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Anambra Police Nab 6 Suspects For Kidnapping, Robbery

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The police in Anambra State, weekend, arrested six members of a notorious criminal gang that have been terrorising Eziowelle community in Idemili North Local Government Area of the state and its environs for long.

Recovered from members of the gang were three pump action rifles, one barretta pistol, ammunition and other incriminating items, which they used for their deadly operations.

It was gathered that the criminals were rounded up after the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, received reports about their criminal activities in the area.

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Police sources said members of the notorious gang have, for long, been using an illegal vigilante group to kidnap, rob, intimidate and harass people in the community.

READ ALSO: Edo: Police Arrest Two Suspected Kidnappers After Collecting N5m Ransom

They were also alleged to have broken into homes of prominent individuals in the community, stole property, raped female members of their families and kidnapped others, who would later be forced to part with huge sums of money as ransom.

Sources said a prominent man in the area, who claimed to be a pastor also controls his gang that has been indulging in criminal acts in Eziowelle for long with the tacit support of some leaders of the community, who always claim to have contacts with security agencies in both Anambra State and Abuja that will protect them.

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According to sources, they made the town so hot that many indigenes, both in Nigeria and abroad, ran away for fear of being kidnapped and forced to pay ransom.

READ ALSO: Bandits Kidnap 2 Policemen; Kill 2 Villagers, Abduct 32 Others In Niger

It was learned that some of their victims were abducted at midnight, taken to offices of some security agencies, where they were tortured, harassed and intimidated into parting with huge sums of money.

Sources said when report of their criminal activities was received by the Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, he swiftly directed the Commander of Anti cult Unit in the state, Uche Noah to swing into action and round up all the criminals involved in the nefarious acts.

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Their operations reportedly paid off after Uche Noah stormed the town in an operation described as ‘unprecedented in execution’ and rounded up the suspects. This, according to sources, was after they gave the police team stiff resistance and confronted them in an exchange of firepower that lasted for hours.

READ ALSO: Man To Die By Hanging For Robbery, Kidnapping

It was gathered that the police team succeeded in routing them and arrested six of their kingpins, while others escaped with serious bullet wounds.

Police spokesman in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, when contacted, said: “Yes, the operatives raided Eziowellle community and we have six suspects in custody.”

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Tragedy Struck In Osun As Three siblings, Mother Die In Auto Crash

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Three siblings and their mother, identified as Cecilia were reported dead in a ghastly auto accident in Osun State on Saturday.

It was gathered that a car heading to Ibadan from Osogbo had a head-on collision with a motorcycle carrying a woman and four of her children back home from a vigil at Odeomu in Ayedaade local government area.

According to an eye witness Usman Ademola, the motorcyclist carried two of the children in front, another one in the middle while a toddler was wrapped behind the woman.

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READ ALSO: Court Jails Social Media Influencer For Celebrity Scam

According to VANGUARD, the two children died on the spot in the incident that occurred between Odeomu and Oogi where the motorcycle was headed.

Also, the woman and the motorcyclist identified as Abraham died while the child behind the woman seems to have survived the incident.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that a mob that gathered at the scene set the car ablaze along with two of the occupants after the driver had escaped from the scene.

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READ ALSO: Three Children Rescued As Fire Guts Storey Building In Delta

Osun police command spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola added that the two occupants were rescued from the car by police operatives and were rushed to a hospital in the state capital.

She added that policemen were deployed to the area to maintain peace and order.

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Soldiers, Traders Clash In Abuja Market

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The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has deployed its operatives to Banex – an electronics and telecommunications gadgets market, in Abuja, after a fight broke out between soldiers and some traders on Saturday.

Some civilians were seen in a viral video overpowering some soldiers in a fight at the popular market, while some scampered for safety over the fear of reprisals.

The Defence Headquarters, and the spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu could not be reached for comments as of press time.

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READ ALSO: Paul Kagame, Chimamanda Adichie, Aig-Imoukhuede, Other Africans Make Top 100 Influential Global

A source present at the scene of the pandemonium said the fight occurred over the sale of a mobile phone.

There’s a problem at Banex now. Some soldiers came to complain about a phone, and during an argument with the traders, a fight ensued,” the witness said.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Benett Igweh has deployed officers of the FCT Intelligence Response Team to the scene of the incident.

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Okuama/Okoloba Impasse: Women Protest In Black Attire, Raise Issues [PHOTOS]

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The protesting women of Okoloba community

Protesters who are majorly women from Okoloba community, Delta State, on Saturday, May 18, 2024, took to the street to protest what they called the return of armed youths of Okuama in Ughelli South Local Government Area of the state.

INFO DAILY reports that Okoloba community in Bomadi Local Government Area and Okuama community in Ughelli South Local Government Area, all in Delta State have been at loggerhead over land dispute and others.

The protesting Okoloba women in black attire staged the peaceful protest along the coastal fringe of Koloba community, chanting against violence and bloodbath.

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The placard carrying women, led by the chairlady of Okoloba Community, Mrs Timipakebi Goodwin, and secretary, Mrs Mary Koibi, alleged that the armed youths of Okuama were threatening the peace of the riverine area.

Some of the protesting Women

READ ALSO: Delta Bloodbath: Relief As Army Withdraws Soldiers From Okuama Community

Some inscriptions on the placards read: ‘We say no to violence’; ‘enough of the killings on our land;’ ‘armed Okuama youths returning in a commando style;’ ‘we say no to the return of armed youths of Okuama;’ ‘resettle Okuama people among their Ewu brothers in Ughelli South LGA;’ ‘we mourn the killing of the 17 soldiers,’ among others.’

Reading a letter to newsmen, a copy of each she said was submitted to the police, DSS, NSCDC, JTF as well as the acting chairman of Bomadi Local local Government Council, Mrs Goodwin noted that the latest killing by the youths of Okuama showed that they could kill human beings at the slightest provocation.

The letter which contained an S.O.S. to the Federal Government, further reads: “First, we the women of Okoloba Community sympathize with the killing of 17 soldiers and officers of the Nigerian army on peace and rescue mission to Okuama, following the kidnap of our son. We sincerely mourn their untimely death and pray for the repose of their souls. We also pray for their families.

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The protesting women

“However, less than 24 hours after the exit of the troops from Okuama, a fresh crisis erupted with another neighbouring community, culminating in the killing of one person while three other persons were seriously injured. The person who was killed and those sustaining machete wounds were alleged to have gone there to loot.

READ ALSO: One Killed, 3 Wounded As Communal Crisis Rocks Okuama After Withdrawal Of Soldiers

“The latest killing showed that the people of Okuama can kill a human at the slightest provocation; the sanctity of human life means nothing to them. It also shows that neighbouring Ijaw communities like Okoloba are not safe.

“So, resetting the people of Okuama in their present location, which is in-between communities in Bomadi Local Government Area, is an attempt to encourage further communal clashes and bloodbaths.

“Just last week, youths of Okuama Community came out of the Mein-toruabubor creek, which leads to Ewu, on three speedboats and all of them on camouflage. They shot sporadically in the air before proceeding to OKuama. They moved to and fro the creek three times, and at every time they shot their guns in the air at the entrance of the creek.

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“We are calling on the federal government to come to our aid, and the panacea to these incessant clashes and killings is for the government to relocate Okuama to Ewu clan in Ughelli South Local Government Area, where they truly and rightly belong.

“Resettling them among their own people in Ewu clan of Urhobo land will foster mutual trust among themselves as they are of the same ancestry and speak the same dialect”.

 

 

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