‘CBS Evening News’ that they had compelling evidence suggesting that the hostages were kept in Shifa Hospital, which justified their entry into the hospital. “He added that if the hostages were indeed there, they have been moved. Israel announced that its forces were methodically searching Al-Shifa, building by building. The military also reported that they had found the remains of a kidnapped female soldier, Noa Marciano, 19, in a building near Al-Shifa hospital. Her death was confirmed earlier this week, though the cause was not disclosed. Hamas claimed she was a victim of an Israeli bombing. On Thursday, the army reported the discovery of another hostage’s body near Al-Shifa. Yehudit Weiss, 65, was abducted from the kibbutz community of Beeri. ‘Civilian population at risk of starvation’ Israel is facing growing demands to substantiate its claims that Hamas is using hospitals as command hubs. The United States, a staunch ally, has backed Israel, with President Joe Biden recently urging Israel to exercise extreme caution in its military operations near Gaza hospitals. Hamas reported that over half of Gaza’s hospitals are now non-operational due to warfare, damage, or lack of supplies, and Israel’s assault on Al-Shifa resulted in significant damage to the radiology, burns, and dialysis departments. Footage from AFPTV depicted Palestinian children in Deir al-Balah, waiting in ambulances for evacuation through the Rafah crossing to the United Arab Emirates. “At first, they informed us she would be martyred. She has fractures in her skull, pelvis, and thigh,” Adam al-Madhoun, father of four-year-old Kenza, who had her right hand amputated following an attack on the Jabalia refugee camp, stated. The UN has issued a warning that the situation for Palestinian civilians is quickly worsening. Over 1.5 million individuals have been displaced within their own country, and the blockade imposed by Israel on the region implies that “civilians are on the brink of starvation”, according to Cindy McCain, the head of the World Food Programme. The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported that 70% of the population lacks access to potable water in southern Gaza, where untreated sewage has begun to flood the streets. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, recounted children taking refuge in a UN school “begging for a drink of water, or a piece of bread”. Violence in the West Bank The ground operation by Israel has primarily targeted northern Gaza, where it has declared the capture of significant structures and a harbor. It has reported the death of 51 of its soldiers. Parallel to the conflict in Gaza, there is escalating worry about the unrest in the West Bank, occupied by Israel, where attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have dramatically increased. The Israeli military, claiming to be reacting to “a significant increase in terrorist activities”, has escalated its raids, leading to a sharp rise in Palestinian fatalities. The Israeli forces reported on Friday that they had eliminated at least seven militants in two distinct clashes in the West Bank. Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, has called on Israel to take “immediate” measures to “reduce tensions in the West Bank, including addressing the growing incidents of settler extremist violence,” according to the State Department. In other developments, Israeli assaults resulted in the death of two pro-Iranian combatants near Damascus during Friday’s operations aimed at a Hezbollah weapons storage and other locations near the

Tinubu stops 40 IGR deduction from universities

  President Bola Tinubu has cancelled the 40 per cent automatic deductions from internally generated revenues (IGR) of federal universities, saying the policy is inappropriate at this period. Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed this on Friday at an ongoing 75th Founder’s Day ceremony at the University of Ibadan (UI). In his speech as the Visitor to the nation’s premier university, Mr Tinubu pledged his commitment to the reform of the education sector as the base for national development. Tinubu said, “The 40 per cent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such policy since our universities are struggling.” Earlier in his welcome address, the UI Chancellor and Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar, had condemned the policy, citing the multidimensional challenges confronting the universities. Abubakar urged the authorities to abrogate the decision, saying the policy had the potential of jeopardising the university system.

Internet Fraud’: EFCC Releases Seven Army, NAF Personnel After Fracas In Kaduna

  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released one serving officer of the Nigerian Army and seven Nigerian Air Force (NAF) operatives allegedly linked with Internet-related fraud. The suspects were arrested by the Kaduna State zonal office of the anti-graft agency on Monday and remanded in the custody of the commission for further investigation and possible prosecution. However, the matter took a dramatic twist on Friday morning as armed NAF soldiers invaded the EFCC office located at Number 4, Wurno Road in the state capital, to enforce the release of their colleagues from detention. The soldiers, who arrived at the EFCC office in five Hilux patrol vans around 10 am, surrounded the main gate of the commission, preventing the EFCC officials from entering or leaving the office. The incident culminated in a showdown between the Air Force personnel and EFCC security operatives, who engaged in a shouting match and threatened to pull the trigger on each other. The situation was later brought under control with the EFCC zonal head and the leader of the air force team meeting briefly, leading to the release of the suspects. Reacting to the incident, the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, told Channels Television on a phone call that the commission decided to release the suspects upon completing its investigation and forensic profiling. Oyewale explained that the release and handover of the suspects to their agencies was not done in line with the commission’s standard operating procedure, adding that the suspects would still be arraigned in court at the appropriate time, despite being released to their agency.

Police arrest two over involvement in jungle justice in Anambra

  CP Aderemi Adeoye, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, has cautioned residents against taking laws into their own hands in the event of crime. Adeoye said the command would no longer condone situations when people engage in jungle justice by lynching suspects to death without trial. DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in a statement, quoted the CP on Friday as saying that perpetrators would be charged with murder. He described any mob lynching of crime suspects as beastial and worse than their victims. The PPRO said two suspects have been arrested for involvement in recent mob lynching that resulted in the death of suspected criminals. “Someone steals a phone and a mob kills him. The sentence for stealing a phone is three years of imprisonment. “Those who lynch commit murder, which carries the death penalty, because the courts have not delegated anyone outside the judiciary to try, convict and execute suspects,” he said. Adeoye commended Anambra residents for their eternal vigilance and cooperation for peace and security in the state but enjoined them to report every criminal matter to the Police. According to him, “if they do not get justice, they should contact my office directly. “I assure the people of Anambra that the Command will always be alive to its responsibility in maintaining law and order. “Recourse to self help is not necessary and it will not be tolerated,” he said. Editor’s Note: This photo is for illustrative purpose 

Google to start deleting inactive Gmail accounts Dec 1

  Google, the search giant, is set to permanently delete accounts that have not been used within a specified period.   In a recent blog post, Google said it deems an account inactive if the user has not logged in or done any activity in two years The tech giant considers actions like signing in; reading or sending an email; using Google Drive; watching a YouTube video; sharing photos; downloading an app; and searching while signed in to be activities. The company added that starting December 1, accounts in the aforementioned category will be deleted. Advertisement The policy only applies to personal accounts, not those tied to an employer, school, or other organisation. “Google products reserve the right to delete your data when your account has not been used within that product for a 2-year period,” the post reads. “December 1, 2023 is the earliest a Google Account will be deleted due to this policy.” It is understood that there are other exceptions to this; such as if your account was used to purchase something in the Google Play store or if your account has a gift card with an active balance. Google said it would inform users in advance by sending emails to the accounts of affected users as well as any available recovery email addresses.

Pastor who collected money as ticket to heaven, rearrested for kidnapping church members

  The controversial founder of Christ High Commission Church, Araromi-Ugbesi in Omuo-Oke, Ekiti State, Noah Abraham, who was in the news last year for allegedly collecting three hundred and ten thousand Naira from church members as a ticket to heaven has been re-arrested for more grievous offences. This time around, the controversial Pastor was arrested by the Ekiti State Police Command in collaboration with the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, for the alleged kidnapping of over nine persons including minors and impregnating the wife of his choir coordinator. It was gathered that some of the hostages were children of his members whom he had hypnotized, brainwashed and set against their parents. Narrating their ordeal, some of the parents of the children who were kept hostage, church members and even the legal wife of Pastor Abraham, who had staged a protest to the Ekiti State Police Command pleaded with the Government and appropriate authorities to assist them in getting their children, wife and relatives out of the captivity of the Pastor. According to them, Pastor Abraham forced their children to withdraw from school while a 27-year-old man who was already working in an unnamed company where he was given an official vehicle was asked to resign and kept in the camp without a specific mission Speaking with Journalists, the choir coordinator of the church, Mr Dare Ikuenayo confirmed that the pastor snatched and impregnated the mother of his three children. He said: “I joined the church in Kabba, Kogi State but one day, the pastor called me and notified me that my wife had a gift of prophesy that I should allow her to stay with him for a month and work for God which I oblige. “But suddenly I noticed that my wife was not even willing to see or talk to me. While I was trying to raise eyebrows, the pastor announced in the church that he had taken my wife and no one could take her from him. “I tried my best but all to no avail until he impregnated her and moved her into his house fully.”   In her testimony, the wife of the pastor, Mrs Mary Abraham said after they came together to Omuo-Ekiti for the aborted heavenly mission, her husband came in one night and asked her to move out because he wanted the wife of the choir coordinator to move in. According to her, “He said the present work in his hand requires the woman to be with him and that was how he forced me out and denied me access to my three children. “He withdrew all of my children from school, and made their lives miserable, I wept when I saw my son yesterday after the police brought him here. I am begging Nigerians to help me take my children from him.” Similarly, one of the pastors working under Abraham, said his son, who was already working in a reputable institution was asked to resign and held hostage. The Pastor said, “Even when I logged in complaint at the police station, I was offered access to two of my three children but on our way home he called them and asked them to run back which they did. “He is always telling us that we have different curses and evil spirits working against us, he would ask us to sell our property and bring the money to him. I have invested almost 7 million in the church, I am left with nothing. Even my children don’t want to see me, I don’t know what he did to them.” Another old woman who is the elder sister to Pastor Abraham alleged that he took almost a million naira from her on different occasions on the account that he wanted to cleanse her of evil spirits. It was also gathered that there are many other complaints against Pastor Abraham with different stories too elaborate and sensitive for media publication. Reacting, Pastor Abraham said the heaven ticket saga was his first assignment, saying he was done with what God had sent him to earth to do and he was ready to go back to his creator. He said he was fulfilled because he had concluded his assignments as directed by God while declining to give any reason for his actions. Meanwhile, the wife of the coordinator whom the founder impregnated is still at large. In a chat with journalists, the spokesman for the Ekiti State Police Command, DSP, Sunday Abutu said the investigation is ongoing in collaboration with NAPTIP, saying the police would revert to the next line of action. Recall that Pastor Abraham was arrested on the 27th of April, 2022 in Omuo-Ekiti after he converged over forty persons in a camp and collected the sum of three hundred and ten thousand Naira from each of them as a ticket fee to heaven but was granted bail at a Magistrate court.

BREAKING: Appeal Court sacks Kano Governor, Abba Yusuf

  The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State. The panel upheld the verdict of the tribunal led by Justice Oluyemi Akintan Osadebay which sacked Yusuf on September 20, 2023. Recall the lower tribunal had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nasir Gawuna, as the lawfully elected candidate in the 18 March election. The three-member panel of judges in the tribunal led by Oluyemi Asadebay, had ruled in favour of the APC candidate. The Nation reports after the 18 March election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes against the APC’s 890,705 to emerge victorious. But the tribunal invalidated over 165,663 ballots thumb printed in favour of NNPP. The court ruled that the votes were deducted because the ballot papers with which they were cast were not stamped or signed. This rendered the votes invalid, according to the tribunal. The tribunal said the petitioner was able to prove the allegation of the invalidity of some of the votes on the grounds that the election was not in compliance with the provision of the Electoral Act, 2022. Therefore, the tribunal ordered that the invalid votes be expunged from Yusuf’s scores. Displeased with the tribunal’s judgement, Yusuf in a notice of appeal dated 2 October 2023, argued that the tribunal erred when it relied on sections 71 and 63 of the Electoral Act, 2022 to invalidate the 165,616 ballot papers returned in his favour. The governor also said the respondent, (the APC) “did not plead with the polling units where the alleged invalid papers ballot papers were used and the tribunal was therefore wrong to accede to cancel the lawful votes”. There was no witness presented by the first respondent to testify as to the use of any of the ballot papers in any polling unit. NNPP argued that the tribunal did not demonstrate in its judgement how it arrived at its decision on 165,616 invalid votes against the appellant. The governor also argued in ground 20, that the tribunal misdirected itself when it went out of the judicial duties by constituting itself into witnesses, investigators and sat as judges. Meanwhile, the ruling is not the last of judicial pronouncement on the election, as the losing party after the Appeal Court ruling is constitutionally allowed to appeal to the Supreme Court, the country’s highest court with the final say on the electoral dispute.