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Kwara Police Arrest Five Suspected Kidnappers, Recover Arms

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Five suspected kidnappers have been arrested by anti-kidnapping operatives of the Kwara State Police Command.

The five suspects belong to two separate gangs of kidnappers.

Members of the first gang include Babagida Buguda, 30, described as a kingpin, Bashiru Yakuba, 35, and Mohammed Umaru, 26.

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Parading the suspects at the state police command headquarters in Ilorin on Wednesday, the state Police Commissioner, Paul Odama, said they were arrested on December 20, 2022, in Oro-Ago, Ifelodun Local Government of the state.

READ ALSO: Group Drags Southwest, Edo, Kogi, Kwara Governors To Court Over Kidnapping, Banditry

According to the police boss, exhibits allegedly recovered from them included two locally made guns and two mobile phones.

According to Odama: “On 9th November 2022, at about 5:45 pm, one Mr Shina Luke Abiodun of Eruku town in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, and one other, while riding on a motorcycle on their way from Egbe in Kogi State were accosted at Koro village close to Eruku town by men numbering about six, who emerged from the bush armed with guns and other dangerous weapons.

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“The hoodlums opened fire on them and they sustained gunshot injuries. They, however, escaped the attack and ran to the Anti-Kidnapping patrol team stationed at Eruku town.

“The team moved to the scene and one Tecno phone was recovered. Forensic analysis of the phone by the investigators led to the arrest of the kingpin and two of his gang members in Oro-Ago, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara state on 20th December 2022.”

The police commissioner said the suspects confessed during interrogation to have been responsible for kidnapping operations within Ekiti, Kogi and Kwara states respectively.

“One of their victims and his six-year-old son came from Ekiti State to identify and confirmed that they were kidnapped and held captive for six days by the suspects and were released after payment of N6m.

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“The suspects also confessed to have also killed one Inspector Segun Ayegbulu of the NSCDC attached to Ekiti Command,” the police commissioner added.

He said further Investigation into the matter led to the recovery of two locally made pistols, while efforts are also ongoing to arrest the fleeing members of the gang and recover the remaining firearms in their possession.

The second gang of suspected kidnappers comprising Garuba Abubakar, aka Elero of Lokongoma village and Abubakar Adam of Ile Nam, Oke-Ode, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, were arrested for the alleged kidnap of 15-year-old Abubakar Mohammed along Oke-Ode -Share Road in Ifelodun Local Government of Kwara State.

According to the account of the Police Commissioner: “On 12th December 2022, intelligence available to the command indicated that one Abubakar Mohammed, 15, was kidnapped along Oke-Ode – Share road, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State.”

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The report prompted the Commissioner of Police to dispatch a team of State Intelligent Bureau (SIB) and conventional Police from the Oke-Ode Division.

A diligent investigation led to the arrest of Garuba Abubakar aka Elero of Lokongoma village and Abubakar Adam of Ile Nam Oke-Ode, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State who are members of the kidnap gang.

He disclosed that they confessed to having collected the N500,000 ransom paid by the victim.

READ ALSO: Suspected Kidnap Kingpin Faints In Court

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CP Paul Odama added that the leader of the gang, identified as Chairman Rabiu who is presently at large, is said to be in possession of the gang’s firearm and always took custody of all ransom collected as confessed by two arrested suspects.

Efforts are in top gear to get him arrested, while all the suspects would soon be charged to court soon, he stated.

The police commissioner who vowed that the command will make Kwara State uncomfortable for criminals advised them to leave the state.

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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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JUST IN: Truck Rams Into BRT On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

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A truck has rammed into a Lagos State BRT bus at Ibafo bus-stop along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.

The PUNCH correspondent who went to the scene gathered that the accident occurred around some minutes to 6am on Saturday.

Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and Police on response call at the accident scene insisted that only their Public Relations Officers were authorised to speak.

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READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Appoints Governing Board Members For 111 Tertiary Institutions

However, unconfirmed reports from onlookers noted that several people on the BRT bus were injured.

Onlookers accounts noted that the BRT was parked loading its passengers at the bus stop before the truck loaded with cows heading to Lagos rammed into it, taking it off the road to destroy shops and kiosks by the roadside.

The cow truck had been towed a little away from the scene so as not to hinder traffic.

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Court Jails Social Media Influencer For Celebrity Scam

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A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, has sentenced Aluko Tunmise to one year in prison for his involvement in a celebrity scam.

Tunmise was prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a cybercrime-related charge.

This was disclosed in a post on X by EFCC on Friday, May 17.

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The post reads: “Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, convicted and sentenced one Aluko Tunmise, a self-acclaimed social media influencer and model, to one year imprisonment for celebrity scam.

READ ALSO: Mother Of Five Jailed For Forging Late Abba Kyari’s Signature

He was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on cybercrimes.”

“One of the counts reads: “That you, ALUKO TUNMISE JUWONLO (A.K.A. KEANU REEVES), sometime between January and March, 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, directly made a false statement, wherein you held yourself out as a white man by name “KEANU REEVES” on your Telegram Account, knowing same to be false and with intent that the representation is relied upon for the purpose of procuring the issuance of financial instrument to yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015′.

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He pleaded ‘guilty’ to the charge when it was read to him.

READ ALSO: Disregard Claim Of Me Bringing Investors To Nigeria – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, C.C.Okezie, sought to present an operative of the EFCC, Vincent Sunday Kwambuge, to review the facts of the matter.

Kwanbuge told the court that the defendant was arrested sometime in March, 2024 at Lekki County Estate, Lagos, following credible intelligence received by the Commission on the activities of some internet fraudsters operating in the area.”

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