Metro

Teenage Girl Sets School On Fire, Kills 19 Students Over Seized Phone

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2023

A dormitory blaze that killed 19 children in Guyana was set by a teenage student who was upset that her cell phone had been taken away, officials say.

The fire broke out at the Mahdia Secondary School in the South American country late on Sunday. A statement from the Guyana Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was “maliciously set.”

National Security Adviser Gerald Gouveia told the Associated Press that the suspect in the incident, a pupil at the school, was accused of setting the dorm on fire after being disciplined for having a liaison with an older man.

“A female student is suspected of having set the devastating fire because her cellular phone was taken away by the dorm mother and a teacher,” Mark Ramotar, Guyana Police’s communications chief, said in a statement seen by the local news outlet Stabroek News.

The AP reported that the dormitory had been locked to stop the girls from sneaking out at night.

Gouveia told the AP that the house mother had been asleep inside the building and panicked when she could not find the keys to unlock the doors. She made it out but “lost her five-year-old child in the fire,” he said.

When firefighters arrived, the wood-and-concrete building that housed the 57 children was “engulfed in flames,” the fire service said.

The building’s windows were heavily barred and five doors were locked, it added.

The AP reported that the dormitory had been locked to stop the girls from sneaking out at night.

Gouveia told the AP that the house mother had been asleep inside the building and panicked when she could not find the keys to unlock the doors. She made it out but “lost her five-year-old child in the fire,” he said.

When firefighters arrived, the wood-and-concrete building that housed the 57 children was “engulfed in flames,” the fire service said.

The building’s windows were heavily barred and five doors were locked, it added.

Metro

Gateman Arrested For Allegedly Defiling Four-year-old Pupil In Oyo

Published

13 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

A 26-year-old gateman identified as Josiah Ayomide has been arrested for allegedly defiling a four-year-old pupil in one of the schools in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The suspect was paraded alongside other suspects arrested for offences ranging from theft, banditry, rape, and other crimes at the Oyo State Police Command, Eleyele, Ibadan, on Thursday.

In his briefing, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Adewale Osifeso, said the suspect was nabbed after the victim complained of severe vaginal pains to her parents at home.

Osifeso added that after a thorough investigation and probe, the suspect confessed to the crime.

The police spokesman said the victim later told her mother that her school gateman had unlawfully raped her while she was in the school.

According to the report, “The victim was taken to the Police Medical Clinic, Eleyele-Ibadan, for medical examination and treatment, and the medical report revealed that the hymen was not intact, with tenderness around the vulva and vagina and bruises.”

Osifeso said the suspect would be prosecuted upon completion of the investigation.

Metro

Panic As Fire Guts Fuel Station In Ikorodu

Published

15 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

Photo: File Copy

There was pandemonium on Friday when fire gutted A1 Petroleum Filling Station, an independent oil dealer located on Isawo Road, off Agric Bus Stop in Ikorodu, Lagos.

As of 1 p.m., the extent of property destroyed and possible casualties had not been confirmed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, supported by other emergency responders, were at the scene battling to contain the inferno, which reportedly began from a diesel-laden truck within the premises.

Metro

DSS Charges Top Ansaru Leaders Over Terrorism, Kuje Prison Break Roles

Published

15 hours ago

September 5, 2025

Editor

The Department of State Services (DSS) has brought terrorism charges against two senior commanders of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-linked terror group, over their alleged role in violent attacks across Nigeria.

The suspects are Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, who is described as the Emir of Ansaru, and his deputy Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Malam Mamuda. They were recently captured during security operations.

According to the DSS, the charges against them include leading a terrorist organisation, funding its activities, recruiting members, and planning violent operations nationwide.

Their arraignment at the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected soon.

Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), said the two men were behind the July 2022 Kuje prison attack, where more than 600 inmates, including Boko Haram suspects, escaped.

Ribadu explained: “Abu Bara was the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terrorism.”

On Mamuda, Ribadu revealed that he trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadists from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in handling weapons and making explosive devices.

The NSA also linked the suspects to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and the kidnapping of the Emir of Wawa.

Ribadu described their arrest as “a turning point”, noting that the duo maintained strong networks in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.