‘We chained businessman inside toilet for four days’

Three suspects, who allegedly kidnapped a Lagos businessman, Alhaji Hammed Fashola, have narrated how they chained the victim and kept him inside a toilet for four days.

PUNCH Metro had reported on Monday, November 24, that the Lagos State Police Command arrested two brothers ─ Kelvin and Victor Igah ─ and Mr. Chukwuma Kingsley for allegedly kidnapping Fashola near his residence in Egbeda, Lagos on November 13.

It was reported that the three suspects were arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad from their hideout on Odeniyi Ishola Street, Isheri-Oshun, Lagos four days later, while Fashola was rescued by the police.

While being paraded at the command headquarters on Wednesday, 39-year-old Kelvin said two gang members, who brought Fashola to the hideout, claimed he owed them a sum of money, which they wanted him to pay by force.

Kelvin, who is married with two children, added that the gang chained 55-year-old Fashola and locked him up inside a toilet for the four days he spent with them.

He said, “I was the one assigned to stay with Alhaji (Fashola). On that Thursday, Ike and Odogwu drove Alhaji to my house in Isheri-Oshun. They used my house as the hideout. They said the man owed them some money, and they wanted to make him pay it.

“He spent four days with us. I was the one who chained him inside the toilet. I was also bringing him food for the days he spent.”

Kelvin, who said he was a labourer, added that they had yet to collect the demanded ransom of N20m before the police arrested them.

In his own confession, Kingsley, 43, from Isele-Ukwu, Delta State, said his role was to monitor Fashola’s movement on the day he was abducted by the gang.

He said, “I was assigned to monitor Alhaji’s movement on that Thursday and inform the gang. Once they captured him, I did not follow them to the hideout. I was arrested by the police when the gang named me.

“I was working with a private security company in Apapa, Lagos. I first met Ike and Odogwu in 2006 at a place in the Anthony area. I was promised a sum of N150,000 if I participated.”

Also, Kelvin’s wife, Ogechi, told PUNCH Metro that she truly heard the screams of the victim in their toilet but was warned by her husband not to go near the room.

She said, “I did not know it was a businessman they kept inside the toilet. I was instructed not to go there. We have three toilets in the house and they locked him up in one of them.

“Whenever the gang members were around, my husband would ask me to go inside with the children. I did not know they kidnapped the man. I knew my husband as a casual worker. My husband said it was one of his bosses who kept the man there. The only mistake I made was that I did not report to the police.”

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Cornelius Aderanti, while confirming the incident, said efforts were on to arrest other fleeing gang members.

“The suspects have confessed to a series of kidnappings within the Lagos metropolis. Efforts are on to arrest other fleeing members,” he said.

Source: Punch

Suicide bombers attack Maiduguri market, kill 59

“Maiduguri is gradually being captured. Its location is almost in the middle of Borno State and only the Maiduguri-Damaturu axis of the roads leading to it can boast of relative calm.”
These were the words of Jack Vince, a Maiduguri, Borno State-based freelance journalist shortly after a male and female suicide bombers detonated Improvised Explosive Devices at the city’s market on Tuesday.

About 59 people died and 92 others injured in the attacks which occurred at 11. 23 am.
Thirty five of the corpses, according to medical sources, were deposited at the mortuary of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
The remaining 24 corpses were taken to the state specialist hospital in the troubled city.
A military source told our correspondent   that the female bomber was the first to detonate her IED, “killing herself and some traders and their customers who were near her.”

He added, “Just as people gathered around her corpse and few other people that died in the first explosion, the male bomber   detonated the explosive on him.   No one can give you the exact casualty now but   over 50   people were killed and many have been rushed to hospital.”
Earlier, some traders at the market had claimed that the attacks were carried out by two female suicide bombers believed to be members of Boko Haram.

One of them, Abba Kolo, said he counted “more down 40 corpses.”
   “As I am talking to you we are still trying to rescue the injured and evacuate the corpses of almost   60 traders and people who came to purchase things in the market.”
A youth vigilante,     Hassan Ibrahim, however claimed that the female attacker kept a parcel in a shop on One-Way, a commercial area beside the popular market, which detonated as she made to walk away.

“As people were still wondering what happened and trying to rescue the injured, another bomber in the same area   detonated a bomb planted on his body. This claimed so many lives.”
A trader,   Ali Bukar, said, “They were two suicide bombers. The first detonated an IED,   killing herself and many people. But   as traders and their customers were running for their lives, the other bomber detonated his own, killing   many more.   I saw about 14 tricycles evacuating corpses to the hospital.”

A worker at the UMTH said “about 35 corpses and 42 injured persons were brought to our facility”.
The   state’s Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary   and Executive Secretary Hospital Management Board,   Salisu   Bura, told Governor Kashim Shettima   that 24 corpses were deposited at the hospital.
He also told the governor, who visited   the victims at the State Specialist Hospital, that 54 people were admitted.

“Out of this number, 14 of them who were critically injured have been referred to the UMTH for proper treatment while 20 have been discharged.”
Our correspondent however gathered that one of the injured, a 14-year-old boy, died after.
Shettima described the bombers as “wicked” and wondered why they had chosen   traders and children as their targets.
Journalists were not allowed to take pictures of the site of the explosions by security agents.
A photojournalists with the Daily Trust, Tunji Omirin, who was nearly beaten up by soldiers   had his camera seized.

The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Gideon Jubrin, did not give the number of the casualties.
“I can confirm to you that there were explosions at the Maiduguri Monday Market today(Tuesday) but I cannot give you details now as our men and the military are on ground to bring back order,’ he told journalists on the telephone.

Jubrin added, “Whatever figures you heard from the hospital source are their own figures, but as you know, we are still evacuating corpses. We have   yet to count the corpses. This is a sad situation, I will update you whenever we are able to clear the scene and know the casualty figure.”
There was however high security alert in Maiduguri   after the explosions.
Armed security operatives were seen screening vehicles, thereby     causing traffic jam on major roads in the town.
People were also subjected to serious screening before being allowed into public premises in the troubled town.

It was however gathered that the security threat might not be unconnected with suspected infiltration of the internally displaced persons camp in the town by Boko Haram insurgents.
A member of the youth vigilante group, who spoke to our correspondent under condition of anonymity said, “It is believed that   insurgents followed the IDPs into town. They ( insurgents) even slaughtered two people in one of the camps and they have been going about wreaking havoc in some parts of the state.”
Source: Punch

Court voids charges against Nyanya bomber

ABUJA—A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, struck out the three-count terrorism charge preferred against Aminu Ogwuche, the alleged mastermind of the April 14, 2014 bomb blast that killed more than 75 persons and injured 120 others at a crowded motor park in Nyanya Abuja.
The charges was entered against him by the Inspector-General of Police.
In his ruling yesterday, Justice Ademola Adeniyi struck out the matter for want of diligent prosecution by the police.

However, the court gave the Department of State Services, DSS, the nod to retain the accused person in its custody until December 5 when it will hear an application seeking his release on bail.
While adjourning the matter, Justice Adeniyi directed the DSS to allow a team of three lawyers representing the accused person; his wife and one of his family members to periodically visit him in the detention cell.

The court further ordered that the accused be given medical attention and treatment in custody, adding that the DSS should not hesitate to transfer him to the National Hospital should the need arise.
Plans to arraign Ogwuche on September 26 failed because of bickering between the DSS and Police over which of them should be allowed to conduct the trial.
Following a heated argument that ensued between lawyers from the two security agencies, Justice Adeniyi adjourned to enable the Federal Government put its house in order.
The government had in its bid to expedite the process of extraditing the accused person from Sudan where he fled to shortly after the terrorist attack, entered the three-count charge that was struck out yesterday.

DSS, Police fight for control
The charge which was endorsed by the IGP was still pending before the court when the accused person was successfully extradited to the country with the help of the Interpol in Sudan.
Meanwhile, upon taking custody of the accused person, the DSS approached the court for an order permitting it to retain him in detention until conclusion of investigations into the matter.
Following the DSS application which was filed before another judge of the high court, the agency was granted 90 days to conduct and conclude its investigations.
Though Police lawyer, Mr. Oloye Torugbene, had on July 9, made frantic efforts to dock the accused person, he was opposed by the DSS lawyer, Mr. Clifford Osagie, who drew the attention of the court to the 90 days order of the sister court, noting that the investigative period had yet to elapse.
Osagie urged the Police to withdraw the pending charge, which he said was only drafted for the purpose of extraditing the accused person to the country, a request that was ignored.

How the case progressed
Ogwuche had in an ex-parte application he filed through Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), told the court that since July 15, 2014, when he was arrested in Khartoum, Sudan and extradited to Nigeria, the Federal Government has neither arraigned, tried nor granted him administrative bail despite several demands.
Premising his application on Sections 34, 35, 36, 41 and 43 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Articles 2, 6, 7(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right (Ratification & Enforcement Act), Ogwuche told the court that he has been denied access to his family members, medical personnel and counsel.

“The applicant is a Nigerian citizen and a student of the International University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan. The applicant is a decent young man of 29 years trying to forge ahead academically with hopes of a brilliant future. He has no criminal record.
“That on July 15, 2014, the applicant was abducted in Khartoum, Sudan, brought to Nigeria by the respondents and has since been in custody of the respondents.
“That on May 2, 2014, some officers and men of the 1st Respondent invaded the family’s private apartment at No 7, Paul Adimagu Close, Malali, GRA, Kaduna seeking information in connection with a telephone line- 08163311384 owned by Jamilu Sadiq.

“Jamilu Sadiq was subsequently arrested with three other domestic staff and detained in the 1st Respondent’s quarters from 2nd to 7th May, 2014. They were, however, released as nothing incriminating was credited to their record.
“The Respondents further requested to know the whereabouts of the applicant as a student of the International University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan.
“The applicant since his arrest and detention has been denied access to his family members, medical personnel or counsel.

“That unless this ex-parte application is granted in the interim and as a matter of urgency (pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion) the respondent will continue to violate the applicant’s rights which are guaranteed under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.
“That the health of the applicant is under serious threat having not seen his medical personnel for about 12 weeks.
“That the grant of this interim application will reduce the hardship being meted out on the applicant by his continued detention by the respondents, particularly the 1st Respondent’s refusal to grant the applicant access to his solicitor, physician and family members”, Raji begged the court through an affidavit in support of the motion.
More so, he among others applied for, “an interim order granting bail to the applicant or releasing the applicant forthwith conditionally or unconditionally, pending the determination of the substantive originating motion in this matter.” Joined as 1st and 2nd Respondents in the motion were the DSS and the Attorney General of the Federation.

The charge against Ogwuche
Ogwuche was, in the charge that was struck out, alleged to have conspired with others (at large), to commit an act of terrorism by detonating improvised explosive devices at Nyanya Motor Park, which resulted in the death of 75 persons and injuring more than 100 other persons.
Count two of the charge read: “That you, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, Male, and others now at large, on the 14th of April, 2014 at Nyanya, FCT, Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did facilitate the activities of persons engaged in an act of terrorism, by detonating improvised explosive devices at the Nyanya motor park which resulted in the death of 75 persons and injuring more than 100 other persons.”
The alleged offences were said to be punishable under Sections 1 (2) (d) and 17 of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act of 2013.

I ‘ll kill more infidels –Ogwuche
Shortly after his extradition and arrival at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on July 15, the alleged mastermind of the Nyanya bomb blast had boasted that he was still lusting to shed more blood of those he described as “infidels.”
“If I am left alone, I will still kill those infidels who have refused to repent of their sins against Allah. This is my mission on earth. My mission is to wipe out infidels from the face of the earth. You call me bomb detonator, and I love that. I am ready to kill again. In fact, I enjoy killing people who are unbelievers; those deceived by western education and disobedient to Allah and His Holy Koran. I don’t care what will happen to me now because if I die, I shall go to heaven for doing God’s work. I won’t beg anybody for forgiveness but I can assure you that my so-called trial will not be an easy exercise. If I like, I plead not guilty in court to make things difficult for the Federal Government but inside my mind, I know I did the damn thing. It is my word against Federal Government evidence. I know a little bit about the intricacies of the law through the study of several law books. Nobody can push me around because I am not a fool,” said Ogwuche who was born in the United Kingdom.
Regaling his interrogators with gory tales of his exploits in the world of violence, Ogwuche said he and hundreds of Boko Haram members were trained in Somalia and Pakistan in the science of terrorism.

“I don’t deny that we have links with foreign terrorist groups. We have many friends as well as may enemies. It doesn’t matter if I am killed others will continue the struggle. There are millions of Boko Haram members in Nigeria and overseas. Was our great leader Mohammed Yusuf not killed, did his death lead to the end of the Boko Haram? We are determined to start a big jihad across the nation, first, wait and see. Our is something like spiritual revolution. When they arrested Kabiru Sokoto, they celebrated as if Boko Haram is all about Kabiru Sokoto. That is how they celebrated the death of Yusuf Mohammed. They will keep celebrating individuals while million agents of Boko Haram operate,” he said.

Source: Vanguard

‘B’Haram slits throats of some, tied hands and legs of others before throwing them into the lake’

MAIDUGURI — Suspected Boko Haram extremists ambushed and slaughtered 48 fish vendors near Nigeria’s border with Chad, the head of their association said, the latest violence to hit the country’s volatile northeast.

“Scores of Boko Haram fighters blocked a route linking Nigeria with Chad near the fishing village of Doron Baga on the shores of Lake Chad on Thursday and killed a group of 48 fish traders? on their way to Chad to buy fish,” Abubakar Gamandi, head of the fish traders association, told AFP.
Gamandi said that after setting up a barricade at Dogon Fili, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Doron Baga in Borno state, the attackers stopped a convoy of fish vendors around midday, silently slaughtering some and drowning others in the lake.

“The Boko Haram gunmen slit the throats of some of the men and tied the hands and legs of the others before throwing them into the lake to drown,” Gamandi told AFP by telephone from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
It was unclear if the motive for the gruesome attack was robbery or if there were other reasons for the killings. Boko Haram has at times targeted residents seemingly indiscriminately in its deadly insurgency.

Doron Baga, 180 kilometres from Maiduguri, is the base of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), comprising troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger fighting the Islamist group.
The MNJTF was formed in 1998 to fight trans-border crime but its mandate has been expanded as part of efforts to tame the Boko Haram insurgency in the region.
Gamandi claimed the assailants killed all of their victims without using their guns.
“The attackers killed their victims silently without the use of the gun to avoid attracting attention from the multi-national troops,” he said.
News of the attack was slow to emerge due to the destruction of mobile phone towers in the area by Boko Haram in previous attacks.

A military officer in Maiduguri confirmed it but said details were sketchy.
“We heard of the attack near Doron Baga but we don’t have any details because the area falls under the operational jurisdiction of the MNJTF,” the military officer said.

‘Barbaric act’ –
In nearby Niger, visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Walls condemned “a new barbaric act” by what he called “a terrorist organisation”.
“This is a new illustration of the threat posed by this group, this sect, on the people of Nigeria as well as those of neighbouring countries,” he said.
Incessant Boko Haram attacks have disrupted fishing and farming along the shores of Lake Chad. Fishermen from Doron Baga have been forced to abandon fishing and have turned to importing dried fish from neighbouring Chad.

Gamandi said the Dogon Fili route provided the safest passage for traders from Doron Baga to Chad as other routes are infested with Boko Haram gunmen who rob and kill travellers.
Last December at least seven fishermen were killed when Boko Haram Islamists attacked Doron Baga in a nighttime raid that left many homes burnt.
In August, the Islamists raided Dogon Baga and kidnapped 97 people after killing 28 villagers.
The hostages, including women and children, were loaded on speed boats and ferried across the lake into Chad.

Chadian troops rescued 85 of the hostages when they intercepted a convoy of buses transporting them from the shores.
More than 13,000 people have been killed since the insurgency began in 2009 and Boko Haram is now said to be in control of more than two dozen towns in Nigeria’s northeast in its quest for a hardline Islamic state.

The Islamists have made major gains over the past 18 months and violence has continued at a relentless pace in three northeastern states that had long been under a state of emergency.
The emergency measures expired this week and President Goodluck Jonathan, who is running for re-election in February, has yet to get a parliamentary approval for an extension.

In Lagos, Nigeria’s main opposition party claimed Sunday that security agents had ransacked its office in Lagos, arresting workers and seizing documents, in the latest flareup ahead of February elections.

Source: Vanguard

75-yr-old impregnates 13-yr-old girl - Says ‘I only slept with her twice’

THE Yoruba proverb which says that one does not need a complete set of teeth to break a hard bone, once the few ones present in the mouth can do the job, aptly describes Pa Muse Alabi both literally and metaphorically. Most of the teeth of the 75-year-old man are missing. This has made the front and the two sides of the laughter chamber to cave in. But Pa Alabi is still going strong in meat consumption – both animal and human.

He is not a cannibal as some readers must have quickly assumed. He is simply a lady’s man and goes for young or old, single or married. However, he has bitten more than he could chew as he is currently at the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Oyo State Police Command, where the anti-social behaviour unit is investigating a case of defilement of a 13-year-old girl (name withheld) allegedly committed by the old man, and which has resulted in pregnancy.

Crime Reports learnt that Pa Alabi was doing carpentry work for a lady under whom the victim was an apprentice. The young girl seized the opportunity to tell Pa Alabi to build a safe for her. After giving her the safe, Pa Alabi wooed the girl and she agreed to his proposal. After the first sexual intercourse they had, it was learnt that the suspect gave the girl N200. When she also demanded for a handset, he gave her N1,500 to buy i-tel phone.

Four days after, they made love again. Both times were in September this year. But the grandmother of the girl was said to have noticed recently that she was showing signs of pregnancy. Though she denied, she secretly went to her lover to inform him. To her surprise, Pa Alabi demanded to know how she could be pregnant since he only had sex with her twice.

The girl decided to keep to herself and would not talk to Pa Alabi whenever he went to her mistress’s shop. This was said to have prompted the man to inform the mistress that her apprentice was pregnant for him, warning against the abortion of his unborn child. Shocked, the mistress informed the girl’s grandmother who, in turn, told the girl’s mother. Eventually, word got to the girl’s elder sister who went to a police station on Saturday, November 15 to lodge a complaint and Pa Alabi was promptly arrested.

A police source informed Crime Reports that the suspect’s neighbours said it was in the old man’s character to go after under-aged girls. The ultrasound scan carried out revealed the expected delivery date of the girl as July 7, 2015 meaning she is two months pregnant. Strangely, the girl was reported to have never menstruated before the pregnancy.

In an interview with Crime Reports, Pa Alabi admitted having sex with the girl and the paternity of the baby. He also agreed to marry her and take care of her and the baby when born. According to the man who lives at his family house at Oje area, “I am a carpenter and I still work till the present time. I even take roofing jobs. I am very strong.

“I have two daughters and a son. My first wife gave birth to the female children but had to be taken away by her people when she developed mental illness. My second wife is the mother of the boy who is an SSS3 student but she has left for another man. Currently, I have no wife.”
So how does he satisfy his sexual needs when it looks as if he is very active? Crime Reports asked. Pa Alabi replied: “I don’t go looking for any woman. I usually have sex with any of the married women who like me and come to me for sex. This is not always though.”

Speaking on how he came in contact with his victim, the elderly man said: “I used to do carpentry work for her boss who sells tailoring materials. That was where I knew her. One day, she asked me to help her build a safe in which she could be keeping her money. When I finished it, I asked her to come to my shop for the safe late one evening and I gave it to her.
“She used to pass by my shop whenever she was going home and used to stop by to greet me. On a particular day, I expressed my interest in her and she promised to think about it. She later consented and on one of the days she stopped to say hello to me, we had sex when I had an urge. And it was mutual. About five days after the first time, we had sex again and she stopped coming.
 “One day, she came to me and told me that her grandmother said she was pregnant. She stopped coming again and I didn’t see her again until policemen came to arrest me.”

When asked whether he knew that his action was in contravention of the law, Pa Muse replied that he didn’t know, describing the outcome of his relationship with the young girl as “an act of God”. He said: “Mistake has no master. I pray that God should forgive me.”
The suspect said he doesn’t use any sex performance enhancement drug before making love to a female. “I don’t take any herbal drink for enhancement of sexual performance. They are alcoholic and I don’t take alcohol as a good Muslim. I observe my five-times-daily prayers faithfully.”

Pa Alabi said he was ready to take responsibility over the pregnant girl and the baby she is expecting. “I can take care of her adequately. I have a nephew who is a medical doctor and he has promised to help too,” he stated.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Okuwobi-Ilobanafor however said that the suspect would be charged to court.
Source:Tribune