Headline

Benin-Based Lawyer Threatens Law Suit As Police Assault, Threaten To Shoot Him

Published

4 years ago

January 27, 2022

…Wants IGP, Imo CP To Dismantle Azia Junction Road Block

Joseph Kanjo, Benin

A Benin-based lawyer, Douglas Ogbakwa, Esq. has narrated how policemen at Azia Junction Check Point along the Onitsha-Owerri Road assaulted and threatend to shoot him for no cause.

Ogbakwa, who narrated his ordeals to journalsts in Benin on Thursday, said trouble started when the public vehicle he boarded got to the said Junction and he saw how Nigerians (passengers) were being molested and their cell phones seized by for no course.

According to the lawyer, the vehicle he was in was stopped by the policemen and they were about molesting the passenger therein and as he came down from the vehicle and introduced himself as a lawyer, the Second in Command of the team got angry and assaulted him, threatening that they he would kill him and nothing will happen.

He said: “I was coming from Owerri in a public transport and our vehicle and others were stopped by the rude policemen at Azia Junction. The policemen led by a man who introduced himself as Second In Command in Charge of Orlu Area Command, held me down at about 09:38 Hours for over 1 hour on the excuse that I took photograph of their Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) which was a ploy to seize my phone. People who regularly ply the road told me this is the way they usually seize people’s phones and later sell them out.

“The so called Second in Command even told me categorically that he was going to seize my phone and sell it at Akwa market. The funniest thing, the Rank and File were even more courteous as they behave like the officer while the officer behave like Rank and File.

“As the argument continues, some passengers had to approach the scene to plead on my behalf, but he cracked his gun and was about shooting which made them to flee the scene. Some person said that that is how they kill innocent persons, and that if it were to be night the incident occurred, they (the policemen) would have shut me.

“I had to call former Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase to talk to them and after they spoke with the former IGP, they still did not release my phone as they started boasting which made me to call the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, who spoke to them before they release my phone that I just bought at Owerri yesterday,” he added.

Ogbakwa said he had ordered his chamber to file a law suit of N100,000.000.00 against the Nigeria Police for infringing on his fundamental human rights.

He added: “I’ve asked them in my chamber to prepare a suit at the Federal High Court. I am seeking N100.000.000.00 (100m) damage for infringing on my fundamental human rights.”

He therefore urged the Inspector-General of Police and Imo State Commissioner of Police to, as a matter of urgency, dismantle the check point at the junction so as to safe the common Nigerians from this “inhuman policemen.’

Headline

Indian Court Denies Bail To Nigerian Man Over Drug Charges

Published

5 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

A court in India has denied bail to a 44-year-old Nigerian national, Cristian Soporuchukwu, who is currently facing drug trafficking charges in the country.

Cristian Soporuchukwu initially entered India on a business visa but was later arrested over allegations of involvement in the sale of hard drugs.

Reports indicated that after arriving in India, Soporuchukwu travelled through Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai, where he allegedly established links with suspected drug traffickers.

He was accused of purchasing MDMA crystals and distributing them to college students and information technology workers.

According to reports, operatives of the Beguru Police arrested Cristian Soporuchukwu in April 2025 for allegedly selling MDMA crystals around Begur Lake and the AECS Layout Road area.

The New Indian Express reported that the High Court of Karnataka subsequently dismissed the Nigerian’s bail application.

“The anti-narcotics wing seized about 1 kg of MDMA crystals, a pocket weighing machine, 10 zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a scooter from him,” the report stated.

Justice V. Srishananda, while ruling on the bail application, reportedly held that errors relating to the grounds of arrest could not automatically justify bail in serious narcotics-related offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, NDPS, Act.

The court further noted that Cristian Soporuchukwu had allegedly overstayed his visa in India, according to the report.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

6 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

6 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.