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Ondo: Police Arrest Suspected Car Thief, Recover Three Vehicles

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Detectives from the Ondo Police Command have arrested a 42-year-old suspected notorious car thief, Ayodele Temitope, and recovered three stolen vehicles from him.

The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Wilfred Afolabi, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the command’s operations over the past few months, describing the arrest as one of the significant achievements recorded by the command during the period.

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He attributed Temitope’s arrest to the command’s robust security strategies, intelligence-driven operations, and the dedication of gallant officers who uncovered a series of crimes committed by the suspect.

According to Afolabi, Temitope was arrested following a complaint received on March 16 from one Tajudeen Kasali of High School area, Akure, whose Dyna vehicle was stolen.

READ ALSO: Tragedy As Labourer Hacks 60-yr-old Female Farmer To Death In Ondo

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He said, “The complainant woke up at about 03:00 hours on the same date and discovered that his Dyna truck, with registration number MKA 627 XC, valued at N5 million, was missing.

“Upon receiving the complaint, the police commenced an investigation. Based on a tip-off from a concerned citizen, Ayodele Temitope, male, aged 42, was arrested.

“During the investigation, the suspect admitted his involvement in the crime and revealed that the stolen vehicle had been sold to someone in Ibadan, Oyo State, for N1.8 million.

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“Consequently, operatives of the command’s Tactical Intelligence Response Squad (TIRS) swung into action and recovered the stolen Dyna truck from the unsuspecting buyer.

“The team also recovered another stolen vehicle—a Nissan Primera, with registration number LND 248 BF—from the suspect in Ibadan.

READ ALSO:Gunmen Kidnap Seven Travellers In Ondo

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“In addition, a stolen Toyota Camry, with registration number KTU 235 GA, was recovered from the suspect’s residence in Saki, Oyo State,” the CP added.

Afolabi appreciated the vital role played by the public, acknowledging their timely information and unwavering support in enhancing the effectiveness of the command’s crime-fighting efforts.

The Police Commissioner urged residents to report any suspicious activity in their surroundings, emphasizing that security is a shared responsibility necessary for the state to remain safe and peaceful for all.

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He added, “Let me assure you that the command is deeply committed to enhancing public trust, professionalism, and community engagement through continuous training and retraining of our personnel.

“We will continue to adopt innovative policing strategies to confront emerging security challenges head-on.”

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US Court Sentences Osun Monarch To Prison Over $4.2m Fraud

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A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to four years and eight months imprisonment over a $4.2million COVID-19 relief fraud scandal.

Justice Christopher Boyko while delivering the sentence on Tuesday, also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution.

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According Osun Defender, the monarch was also ordered to pay the sum of $195,000 to the IRS for filing a false tax return.

Justice Boyko also ordered Oloyede to forfeit $96,000 in money seized from his bank account and his home on Foote Road that he bought in 2021 for $130,000.

READ ALSO: US court Jails Five Nigerians 159 Years For $17m Fraud

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Boyko said Oloyede was a “very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things.”

Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed the new Apetu in July 2019.

The monarch was arrested alongside alongside Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi in early 2024 for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.

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The two men were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.

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OPINION: Ezekwesili, The NBA, And The Mirror Of Truth

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The air inside the hall was thick with expectation. Learned silks in flowing robes, young wigs eager to impress, and the weight of tradition hung over the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2025 Conference. It was meant to be another gathering where speeches would be given, pleasantries exchanged, and resolutions filed away into dusty archives. But then, like a stone thrown into a still pond, Oby Ezekwesili rose, and the hall shifted.

Her words did not flatter. They struck with the urgency of a fire alarm in the middle of the night. She asked the lawyers, the guardians of the nation’s constitution, to look into the mirror. Not to admire the silk of their gowns or the polish of their titles, but to examine the log in their own eyes. For too long, she said, they had been arbiters who excused their own failings while pointing at the speck in others.

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It was not a comfortable charge. Lawyers shifted in their seats. Some frowned. Some applauded. But the truth was laid bare: the Nigerian legal profession, once the conscience of society, has too often dropped the ball.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] Game Of Thrones: Ooni, Alaafin And The Ridiculing oF Yoruba Heritage

Think of the 2023 elections, where brazen infractions were documented, yet the courts delivered rulings that raised more questions than answers. Or the endless adjournments that have turned justice into a waiting game, eroding faith in the very system lawyers swore to uphold. Think of the silence of many senior advocates when judicial corruption is whispered about, as though the temple of justice can stand while its pillars are rotting.

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Ezekwesili’s charge was not merely to critique. It was a trumpet call. She asked them to confront the truth that Nigeria is where it is today because those who should have drawn the lines of accountability too often chose convenience over courage. Lawyers were once in the vanguard of change: the Gani Fawehinmis, the Alao-Aka-Bashors, the Akinola Agudases. Their names are etched in our collective memory because they fought when it was costly. But where is that spirit now?

The metaphor of the mirror is haunting. For what is a mirror if not a silent witness? It does not flatter or deceive. It simply reflects. The Nigerian Bar Association cannot continue as though it is an observer of the nation’s decline; it must admit that its silence, its compromises, its complicity have helped fertilize the soil of Nigeria’s failures.

And yet, in Ezekwesili’s provocation lies a possibility. To look into the mirror is not merely to mourn, but to begin again. To reclaim the nobility of the law not as a profession of prestige, but as a calling of service. To recover the conscience that once made lawyers the voice of the voiceless.

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MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] BUHARI: The Man Who Missed Redemption

This is not about throwing stones at others. It is about removing the log in one’s own eye. For until the Bar confronts itself, it cannot hope to help Nigeria see clearly.

The question then lingers beyond the echoes of that hall: when next the mirror is held up, will the Nigerian Bar Association be able to stand and say, “We did not look away”?

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Edo Hospital Denies Complexity In Death Of Twin Babies

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Management of the Med-Vical Medical Centre in Benin City, has denied allegations of medical negligence, secrecy and incompetence in the handling of the very ill extreme pre-term twin babies referred from another facility to them.

Med-Vical Medical Centre is specialized in paediatric and neonatal intensive care services with state of the art facilities for respiratory care and life support

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The pre-term babies died on separate days at the neo-natal intensive care centre.

Parents of the babies, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Sylvester had petitioned the Police calling for discreet investigation into the death of their babies.

They accused the hospital of taking one of the babies to the mortuary without informing them.

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But the hospital said the babies were delivered pre-term in another hospital, but subsequently referred from a second private hospital to our facility at about 9pm on July 9th.

READ ALSO: Edo Govt Demolishes Building Owned by Suspected Cultist

The Consultant Paediatrician/Neonatologist of the hospital, Dr. Enato Gertrude said she received the babies who were in a critical condition and diagnosed them to have severe prematurity, severe respiratory distress syndrome, severe neo-natal sepsis and peri-natal asphyxia.

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Dr. Enato said despite the fact that the parents of the babies could not provide 50 percent of what was needed to start treatment, they commenced treatment in a race to save the babies.

She said the parents were counseled, informed and their consent sought on every step taken to treat the babies.

Dr. Enato said the first twin died after eight days of being admitted at the facility, while the second one died after three weeks.

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According to her, “I wasn’t there at the delivery. I don’t know what transpired. I don’t know everything that happened until they got to our facility which was several hours after the children were born, because they came into our facility very ill.

“When the children came, we diagnosed them and put the babies on the machine and started treatment, there is a minimum deposit that is supposed to be paid. The babies needed tubings, surfactants and caffeine citrate, which are expensive. They are not even readily available over the counter.

READ ALSO: Otedola Shares Journey From School Dropout To Business Mogul

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“They’re actually specially ordered, specially packaged, and cold chain must be maintained with them. And they are quite expensive. I don’t produce them. I buy them to use for the babies. And it’s supposed to help these babies. So at this point, the parents didn’t have enough money for all of this. I think the father had less than 50% of the money because he said he couldn’t get the money at that time.

“He came to meet me and I just told the billing officer not to bother them, let’s attend to these babies first, collect what he had. So I think then he had just 250,000 or so for each baby. But we were not focusing on the money. We just needed to save the lives of the babies of which we continued the care.

“We placed both babies on the machine and we continued to give antibiotics and oxygen therapy. And at a point, we noticed that the respiratory distress was not getting better and we informed the parents.

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“while on admission we noticed the babies had thrombocytopenia (low platelets) and immediately we told the parents to get what they call platelets. Due to the severe sepsis, we also requested for blood culture.

“At a point on day eight, we noticed that the thrombocytopenia for baby two was not getting better despite all that we had done. A diagnosis of severe neonatal sepsis with multiple organ dysfunction and disseminated intravascular coagulation was made.

READ ALSO: 2025 NYG: Enabulele Charges Edo Coaches On Performance

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“So we called the parents and counselled them that we needed to put the baby on the ventilator for complete life support but at this time the baby was bleeding from thrombocytopenia and we carried the parents along. They saw what happened. Despite all our resuscitation efforts for the baby, the baby succumbed to the illness. The father wasn’t happy after we explained everything to him. It was quite painful at that time for everybody.

“Following the passing of the first twin, the father became hostile and we tried to counsel him but he was difficult to get him to calm down. We even suggested referring the second twin to UBTH, but he quickly declined and pleaded for treatment to continue, as they had no where else they preferred to go to.

“We did a lot for these babies to ensure that the second baby continued to live but two weeks after the passing of the first baby, we noticed bleeding continued for the second one despite blood transfusion with platelets administration, and the baby needed a mechanical ventilator (life support).

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“We counseled the mother and told the mother that at this point that the baby had poor prognosis. Chances of survival was slim and she said yes that we should continue to do everything she has faith that the baby will survive.

“On wednesday we saw a little bit of improvement but it declined again and the baby had to be continued on mechanical ventilator life support, but the baby succumbed to the illness.”

She said the parents were contacted, the mother came to see the corpse of the child, she left and didn’t return.

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Due to the delay in claiming the corpse after 12 hours of demise and after several attempts to reach the father to no avail, we decided to take the corpse to the mortuary. We never denied the parents access to their child’s corpse.”

The hospital further added that they are committed to transparency and accountability in their operations adding that at Med Vical Medical Centre, patients safety and well-being are top priorities as they strive to provide highest quality care.

 

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