Metro

Bayelsa Police Recover Four Slain Officers’ Corpses

Published

3 years ago

July 31, 2022

Editor

The Bayelsa State Police Command said on Sunday that it had recovered the corpses of four officers who were missing after a surveillance boat conveying them was crushed by a gunboat in the state’s waterways on July 25.

The four bodies of the slain policemen had been deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa.

The operations manager of Darlon Oil and Gas Limited, an oil surveillance firm, identified as Odi Lyon, who was the younger brother of a former All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Bayelsa, David Lyon, also died in the incident.

The command had earlier explained through a statement by its spokesman, Asinim Butswat, that the surveillance boat conveying the deceased officers capsized at Korokorosei in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state on the fateful day.

It stated that, “One policeman’s body was recovered while three are still missing…The command is yet to establish the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident. Divers have been deployed to the area for possible rescue of the missing persons.”

Speaking on the recovery of the four corpses, the Commissioner of Police, Benjamin Okolo, however, attributed the incident to the handiwork of pipeline vandals.

He said, “They (slain officers) intercepted some vandals and burnt some equipment used for vandalism. Preparing to return to base, the boat, which is a gunboat with unidentified people, most likely these vandals, ran into them with the intention to get them capsized.

“And in the process, the civil mobile policemen, who were onboard the speedboat that was taking them for the surveillance, capsized and fell into the water. Three swarm to safety but four couldn’t make it, including one of the personnel of Darlon Company. But finally, all the bodies have been recovered.”

Okolo said the Inspector-General of Police and the entire police family were saddened by the huge loss that resulted from the incident.

But a source said that the gunboat that ran into the surveillance boat conveying the deceased officers and the civilian was allegedly operated by another team of policemen, who escorted a dredger.

The source, who spoke in confidence, claimed that the officers had escorted the dredger to anchor at Ogboinbiri, also in Southern Ijaw, and were returning when their gunboat allegedly crushed the surveillance boat of the victims.

However, Okolo dismissed the account of the source as “lies and untrue”, insisting that the survivors of the incident confirmed it was carried out by the vandals with a view to killing the occupants of the surveillance boat.

Metro

Fake Revenue Agents Apprehended In Aba While Defrauding Residents

Published

1 hour ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Abia State Harmonized Taskforce has apprehended four individuals impersonating as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) for acts of extortion, intimidation, and illegal enforcement along the Port Harcourt Road axis of Aba and its environs.

They were nabbed on Thursday at Flyover junction around Ugwunagbo area through an operation authorized by the Aba Area Coordinator of ASHTF, Mr. Uche Wogu.

A statement issued by Miracle Chukwunenye, spokesperson of the Harmonized Task Force said that the agency received multiple complaints from market women, tricycle (Keke) operators, and traders about the unlawful activities of a group led by one Mr. Ahuama.

‎”Upon arrival, the Taskforce, in joint effort with the police, arrested Mr. Ahuama and three accomplices who were caught extorting money from unsuspecting traders and tricycle operators under the false pretense of being NURTW officials.

“Investigations revealed that the suspects had already impounded about twenty (20) tricycles earlier that morning and collected money from the owners before being intercepted,” Chukwunenye said.

‎He added that during the operation, the suspects resisted arrest and attacked Taskforce operatives and police officers, but they were eventually subdued and are now in custody.

Chukwunenye sensitized traders and transporters that Abia State operates a strict No-Cash-at-Hand revenue system, and as such, no government-authorized personnel is permitted to collect cash from citizens.

Metro

Stray Bullet Kills 13-year-old Boy In Delta Community

Published

1 hour ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Stray bullets have killed a-13-year old boy, as well as injured many others in Sapele, Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State.

The incident occurred at about 10pm on Thursday Night.

According to DAILY POST, sporadical shots from security men on guard duty at a popular hotel killed the boy by Mopol Zone junction in Tropical area.

The incident caused serious tension in the area.

The reasons for the sporadic shootings by the security men were still sketchy as of the time of this report.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe is yet to comment on the matter.

Metro

LASG Orders Eviction Of Squatters Under Opebi–Mende Bridge

Published

19 hours ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Government has ordered the immediate eviction of squatters and traders who have converted the space beneath the yet-to-be-commissioned Opebi–Mende Bridge into makeshift homes and shops.

The directive followed an unscheduled inspection of the bridge on Thursday by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tokunbo Wahab, alongside the Special Adviser to the Governor on Infrastructure, Olufemi Daramola, and the Permanent Secretary, Olatokunbo Oyenuga.

According to a statement signed and released by the Director of Public Affairs, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Kunle Adeshina, Wahab directed security agencies to immediately move in and dislodge all squatters and demolish illegal structures erected beneath the bridge.

“The Lagos State Government has given a marching order for the immediate dislodgement of all types of squatters who have converted the underbelly of the new but yet-to-be-commissioned Opebi–Mende Bridge into homes and stores,” the statement read.

Wahab said the state government would not allow any part of the newly built infrastructure to become a haven for miscreants, stressing that protecting lives and property remained a core duty of the administration.

“It is disheartening that an iconic project which is almost ready for commissioning, has suddenly been taken over by different shades of miscreants and squatters.

“Even some people from the Cane Village have come to the underbelly of the bridge to create an illegal settlement. We will not only dislodge them but also permanently monitor the location to ensure they do not return,” Wahab was quoted as saying in the statement.

Reinforcing his stance in a post on X (formerly Twitter), Wahab wrote that the Sanwo-Olu administration “will not tolerate lawlessness,” warning mechanics who have turned the adjoining open space into workshops to vacate immediately or risk having their vehicles impounded.

“Security agencies will move in immediately, and we will sustain monitoring to ensure squatters do not return. The Opebi–Mende Bridge is a huge investment by the Babajide Sanwo-Olu–led administration, and we will protect it for the benefit of law-abiding citizens,” he wrote.

The Special Adviser on Infrastructure, Engr. Daramola, noted that the state had invested heavily in the project and warned that failure to act swiftly could turn the area into a slum. He pledged to collaborate with the Ministry of the Environment to clean up and maintain the site.

The Opebi–Mende-Ojota Link Bridge, initiated by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was flagged off on 26 January 2022.

It is approximately 3.9 km long and is designed to connect Opebi in Ikeja through Mende to Maryland and Ojota, offering relief to motorists in the Ikeja-Ojota axis by easing congestion on roads such as Mobolaji Bank-Anthony and Kudirat Abiola Way.

Meanwhile, Lagos State Government has intensified enforcement operations to remove illegal structures under bridges and drainage channels in places like Ijora, Apongbon, Obalende, and Adeniji-Adele, as part of efforts to reclaim public space and address environmental, safety, and traffic concerns.