Undergraduate butchers mom, dangles intestines to neighbours

Tragedy struck on Thursday morning in Benin, Edo State, when a 22-year-old man, Caleb Obasogie, reportedly murdered his mother, Josephine Igbineweka, over alleged failure to give him money.

The incident took place at 31A, Iyamu Street, off Textile Mill Road, when the final year Education student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), stabbed his mother with a broken Pepsi bottle.

Trouble was said to have started when Caleb, the last child of the 55-year-old deceased, a liquor seller, demanded for money from her.

But following her inability to give him the money he requested for, the suspect was said to have threatened his mother and locked her outside, following which she had to pass the night in a neighbour’s house.

It was further gathered that when the deceased returned home the following morning, Caleb was said to have locked himself and his mother in one of the rooms in their apartment, stabbed and ripped her stomach with a broken Pepsi bottle.

Eyewitness said the suspect later dangled her mother’s womb and intestines before neighbours who had rush in to rescue her.

When journalists visited the scene of the incident, the four-flat storey building was empty, as the residents were said to have deserted the place for fear of being arrested by the police.

But neighbours of the deceased, including a woman who claimed to have accommodated the deceased overnight when her son locked her out, described the tragedy as unfortunate and horrible.

Three women who identified themselves to journalists as children of the deceased at the Textile Mill Road Police Division, declined comments, saying they did not live with their mother.

The spokesman, Edo Police Command, DSP Moses Nkombe, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect has been arrested and detained at the Textile Mill Road Police Division.

PM NEWS Report

Facebook, Google, Others Confirm Nigeria’s Requests for User Information

 MTN not transparent on information provided
A new report has confirmed what many Nigerians have long suspected to be true: that the federal government is spying on its citizens through the social media and email accounts.

The report titled, “The Growing Trend of African Government’s Requests for User Information and Content Removal from Internet and Telecoms Companies,” was released last month by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) established under the Catalysing Access to Information and Communications Technologies in Africa (CATIA) initiatives funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).

The organisation analysed transparency reports released by telecommunications and social media companies.
The reports by these companies including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Twitter and others showed that there has been a surge in African governments’ requests for user information.

According to the report, African governments’ requests are for subscribers’ data, content preservation, and content removal.

Facebook listed Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Sudan as the African countries that made the highest requests.

The social media giant said that the government of Nigeria had specified the highest number of user information on its user information requests with 113 accounts.

South Africa made 32 requests for user accounts, Egypt (31) and Sudan (24).
Facebook said that Nigeria also made requests for content in six user accounts to be preserved.

It said that Nigeria made requests for 96 users’ information during the second half of 2015, meaning that the requests were made after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015.

The report stated: “It is worth noting that the number of requests to Facebook by African governments is small when compared to the United States of America which made nearly 50,000 user information requests relating to over 80,000 user accounts and 69,437 preservation requests in 2016.
“Facebook’s compliance rate with the U.S.’ requests last year was over 80 per cent.”

Tech giant, Google, also declared that Nigeria in 2015 made requests to it.
Google launched the first transparency report in 2009, followed by Twitter in 2012, and Facebook and Yahoo in 2013.

The report stated: “Since 2013, Google has received user information requests from 10 African countries – Algeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, The Seychelles and South Africa.

“Over three years, Kenya made the highest number of user information requests to Google – 21 relating to 32 user accounts – followed by South Africa and Nigeria.

“Aside from eight requests made by the Kenya government during the second half of 2013 relating to 11 user accounts, of which Google complied with 63 per cent, all the other requests were rejected.
“Nigeria is the only government in Africa to have made a user information request to Google and it was fully complied with.

The emergency disclosure request was made by the Nigerian authorities in the second half of 2016 and it related to five user accounts.
“Google had rejected all of Nigeria’s seven previous requests,” it explained.

Twitter, in its transparency declaration, stated that Nigeria made three emergency requests, of which two were complied with.

It stated that the first request was made in the second half of 2015 while the second was made in the second half of 2016.

Yahoo, however, did not list any request made to it by any African countries.
The report described MTN as not being transparent because it refused to provide details of requests made to it by governments of the 19 countries where it operates in Africa.

The report added: “In its 2016 Annual Sustainability Report, MTN reaffirmed its support for human rights including access to information, freedom of expression, privacy and security of its users’ communications and information.

“However, the telecommunications company, one of the largest service providers in Africa with a presence in 19 countries, provides no information about how it handles requests from governments and private parties for user information or surveillance support.
“Similarly, MTN provides little information about its processes for handling such requests.

“The South Africa based company also does not disclose any data about the number of requests it receives or complies with, which places it a rank lower than the likes of Millicom, Vodafone and Orange when it comes to transparency about its policies relating to users’ freedom of expression and privacy.”

Recently, the Nigerian Army had said it was monitoring social media site as part of its surveillance programme. However, following a backlash, it recanted.

Thisday Report

Police rescue two children from kidnappers in Ibadan hotel

The Ogun State police command has rescued a boy and a girl from a suspected kidnapper. According to the state police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, an Assistant Superintendent of police (ASP), the 28-year-old suspect identified as Abiodun Joseph, allegedly kidnapped a 12-year-old girl, Tobiloba Aleshiloye and a boy, Yussuf Kudus, aged eight.

He said: “The suspect who resides at No. 10, Canaanland, Sango Ota, abducted the two children on September 15, 2017 and took them to unknown place from where he started demanding the sum of N150,000 per child from parents of the abducted children.

“The case was reported to the police at Agbara Division and detectives were detailed to be on the trail of the kidnapper. Technical investigation was conducted, the hideout of the suspect was located in a hotel at Ojoo area of Ibadan, and the place was stormed by detectives, where the suspect was arrested and victims rescued unhurt.

“The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to Anti-kidnapping/Cultist Unit of the Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department, while the two children have been re-united with their parents.

The police boss also appealed to members of the public to take security of their children seriously in order not to make them victims of kidnappers.

Guardian Report

Empty oxygen tank: Report indicts medical workers for death of two-year-old

Some medical personnel at the Ikorodu General Hospital, Lagos State, have been found complicit in the death of a sick two-year-old boy, Christopher Mike-Ozugha.

PUNCH Metro learnt that a panel set up to investigate an allegation bordering on professional negligence raised by Christopher’s parents indicted the workers in its report.

It was learnt that the panel comprised directors from the state Ministry of Health, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria from the Ministry of Justice, and principal officials from the hospital, among others.

Our correspondent had reported that Christopher had difficulty in breathing and was referred from a private hospital, Olive Clime, to the general hospital.

He was admitted to the government facility around 1am on August 20.
The kid was said to have been placed for about 30 minutes on an oxygen tank that had run out of oxygen for before a nurse, who came to examine him, discovered the error.

Although the deceased was transferred to the central oxygen in the hospital ward, the parents said the oversight was discovered too late.

The mother, Esther Mike-Ozugha, had also alleged that a nurse, who was later identified as a caregiver, shunned her each time she drew her attention to Christopher’s deteriorating health.

But an official at the general hospital had said the child had severe bronchopneumonia and malaria, which killed him, adding that he was brought in a bad condition.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, had earlier rejected a report submitted by the hospital management and directed the Health Service Commission to conduct “a full investigation” into the matter.

 A source privy to the investigation of the panel, confided in our correspondent that the parents and medical personnel on duty during Christopher’s admission were invited to a meeting.

He said one of the nurses stated before the panel that she discovered that there was no oxygen in the tank.

The source said, “It was a rigorous session which lasted for about three hours. The medical workers on duty at the time of the incident were interviewed one after another. The parents identified the negligent caregiver.

She denied the allegation, but a preliminary report from the hospital confirmed that she did not respond when the mother of the boy called her attention to the central oxygen that was not working well.

“The nurse admitted to have said that the oxygen tank was empty. But the panel discovered that the tank had not completely run out of oxygen before the boy was transferred to the central oxygen.”

Another source said Esther also told the panel that one of the nurses asked her to buy a pair of gloves before treatment could commence on the boy.

The woman explained that the hospital’s pharmacy had closed by the time she got there to buy the gloves, but a pharmacist in charge of the store gave her some pieces.  She added that the nurse rejected them because they were not sealed.

“The panel also scolded a matron and promised to recommend punishment for those found to have shown poor attitude to work. The panel members pleaded with the parents and sought forgiveness on behalf of the indicted medical personnel.

The parents and others present were enjoined not to speak with the press. The committee had submitted its report to the health commissioner,” the source added.

When contacted, the couple declined comments on the report, saying they had taken solace in God.
The commissioner, Idris, confirmed the receipt of the report and the indictment of some workers.

He said he would meet with the panel on the recommendations they made.
Idris, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone on Friday, did not disclose the recommendations.

He said, “I have seen the report and I am reviewing it. I want to get one or two other independent consultants to look at it. I know that they (the panel) indicted a couple of people and they have to go through the civil service regulations to deal with the matter.

“They have recommended that some workers should be disciplined. I want to discuss with the board (panel) this week on those indicted for one or two things. We will discipline them, but we need to be thorough in case the people decide to go to court.”

Punch Report

Nursing mother sets husband’s 10-year -old brother ablaze in Lagos

A 10-year-old boy,  identified as Chimobi, has been taken into protective custody by the Lagos State Government after his brother’s wife, Gift Igwe, allegedly set him ablaze at their home on Adenugba Street, Agunfoye, Ikorodu.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the offence of the Ishielu, Ebonyi State indigene, was that he misplaced his trousers and could not produce them when Gift demanded them from him.

Residents of the community, who heard the cry of the victim, put out the fire, during which he reportedly passed out.

Chimobi was subsequently rushed to the Ikorodu General Hospital, Ikorodu.
Policemen from the Igbogbo division were said to have arrested the suspect.
Our correspondent learnt that officials of the Office of the Public Defender, who had been monitoring the treatment of Chimobi, took him into custody.

A source told PUNCH Metro that the child was brought to Lagos in 2016 by the brother to start living with his family.

He said since then, Gift had been abusing Chimobi, adding that matter came to a head when she set him ablaze that Wednesday.

He said, “He is the younger brother of the man, who is a security guard in a firm. He was not enrolled in any school after he was brought from the village. The brother wanted him to be assisting the wife, who had a baby about a year ago, with house chores and other things.

“The woman has been abusing him for some time now. There are marks of past floggings on his body. He also has sores.

“People in the community could no longer keep quiet when the last incident happened on Wednesday, September 6. She poured kerosene on the boy and lit him with a matchstick.”

Chimobi, who spoke with our correspondent on Saturday, said he had some education before he was brought to Lagos from Ebonyi.
He explained that his brother and his wife had refused to enrol him in a school since he started living with them.

“I misplaced my trousers and ‘mummy’ (sister-in-law) poured kerosene on me and used a matchstick to light fire. People came to help me. I have not been going to school since they brought me from the village,” he said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, confirmed the incident.
He noted that Gift had been granted bail because of her child, saying she was mandated to be reporting at the police station daily.

He said, “We gathered that the boy was accused of misplacing something and because of that, she got kerosene and set him ablaze. Some Good Samaritans put out the fire. The boy is recuperating.

“When our attention was called to the case, we ensured the prompt treatment of the boy at the Ikorodu General Hospital. We also involved other government agencies, including a human right group working with the police in that area. The suspect was arrested and interrogated.

“She is a nursing mother; she has a child that is less than two years old. She has been admitted to bail with instruction to be reporting daily to the Investigating Police Officer and the Office of the Public Defender, pending the conclusion of investigation.”

The Director of the OPD, Mrs. Olubukola Salami, said the victim had been taken into protective custody.

She said, “This is a case of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and also an abuse of the child. The Government of Lagos state is poised to putting an end to all forms of domestic violence and child abuse. The OPD has been mandated to ensure that justice is done and the perpetrator brought to book for this barbaric act.”

Punch Report

Septuagenarian arrested for raping girl, 6, for three years

A 70-year-old man, Simon Alobu, has been arrested by the Ebonyi State Police Command, for allegedly raping a six-year-old girl in Akpoha Community, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State over the course of three years.

The arrest of the suspect was sequel to a petition written to the police by officials of the Ebonyi State Family Law Centre following a complaint lodged by a relative of the victim after the suspect allegedly confessed to the crime.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the victim, an orphan, has lived with her aunt in Akpoha town since the death of her parents four years ago.

The victim told our correspondent that the suspect lured her and her younger brother to his apartment. He then asked them to help him to prepare a meal, part of which he told they would also eat.

“After preparing the Garri (eba), my younger brother said that he did not want to eat and left the room. He immediately locked the door and raped me after which he used a razor to make a mark on my buttocks,” the girl said.

The victim’s aunt, Mrs. Martha Enya, explained that Alobu first raped her niece in 2014 when the victim was just three years old without anybody knowing.

She said, “I became aware of the first assault in November 2014 when the victim complained of pains in her private part, I asked her what happened, but she could not speak out. After examining her, I took her to a hospital in Afikpo where the rape was confirmed by doctors and she was given medical treatment.

“He sexually assaulted her again in 2015, 2016 and again this year. All efforts to make my niece disclose his identity failed until I took her to a church located in Enugu in August 2017 where she summoned the courage to disclose that it was Simon Alobu that had been raping her in the last three years.

“I raised the alarm in the village. This prompted the elders, youth and villagers to confront Alobu.
“He then confessed that he had been sleeping with the girl all these years. I reported the case to the Ebonyi State Family Law Centre, which then reported the matter to the police.”

Commenting on the case at the police command headquarters in Abakaliki on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer, Lovet Odah, said the suspect was in custody at the command, and had confessed to the crime.

The PPRO confirmed that it was true that the suspect used a razor to lacerate the victim’s buttocks. He added that the command was ready to charge the suspect to court.

Odah said the moment the report of the medical test conducted on the victim was ready, the suspect would be arraigned.

Meanwhile, the wife of the Ebonyi State Governor, Mrs. Rachael Umahi, has expressed sadness over the incident and enjoined the police authorities in the state to ensure that a thorough investigation was conducted to bring the culprit to book.

Umahi, who spoke through her Press Secretary, Mr. Donatus Owoh, warned that her office would not condone any incident of violence against any girl-child in the state.

The Ebonyi State First Lady assured that her office would rehabilitate the victim through her pet project, Family Succour and Upliftment Programme.”

Punch Report

LASG asks CP to produce cobbler detained for years

The Office of the Public Defender, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, has asked the state High Court to prevail on the state police command to produce a cobbler, Shakoor Zaid.

Zaid has been in the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the command in Ikeja for over two years without being allowed access to his mother and relatives or charged to court.

The OPD, in a suit filed before the Lagos State High Court on behalf of Shakoor sought an order compelling the Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, to “unconditionally” admit him to bail.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the 33-year-old was arrested on April 17, 2015, in his residence on Afolabi Alasia Street, Ijora Badia, by SARS operatives who raided the area after a fight. The police accused him of participating in the fight.

In the March 22, 2017, report, Shakoor’s mother, Jumoke Zaid, explained how one Sergeant Godwin Ogedengbe, the Investigating Police Officer, and his colleagues, prevented her from seeing her son.

She alleged that the operatives collected N2,000 from her each time he visited the SARS office in anticipation of speaking with Shakoor.

Jumoke had said, “Shakoor was arrested inside his apartment. His brother and I went to the SARS office in Ikeja. We met one policeman, Ade, aka Bullet. He said Ogedengbe was investigating the case and that guns and cutlasses were recovered from the scene of the fight. Bullet said somebody told them to waste Shakoor.

“I went there several times, but they didn’t allow me to see him. Relatives of other suspects arrested with Shakoor were allowed to see them. Each time I went there, I paid N2,000 for his feeding. At a point, they stopped collecting money from me.

“On June 26, 2015, the six other persons were arraigned in court. I asked Ogedengbe why my son was not arraigned, but he did not give me any answer. At a point, he started avoiding me. He told me to meet his uncle, Mr. Rilwan Zaid, if I wanted my son to be freed.”
However, the uncle had denied instigating Shakoor’s arrest.

After failed attempts to see her son, the woman said he had petitioned the OPD in 2016 and a lawyer was assigned to handle the case. She, however, said the lawyer was indifferent to the matter.

Our correspondent gathered that the OPD invited Jumoke after The PUNCH’s report and another lawyer, O. A. Azeez, was assigned to handle the matter.

In an application, dated September 11, 2017, with suit number 30946/2017, filed at the high court, the counsel affirmed that the police “have no power to detain the applicant (Shakoor) without filing formal charges for more than two years.”

The suit was served on the respondents – the CP and the OC SARS – through the Officer-in-Charge of Legal, State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba.

The counsel invoked Section 1, Habeas Corpus Law of Lagos State, CAP H1, Law of Lagos State, 2015, as well as Section 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

He sought the orders “that a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum be issued to compel the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State to produce the body of Shakoor Zaid before this honourable court to explain the justification for his continued detention.”

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, promised to get back to our correspondent with comment on the suit, but he had yet to do so as of press time.

Punch Report

Police rescue couple in Ikorodu shrine

The police yesterday demolished six shrines  at Agbowa, a Lagos suburb.

They arrested James Adedeji, owner of one of the shrines in whose premises a couple were said to have been rescued on Tuesday night.

Acting Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal, who led reporters to the shrines yesterday, said  their demolition was part of efforts to clampdown on ritualists and fraudsters, who establish such places for criminal purposes.

 Edgal said the police received intelligence report of illegality at the demolished shrines, adding that they had the backing of all the traditional rulers in the district to pull them down.

Edgal said the police discovered that most of the people who had gone missing or fallen victim to ‘one-chance’ buses usually ended up at shrines in that axis, where some are murdered or fleeced.

He said: “We had the backing of all the traditional rulers in Ikorodu to demolish individually owned shrines that are used to perpetrate crime. Some of those shrines are used for ritual purposes. Others were established by fraudsters with the intent to commit crime.

“So, these six we have demolished were identified as a result of the police and community partnership. We received information from members of the community and we carried out our own findings too.

“I can tell you that as of Tuesday night, when we were still surveying the places, a husband and wife were rescued in one of the shrines. They fell victim and they had been told they would be killed. They were very grateful when the police came to their aid.

“We have arrested an owner. I use this opportunity to appeal to the public to have confidence in the police. They should provide us with valuable information that would lead to the rounding up of all those criminals.

The Nation Report

Another container of 475 arms uncovered in Tin Can port

Tin Can Island Command of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) yesterday uncovered another container suspected to contain yet another cache of arms imported from Turkey. This is coming about a week after the command intercepted a 20-foot container laden with 1,100 pump action rifles.

The container with number, CMAU189817/8 is believed to contain about 475 sets of pump-action riffles. The latest container, which was discovered during the profiling of the importer of the 1,100 pump action rifles, also  found out that it belongs to the same importer.

This recent interception in Tin Can Port, is the fourth this year. On March 10, 2017, customs intercepted 661 pump action riffles and on May 23 another 440 pump action rifles were intercepted. On September 11, yet a set of pump action rifles were intercepted. 

The container with 661 rifles was intercepted along Apapa-Oshodi  Expressway  after it was duly cleared from the Tin Can Port but the other three were intercepted before they were cleared. All the items were said to have come from Turkey.

A source told Daily Sun that the rifles were concealed with small connecting pipes. “The container is owned by the same importer of the 1,100 guns. After a detailed profiling of the importer ordered by the Area Controller, it was discovered that he still has another container inside the port. 

So, officers were asked to fish out the container for examination. But I don’t know why they are hiding the identity of the importer. 

When contacted, the National Public Relations Officer of the service, Joseph Attah, said a container was suspected and it has not been examined to know what is inside.

“Let’s not speculate about arms, please. A container is being suspected and examination will reveal whatever is inside,” he pleaded.

On September 11, 2017, the service intercepted 1100 pump action rifles in the Port. Addressing newsmen, the Controller General of Customs (CGC), Colonel Hameed Ali said that the consignment was concealed in a container number GESU2555208  and the bill of lading  falsely indicated the  content to be wash-hand basins and water  closets.

He explained that the culprits of the previous seizures are now facing court trial and the customs officers involved have been dismissed.

The types of rifles, he said, include Jojef magnum black pump action (600 pieces), Jojef Magnum silver pump action rifles (300 pieces) and Jojef Magnum plastic single barrels hunting gun pump action rifles (200 pieces).

Ali said that what aroused the suspicion of the officers was that the container was not originally listed for examination but was positioned with other containers for the day’s examination and its seal already cut and padlocked.

This   action made the examination officers to immediately transfer the container to the enforcement unit where examination revealed its illicit contents. However, one officer of the service alleged to have authorised the cutting of the seal and the terminal clerk have been arrested and are undergoing investigation.

Daily Sun Report

ULC strike: NNPC cautions Nigerians against panic buying

…As strike fails to make impact     
…ULC says it’s successful

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday warned Nigerians against panic buying of petroleum products in compliance to the strike threat by the United Labour Congress (ULC), stressing it has enough stock of products to meet national need.

This is even as the strike purported to have commenced yesterday failed to have any visible impact on the masses and businesses as Nigerians went about their daily activities without any disruption.
But the ULC President, Joe Ajaero, said the strike in its first day recorded huge success in the target the centre set for itself to achieve.

The NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement in Abuja, said the Corporations had sufficient Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, in stock to serve the nation for 48 days.

He said, “similarly, there is in stock, sufficient quantity of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) as well as Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) to serve the country.

“Motorists are further enjoined to report any challenge they may have in the course of purchasing any of these products to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The DPR is statutorily empowered to deal with such issues and has offices located in all parts of the country,’’ Ughamadu said.

NNPC assured that government was working to arrive at an amicable resolution of outstanding issues with the industry unions.

The ULC had threatened the Federal Government it would go on strike from Monday if its 11-point demand was not met. It is demanding, among others, that the Federal Government should stop stationing soldiers and policemen in its workplaces.

However, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Federal Ministry of Labour have insisted that the ULC was “fake”since it has not been recognised by government.

For his part, Ajaero insisted that the ULC would press on with the strike. “Our refusal to get distracted forced the ULC to press on with the strike as earlier proposed and we want to thank God that we have far exceeded our target for the first day.

The overwhelming response by Nigerian workers and the solidarity which Nigerian masses have shown to our call has emboldened us.

, encouraging us to work harder to make the second day even more impactful.‎”
He noted that the unfortunate turn was foisted on them by the recalcitrant nature of the Federal Government in refusing to meet their legitimate demands made available to the government nearly two months ago.

‎He added: “We have adopted a gradual and systematic approach in implementing this strike in order to reduce the suffering that may be foisted on Nigerian workers and masses if we apply the whole weight at the same time‎.”

Ajaero, however, warned that the compliance level will be tighter from today and would regrettably increase as the strike is allowed by the Federal Government to continue from day to day.

Meanwhile, the NNPC, in another statement on the Apapa Jetty fire incident, which occurred in the early hours of Monday, said the fire incident would not affect supply of petroleum products.

“Already, NNPC has deployed a team of engineers to the jetty, while repair of the affected parts would commence immediately. The fire was sparked from the activities of hoodlums who were scooping fuels spilled from ships discharging fuels at the jetty.”

NNPC said its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, had been briefed on the incident. “Dr. Baru described the occurrence as unfortunate but reiterated that the NNPC had more than 1.6 billion litres of PMS, enough to last the nation 48 days.”

Daily Sun Report

Prophet laments LASG’s neglect after militants shoot family

A prophet, Babatunde Ojo, has lamented the neglect of his family by the Lagos State Government after an attack by suspected militants in the Ikorodu area of the state led to the death of four policemen, an army captain, a chief security officer and a resident.

Babatunde’s brother, Paul Olorunmaye, was among the dead, just as the cleric and his three-year-old daughter, Ewa, also sustained gunshot injuries.

The 37-year-old noted that he wouldn’t have bothered the government but for the increasing medical bill of his wife, Bukola, whose two legs were shattered by bullets during the attack.

PUNCH Metro had reported that suspected militants attacked Ishawo, Ikorodu, in April 2017, and while abducting some residents, the police and army operatives intervened.

During the ensuing shootout, four policemen from the Owutu Police Division and the army captain were killed.

Babatunde, who was in the police van conveying the rescued residents to safety, said the militants suddenly opened fire on the van, leading to the death of his brother, Olorunmaye, who were both in the van.

He said the 22-year-old was brought from their hometown in Omu-Ekiti, in the Oye council area of Ekiti State, in 2015 and was assisting his wife at her shop in Ikorodu before tragedy struck.

The cleric said while he (Babatunde) was hit by a bullet in the leg, his three-year-old daughter was shot in the buttocks, adding that his wife had her two legs shattered.

He said, “Those people (militants) could not be less than 400. They wore military camouflage and jackboots. They had some charms around their necks.

“Since the incident, we have been at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. Many thought all my family members were dead. We have buried my brother. My daughter, who was hit in the buttocks, survived miraculously. I have also recovered.

“But my wife’s condition is critical because she was hit in the two legs. Her right leg’s bone broke into two. She underwent an operation that cost about N500,000, aside money for drugs and other tests.”

Babatunde said his family was advised to seek government support, adding that efforts to get an audience with the state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, had been abortive.

He said the immediate family members of late Olorunmaye later called to say they heard that he had collected N5m from the government.

The cleric said the information prompted him to make enquiries, adding that he heard that government compensated some families who lost their members in the incident.

He appealed for government’s help, saying his wife had been scheduled for another operation which he could not afford.

“We have been discharged. But when we went for a checkup last Friday at the Orthopaedic Department of LASUTH, a doctor said the bullets had affected the bone on the right leg and an operation was needed to correct it. He said the operation would cost N250,000.

“We have spent close to N2m already. I have borrowed money from different people, including church members. We don’t even have a roof over our head because we have abandoned our house in fear. I am in anguish and my wife is in pain. Only urgent help will make a difference in our situation,” he said.

The mobile phone of the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, rang out, and he had yet to respond to a text message on the incident as of the time of filing this report.

Punch Report

‘I saw big men come for body parts in kidnapper’s den’

After 11 days in kidnappers’ den, 18-year-old Mary Olaniyan, a student of the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, has a lot to be thankful for.

According her, if not for divine intervention, she might have become a human to be carved up as body parts for ritual killers.

The young lady narrated her miraculous escape from a forest she found herself after she became unconscious in a cab she boarded in front of the school gate on September 1, 2017.

The year one student, who lives outside the campus, said after finishing lectures on campus that day, she was heading home when she boarded the kidnappers’ vehicle at about 6.30pm outside the main gate of the college along the Ondo-Ore highway.

According to her, four men were already seated in the vehicle painted in Ondo State taxi colours.

Olaniyan said, “I boarded the taxi alongside a lady at the same location and two other men. The two of the men were going to Yaba in Ondo town.

“As soon as I boarded the vehicle I became unconscious and by the time I regained my consciousness, I found myself in a building located inside a thick forest. I didn’t know the exact town where the forest is located but it is a very thick forest.

“I discovered that there were two guys and three ladies that had already been kidnapped and kept inside the building in the forest. The three men that kidnapped us were there  too.”

Her 11 days in the forest was an experience she said she could only describe as hell.

Looking conspicuously emaciated and frail, Olaniyan, is still shaken, days after her escape.

She shed tears as she narrated that she drank only water for the 11 days she spent in the captivity.

“The men did not give us food for the time we were there, they were giving us only water,” she said.

Olaniyan did not describe her abductors as mere kidnappers who kidnap for ransom.

She explained that it became clear that they dealt in human parts.

She narrated that they killed their victims and sold their body parts to “big men” customers many of whom she saw visiting the camp in expensive cars.

 “I saw strange men coming in big vehicles to collect some things in cellophane bags. I knew it had to be human flesh,” she said.

On how she escaped from the hands of her captors, Olaniyan described her freedom as divine, saying she escaped while they (captors) were quarrelling with one another. She said she used the opportunity of the fight of her abductors to escape, alongside other victims, into the bush.

“Fight broke out among the kidnappers over money. The money was given to them by one of their customers, who came and left with something they put in a cellophane bag too.

“They did not watch us as they fought. That was when we used the opportunity to run out of the building in the forest.” Olaniyan stated.

She said she trekked for three days in the forest until she got to Ile-Oluji-Ipetu Ijesa Road, where she met a lady on the road and asked for directions to Ondo town.

Olaniyan was then told that she was close to Ile-Oluji. Soon after trekking along the road, she explained that she got to Igbo Oja village near Ondo where she made efforts to reach her mother on the mobile phone she begged to use from a resident.

Since the abduction of Olaniyan, two other students of the college – Blessing Oladepo and Mary Oluwasemilore – have been declared missing after they were suspected to have been kidnapped.

 A  few days ago, some of the kidnappers,who were arrested by the men of the Ondo State Police Command, confessed to be behind abduction of the female students of the institution.

However, Olaniyan in her own case was lucky to have escaped from the den of the hoodlums following what she described as a divine intervention.

The Public Relations Officer of the Adeyemi College of Education, Mrs. Seto Olatuyi, said Olaniyan is a 100-level student in the History Department of the institution and school authorities declared her missing when her friends could not locate her.

Reacting to the development, the Provost of the College, Prof. Olukoya Ogen, expressed gratitude for Olaniran’s safe return and warned the students to always be vigilant in their movements.

As of the time of filing this report, Olaniyan was still receiving treatment at a hospital.

Punch Report