SAMUEL JINADU POLICE IMAGE MAKER IN LAGOS

Police arrest developer for swindling home seekers of N45m.

The Special Fraud Unit of the Lagos State Police Command says it has arrested a property developer for allegedly defrauding more than 125 accommodation seekers of over N45 million.
Commissioner of Police in charge, Mahmoud Omar said the suspect was arrested on May 23 following complaints by some of the victims.
Omar said the suspect collected between N600,000 and N740,000 from each of the victims to rent out a two-bedroom apartment.
According to him, In the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the suspect, operating under the name Shoreyan Property Nigeria Ltd, have swindled potential tenants of outrageous sums of money and disappeared into thin air and was later arrested.
Omar said Further investigation revealed that his act was a deliberate plan to fleece the unsuspecting victims of their money, which was then used to complete the building he knew will not service all the victims.
He said many of the victims had been coming to the station since the suspect was arrested, seeking a refund of their money.
The commissioner advised members of the public to carry out thorough investigations before paying for accommodation, adding that the suspect would be charged to court soon.

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Murder: 3 OPC members culpable, witness tells court

A prosecution witnesses, Lanre Ibrahim, on Tuesday told an Ikeja High Court how three members of Odu’a Peoples Congress (OPC) allegedly abducted and killed his brother, Sadiq Ibrahim, in 2010.
The trio, who allegedly committed the offence on Feb. 16, 2010 at Orile-Iganmu, Lagos, are: Odunayo Tajudeen; 61, Saheed Adeleke; 31and Kamal Hameed, 24.
The accused are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.
Led-in-evidence by the prosecutor, Femi Adamson, Ibrahim said his brother was killed because of the crisis between tricycle drivers and OPC members in the area.
According to him, one of the tricycle drivers had a problem with four OPC members for allegedly refusing to convey them to their destination.
Speaking under cross-examination, the defence counsel, Bamidele Ogundele, faulted the claim made by the witness, saying the accused were not at the scene of the crime.
Ogundele argued that all the allegations made by the witness were based on hearsay and urged the court to dismiss them.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu adjourned the case till June 1 for the continuation of the trial.

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Trader arraigned for assault, damages.

The police on Tuesday arraigned a 31-year-old trader, Ambrose Ebie, for allegedly damaging household property worth N174,000.
Ebie is standing trial at the Ejigbo Magistrates’ Court on a three count-charge of damages, assault and breach of the peace.
The accused committed the alleged offence on May 24 at No. 21, Coker Road, Ejigbo, Lagos.
The prosecutor, Cpl. Oladejo Balogun, told the court that the accused damaged the property of Kennedy Monyeazor, a businessman.
The damaged items were a colour television, worth N20, 000; DVD player (N8, 000); CD tape (N25, 000) a Bajaj motorcycle (N103,000) and kitchen appliances valued N18, 000.
Balogun also said the accused assaulted the complainant by biting his back and left hand and chasing about other occupants of the house with broken bottles.
He said the offence contravened Sections 415,355 and 249(D) Code Cap31, Vol. II of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State.
The accused pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N174,000, with two sureties in like sum.
Magistrate Maimunat Folami adjourned till June 22, for further hearing. .............................................................

27-year-old docked for alleged fraud.

A 27-year-old, Chigozie Oginkanwa, was on Tuesday arraigned before an Ebute-Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly obtaining N940,000 from a trader to print dollars for him.
The accused was brought before Chief Magistrate Oyindamola Ogala on a three-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and stealing.
Oginkanwa, however, pleaded not guilty and was admitted to bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum.
The prosecutor, Insp. Eshiet Eshiet, told the court that the accused unlawfully obtained N940,000 from Chimezie Eze.
Eshiet said the accused allegedly obtained the money under the pretext that he was in position to wash and print dollars to make the complainant rich.
He said the accused committed the offence in September 2007 in the Ishashi suburb of Lagos and had been on the run.
According to him, the accused was arrested by the complainant on May 24 at Idumota Market, Lagos Island.
The prosecutor said the accused committed the offence along with others still at large.
Eshiet said the offence contravened Sections 390 (9), 419 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State and punishable with seven years imprisonment.
The Chief Magistrate adjourned till July 4 for further hearing. ..............................................................................

Cashier docked for allegedly stealing N22.8m

A 37-year-old cashier, Sunny Adejoh was on Tuesday docked at an Igbosere Magistrates’ court in Lagos for allegedly stealing N22.8 million from a company.
Adejoh is standing trial a on two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
The prosecutor, Insp. F. Ifijen told the court that the accused, with others now at large, committed the alleged offence between February 2010 and May 2011 at Ajah in Lagos.
Ifijen said Adejoh was a cashier involved in collecting money from clients of the company and could not give proper account of N22.8 million-- property of Aunik Nigeria Company Ltd.
He said the alleged offence contravened Sections 390(9) and 516 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Magistrate A. A. Adefulire granted the accused N500,000 bail with two sureties in like sum and adjourned the case till July 13 for mention.....................................................................

HAMZA AL-MUSTAPHA

Court refuses to re-open murder case against Al-Mustapha.

A Lagos High Court on Tuesday dismissed an application filed by the Lagos State Government to re-open the murder case against Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Rabo Lawal and Lateef Shofolahan.
The trio are facing criminal trial over their alleged involvement in the murder of the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Justice Mojisola Dada had earlier closed the case of the prosecution over its inability to produce witnesses in court.
In her ruling, she held that the application to reopen the case of the prosecution was an attack on the independence and impartiality of the court.
She also said the prosecution had not shown that the evidence of the proposed witnesses was vital to the just determination of the suit.
Dada accused the Lagos State Solicitor-General, Lawal Pedro, of being under the delusion that the court was an extension or an affiliate of his office.
She held that the submission of the prosecution that the Principal Witness Four, (Commissioner of Police Fari Yusuf), would not come to court until the court reopened the case further worsened the success of the application.
Dada also observed that out of 11 witnesses listed by the prosecution only three were eventually available in court.
She adjourned the matter till June 23 for adoption of written addresses.

NAVAL BOSS

Navy inaugurates community projects in Ijora.

The Flag Officer Commanding, Naval Western Command, Lagos, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogbor on Tuesday said that the Navy would continue to extend social services to the civil community.
Ogbor stated this during the inauguration of projects at Ijora-Oloye primary school, Apapa, adding that the Navy was sensitive to the needs of the civil society.
According to him, the navy is using its 55th anniversary celebration to extend a hand of fellowship to the Ijora community which had been a neighbour to the Naval Base.
The projects funded by the navy included a borehole, renovated classroom blocks, toilets, a generator, books and 50 plastic chairs.
He added that the action was a demonstration of the ongoing civil-military relationship drive in all the arms of the military.
Also, the Ojora of Ijoraland, Oba Fatai Aromire said that the gesture of the navy was a demonstration of military concern and unity for the civil populace.
The Chairman, Apapa Local Government Area, Joseph Ayodeji commended the efforts of the Nigerian navy in identifying with the needs of the civilians in the local community.
The Nigerian Navy commenced a week-long commemoration of its 55th anniversary on May 24.

ERASTUS AKINGBOLA

EFCC arraigns Akingbola, associate on fresh theft charges.

Former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Erastus Akingbola, and associate, Bayo Dada, were on Tuesday arraigned before an Ikeja High Court in Lagos on fresh theft charges.
The presiding judge, Justice Habeeb Abiru, ordered them to be remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Lagos, till the next adjourned date.
Akingbola and Dada, General Manager of Tropics Securities Ltd., were re-arrested on May 3 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and placed under its custody.
The EFCC`s plan to arraign them was thwarted thrice by a series of applications filed by their lawyer, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN).
He had asked the court to decline jurisdiction to entertain the case and to restrain the EFCC from arraigning the accused in respect of the fresh charges.
However, Abiru while striking out the applications held that the court had jurisdiction to entertain the case.
He said the EFCC law was passed by the National Assembly and, therefore, supersede any state law.
He said the anti-graft body was competent to file any matter before a Lagos court.
The judge held that the charges faced by the accused at the Federal High Court were not similar to the ones before him and, therefore, ordered them to be arraigned.
The court struck out seven of the 29-count charge of conspiracy to commit felony and stealing initially brought against them on the request of the EFCC.
EFCC prosecutor, Godwin Obla had prayed the court to strike out the said counts as they would be specifically answered by Akingbola’s wife, Anthonia, who is said to be at large.
The EFCC, in the amended 22-count charge, alleged that Akingbola as Chief Executive Officer of Intercontinental Bank conspired with his wife and Dada to steal over N47.1 billion from the bank.
The commission in the charge sheet read to the accused persons alleged that they committed the offences between March and May 2009.
They were alleged to have converted over N47.1 billion belonging to the bank to their personal use under pretence.
They were also alleged to have fraudulently converted some of the stolen money into loans to Tropics Securities Ltd. and Tropics Properties Ltd and using same for their personal use.
The EFCC claims the alleged offences contravenes Sections 390(7) and 427 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 17 Laws of Lagos State 2003.
Akingbola and Dada pleaded not guilty to the charges and the judge ordered them to be remanded in prison custody pending the hearing of their bail applications fixed for June 6.

POLICE SPOKESMAN IN LAGOS, SAMUEL JINADU

Man docked for impersonating police officer.

A businessman, Bankole Williams, was arraigned for allegedly impersonating a police officer to defraud a lawyer.
Williams, 40, is standing trial before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on a three-count charge of impersonation, fraud and stealing.
The prosecutor, Sgt Haruna Ibrahim, alleged that Williams presented himself as a police officer to Barrister Sunday Akinyemi, with the intent to fleece him of his Jeep, worth N1.6 million.
The prosecutor also alleged that Williams on May 9 at No 2 Ogijo St., Ikorodu, stole four wrist watches valued N20,000 and a pair of shoes valued N15,000 from Akinyemi.
Ibrahim alleged that under the pretext of providing Akinyemi’s office with police personnel, the accused demanded and got N90,000 from him.
He said the offence contravened Sections 390(9), 419 and 484 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2003.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum.
The Magistrate, O.I. Oguntade, adjourned till June 30 for further hearing.

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Car dealer arraigned for fraud

The police in Lagos have arraigned a car dealer, Oladeyinde Oladapo, for allegedly obtaining N943,700 from one Chukwuma Agwu, under pretext.
Oladapo, 45, is standing trial at the Ejigbo Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on a two count-charge of false pretence and forgery.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Oladejo Balogun, told the court that the accused allegedly committed the offence in December 2009 at No. 6, Mohammed St., Dopemu, and thereafter absconded.
Balogun said the accused collected the money from the complainant Agwu, promising that he would help him to buy a Honda Accord.

The prosecutor further alleged that the accused also forged a Nigerian Customs document, with the name of the complainant , to enable him to collect money from him.

Balogun submitted that the offence contravened Sections 419 and 480 Code Cap 17, Vol.II of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty and was admitted to a bail of N950,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Magistrate Maimunat Folami adjourned the case to June 29 for further hearing.

Security guards arraigned for stealing employer’s property

Two private security guards, who allegedly stole what they were paid to protect, were on Friday arraigned in Lagos.

The guards, Saviour John, 20 and Baba Mustapha, 35, were accused of stealing various items, valued at N921,000, belonging to their employer.

The accused are standing trial before Mrs L.Y. Balogun of an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Gabriel Akinsola, said the accused on May 7 at about 10 p.m. at Oniru Estate, Victoria Island, conspired and stole seven air-conditioners valued at N746,000.

He said that the accused also carted away one motorcycle with Reg. No. QQ 672 KTU valued at N175, 000, all property of Doyin Rhodes Vivour & Co., their employer.

Akinsola told the court that the guards worked contrary to their undertaking with their employer, by stealing what they were being paid on a monthly basis to protect.

He said the offence contravened Sections 390(9) and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2003.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and were granted bail in the sum of N300,000, with two sureties each in like sum.


Balogun adjourned the case till June 22 for further hearing.

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5 alleged prostitutes let off the hook for lack of diligent prosecution
For want of diligent prosecution, an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Friday struck out the case against five women who were accused of prostitution.
The accused Edith Richard (27), Rose Daddy (42), Kate Umeh (38), Ifuoma Igwe (30) and Chioma Eze (29) had at their first arraignment on May 16 pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of prostitution.
The prosecutor, Insp. Frank Inna, had told the court that the accused were arrested while prostituting on May 13 at about 2 a.m. at Thompson Roundabout, Ikoyi.
However, at the adjourned date on May 23, the accused changed their plea to not guilty after an application by the defence counsel, Mr Frank Ozemhowa, that the charge be read and their plea taken again.
The Magistrate, C.O. Momodu, apparently in her bid to establish the true background of each of the accused, asked for their occupation and the time and location of their arrest.
All the accused told the court that they were kerosene sellers and that they were at Thompson Roundabout at about 2 a.m. to queue for the fuel at the NNPC Mega Station, as a result of its the product scarcity.
Momodu then admitted each of the accused to bail in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case till May 27.
While striking out the case at Friday’s sitting, the magistrate said the prosecution had failed substantially to establish any evidence in charging the accused for the offence they were alleged to have committed.

On the frontlines: UN Police Officer from Nigeria, Hamimat Lawal, in Timor-Leste

From community policing to navigating the duties of a national staff officer in Timor-Leste, the 30-year-old Hamimat Lawal’s job as a UN peacekeeper is anything but boring.

Before her deployment to UNMIT in November 2010, Hamimat was a staff officer with the Nigerian force secretary for six years.

“I came to Timor-Leste because I wanted to gain first-hand experience and to see how the UN police was working in the field,” said Hamimat.

“This provided an opportunity to deal with cases of domestic violence, stone throwing and accidents,” says Hamimat.

“I recall a domestic violence incident that happened in Becora,” said Hamimat.

“As part of the patrol team on duty, we followed up on a woman’s complaint of assault by her husband. When we arrived at her house, it was heart rending to see a pregnant woman in a pool of blood.”

The woman was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment while her husband was arrested and handed over to the Dili Detention Unit.

Hamimat says she was nervous when she first arrived in Timor-Leste, but soon was immersed in the challenges of the work and the country’s unique beauty and culture.

“It’s a stunning country. Its mountains and beaches are beautiful and green. And everywhere there are children playing.”

After working in community policing, Hamimat moved on to the UNPOL headquarters in the country’s capital, Dili, where she works in recruitment and administration.

“My mother was proud that I was working for a UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste and of course she worried,” Hamimat said. “But I figured that if I could help the people here, even in a small way, then I had to do it. That is my contribution.”

BABAJIDE ALLI-BALOGUN

Extra-Judicial Killings Must Stop.

Nigerians have always condemned extra-judicial killings in any form and have always looked at the police as a band of cowboys acting with impunity.
But the recent killing of two police officers in Badagry, Lagos State, by soldiers has taken extra-judicial killing to a new level.
Clashes between policemen and soldiers are not new, afterall they are human, but for soldiers to avenge the killing of a colleague by shooting police officers is taking it too far.
The Badagry incident has again revealed the extent of lawlessness and decay in the military and paramilitary forces.
Innocent people have been killed by policemen and nothing has happened to the culprits.
Even the police high command seems to admit its powerlessness as no policeman has ever really been disciplined for taking the life of another Nigeria.
Police and military men have often clashed leading to the loss of lives and property.
Many times, the authorities have convened meetings and promised Nigerians it would never happen again but it does.
The latest incident is shocking because members of a disciplined force like the Nigerian Army have descended so low and behaved like the policemen whom are usually condemn for taking the law in their hands.
The killers of the police officers in Badagry must be fished out and made to face the music.
The policeman who murdered the soldiers must also be apprehended and taken into custody.
He must also face the law, no matter the provocation that made him pull the trigger.
These murderers must go to prison or get the death sentence as the law may decide.
It is not enough to claim anger or madness and it is not enough for the authorities to promise to look into the matter.
There is need for re-orientation of the rank and file of the military and police while stiffer penalties should be meted out to perpertrators of the so-called accidental discharge or any form of extrajudicial killings.
The country cannot afford to allow the incident to be swept under the carpet like many others in the past as the killers of innocent Nigerians have never really faced the law and get punished.
Indiscipline and the culture of impunity has allowed all spheres of existence and Nigerians have remained helpless and Until something is done the country will continue to lose human resources to these kind of senseless killings.

CUSTOM BOSS

Customs officer faces N7m fraud charge.

A customs officer, Kadir Omata, on Wednesday appeared before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding a female colleague of N7 million.
The accused had allegedly defrauded Mrs Asibi Onalo, under the pretext of helping her to facilitate the export of ginger from the Northern part of Nigeria to Europe.
Omata, 47, who is standing trial on a four-count charge of conspiracy, fraud, stealing and issuing of dud cheque, has, however, entered a ``not guilty’’ plea.
But the Prosecutor, ASP Innocent Effiong, told the court that Omata in his capacity as a customs officer of the rank of DSP used his private company to commit the offence.
He said the accused had in December 2009 at 3, Force Road, Onikan, Lagos, obtained N7 million from Onalo under false pretence.
He said in a bid to pay back the N7 million, Omata issued two Zenith bank cheques for N3.5 million each dated Jan. 5 and March 6 respectively which bounced on presentation.
Effiong said the dud cheque offences were committed between Dec. 2009 and March 6 at Lagos Island and Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos, and contravened Sections 390 (9) and 419 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.
The accused, on conviction, may be sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
The Magistrate, Philip Ojo admitted the accused to a bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum and adjourned further hearing to July 11.

ARMY / POLICE CLASH

Army/Police faceoff:Normalcy returns to Badagry.

Normalcy seems to have returned to the ancient town of Badagry in Lagos State by Wednesday, despite Tuesday’s killing of four police officers by some yet-to-be identified assailants.
The Badagry Divisional Police Officer, the Divisional Crime Officer and two other police officers were killed on Tuesday following the shooting to death of an Army sergeant two days earlier.
The soldier, who was riding a motorcycle, was allegedly killed by policemen attached to the state security outfit, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) at a checkpoint.
People now go about their businesses as usual, signaling a return to normal life.
Meanwhile, the corpses of the DPO, CSP Salihu Samuel and the DCO have been removed.
The bodies of the officers, who were killed at Ibereko on Tuesday afternoon, were evacuated to Ikeja morgue shortly before midnight same day.
Commander of 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Brig.-Gen. Sanusi Muazu and the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Yakubu Alkali visited the scene and ordered the removal of the corpses.
On burial arrangements for the slain officers, the spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Jinadu Samuel said the Police High Command in Abuja would soon issue a statement on it.

FRANCIS ATUCHE

Court grants former bank chief bail.

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos on Wednesday granted bail to former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Mr Francis Atuche, and two others charged with theft of over N11.4 billion.
The money is said to belong to the bank.
Atuche is standing trial along with two directors of the bank Funmi Ademosun and Lekan Kasali.
They are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy and stealing before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo.
Ruling on separate bail applications by the accused, the judge held that Atuche should continue to enjoy bail on the terms granted him on Nov. 9, 2009.
The bail was granted by Justice Akinjide Ajakaiye of a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Onigbanjo held that there were similarities between the charges before him and that being faced by Atuche at the Federal High Court.
He also granted bail in the sum of N50 million with two sureties in like sum to Ademosun and Kasali.
The judge added that the sureties must produce evidence of three years tax payment while their residential or business addresses as well as the location of the property should be verified by an EFCC officer.
The judge ordered that all the accused should not travel abroad except on the permission of the court.
He ordered them to deposit their international passports and other travel documents with the EFCC.
Onigbanjo directed the accused to report to the EFCC on the first working day of every month.
The judge said that the EFCC could not convince the court to deny them bail.
He said the reasons given by the anti-corruption agency were weak and could not be substantiated.
He noted that Ademosun and Kasali had enjoyed administrative bail earlier granted them by the EFCC before they were re-arrested on May 3, saying that there was no evidence to prove that they breached the bail terms.
The judge, however, ordered all of them to be remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons pending the perfection of their bail conditions.
The court has adjourned the case till June 13 for hearing of arguments on a preliminary objection to the suit.
The objection was filed by Atuche.

NAVY BOSS

Navy has evolved transformation plan.

The Nigerian Navy has initiated a transformation plan for effective capacity building toward improved efficiency.
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Sa’ad Ibrahim, said this on Tuesday at the opening of a two-day seminar for naval personnel in Lagos.
He was represented by the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogbor.
He said the Armed Forces of Nigeria are currently in the process of transforming itself toward achieving improved and sustainable efficiency.
Ibrahim said It is in this line that the navy had initiated its own process of evolving a viable transformation plan for effective capacity building.
He said the transformation plan entailed the use of new knowledge and technologies for improved operation.
The Naval Chief said the plan was designed to be achieved in milestone of short, medium and long term intervals.
He said attitudinal change among naval personnel was necessary for the achievement of the transformation.
The Flag Officer Commanding Naval Training Command, Quorra, Rear Admiral James Akinwale said training and retraining of naval officers and men would improve security of Nigeria’s high seas.
The seminar was part of activities to mark the 2011 Nigerian Navy Week celebration.

EFCC BOSS

Former Union Bank boss, others re-arraigned.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday re-arraigned the former Managing Director of the Union Bank Nigeria, Bartholomew Ebong, for alleged fraud before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Ebong and five others were arraigned over alleged misuse of depositors’ funds.
The others are Samuel Ayininuola, Niyi Opeodu, executive directors of the bank, Henry Onyemem, the Managing Director of Union Trustees Ltd, Peter Ololo, the Managing Director of Falcon Securities Ltd and his company.
The EFCC, in a 20-count charge, alleged that Ebong had in 2007 granted about N85 billion credit facilities to the accused persons without any collateral, contrary to the bank’s regulations.
It further said the accused persons acted as if they had purchased more than 600 million units of the bank’s shares, an act which was intended to deceive the investing public.
The commission also said the directors of the bank failed to take steps to ensure that the balance sheet of the bank in 2009 gave a true and fair view of its affairs.
After the charge was read to the accused persons, Ebong, Ololo and his company pleaded not guilty while Ayininuola, Opeodu and Onyemem refused to take their plea.
They urged the court to allow them to continue on the bail conditions already granted them when they were first arraigned in 2009.
The three accused, through their counsel, Messrs Rafiu Bello, Wale Olanipekun and Felix Fagbohungbe, told the court that their clients were objecting to the charge.
They said they had filed applications to quash it and served same on the prosecution.
Prosecution counsel Kola Awodein, however, informed the court that he needed time to respond to the accused persons’ application to quash the charge.
Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako ruled that the accused persons should continue on their previous bail and adjourned the case to June 14 for the hearing of the application to quash the charge.

ARMY / POLICE CLASH

ANOTHER round of fighting between men of the Nigerian Army and the Police was ignited on Tuesday with at least eight persons, including a Divisional Police Officer and Divisional Crime Officer killed.
The fight broke out when men suspected to be personnel of the Nigerian Army attached to the 242 Recce Battalion, Ibereko Barracks, Badagry, on the outskirts of Lagos attacked Badagry Police Station in ‘Area E’ and shot dead the DPO, Salisu Samson, a Chief Superintendent of Police and the DCO, simply identified as Samuel, a Superintendent of Police, both of the Badagry division.
Other victims of the fracas between the two government security outfits include seven persons whose identities could not be ascertained as at press time.
The Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim confirmed that only the two police officers were killed in the fracas.
Force Public Relations Officer, Olusola Amore, claimed that the two officers had gone to make peace at Recce Batallion when they were ambushed and killed.
Amore said The IG has appealed for calm, assuring that both the killers of the soldier and policemen would be fished out to face the wrath of the law.
Inter-service rivalry between men of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Police has led to shooting and killing of men of the forces at different times in the past.
Precisely six years ago, some soldiers from Abatti Barracks, attacked some members of the Nigeria Police attached to the police barracks and set both the barracks and the personal effects of the policemen on fire; property valued at several millions of naira were destroyed.
This happened at the “Area C,” Ojuelegba in Surulere area of the Lagos State Police Command.
In October 2005, not very far from Ojuelegba incidence, Nigerians once again counted the cost of another bloody gun battle between police and the army, in which at least three civilians were killed.
The clash was triggered by an argument between a soldier and a policeman when the latter harassed a motorist for a bribe.
Armed with knives, guns and sticks, the soldiers burnt down a police station and beat up any policeman they found in their path.
More than 60 vehicles, including 20 small police trucks were burnt during that incident.
The latest killings were carried out as a retaliatory measure for the killing of a Staff sergeant unnamed by the men of the Nigerian Police Force around Badagry roundabout by men of the Rapid Response Squad at about 8.30 p.m. on Sunday.
Tuesday’s attacks in Lagos, which caused the disruption of the official visits of both the Minister of Police Affairs, Humphrey Abah and the Inspector-General of Police to Lagos for the commissioning of the Integrated Digital Security Surveillance Systems project, further heightened the inter-service rivalry between men of the police and the army.
However, the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Kofo Abayomi, Lagos, Lieutenant Colonel Kayode Ogunsanya, denied the involvement of men of the Nigerian Army in the killing of policemen on Tuesday.
A suspected trigger-happy policeman allegedly shot an Army personnel on the neck in Badagry on Sunday.
An eyewitness said the RRS men at a checkpoint at Badagry roundabout, flagged down the soldier, who was riding from the 242 Battalion, Ibereko, Badagry, on his motorcycle.
The soldier, who was not in his Army uniform, stopped for the “stop-and-search” that was being carried out by the police and In the process, an argument ensued, which led to the exchange of blows and culminated in the shooting to death of the non-commissioned army officer.
Investigations reveals that Tuesday's incident was a reprisal attack by the soldiers who came from the barracks mustered around the Ibereko bus stop along Badagry-Seme roundabout before launching the attack on the police station.
Sources said the slain DPO and the DCO, as well as the seven others were killed during the “commando-style” attack on the police barracks.
The Sources said several police vehicles were set ablaze while charred bodies littered the police barracks in the area, property of family members of policemen resident in the barracks were not spared as they were wantonly destroyed.

OKEY NWOSU AND EFCC BOSS

Court grants N50 million bail to ex-Finbank boss, three others

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos has granted bail to former Managing Director of Finbank, Okey Nwosu and three others, standing trial for allegedly stealing N10.9 billion from the bank.

Others granted bail by Justice Lateefat Okunnu on Tuesday were Danjuma Ocholi, Dayo Famoroti and Agnes Ebubedike.

The judge granted them bail in the sum of N50 million each with two sureties in like sum.

The court ordered that the defendants should deposit their passports with the court and prohibited any foreign trips without its authority.

One of the sureties must own a property worth N50 million in either Lagos or Abuja and they must be resident in Lagos or Abuja.

They must be in the Federal Civil Service or in the employment of the Lagos State, not below Grade Level 14.


A surety must be a member of the board of directors of a financial institution or corporate organisation with head office in Lagos or Abuja.

The court demanded that the accused report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) every first working day of the month, while an officer of the agency was to verify the sureties’ addresses and documents.

Okunnu, in her ruling on the bail application filed separately by the accused lawyers said it was the law that a person was presumed innocent until found guilty.

She said the accused persons had complied with the bail conditions earlier granted to them by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Okunnu had earlier dismissed the accused applications to quash the charges against them.

They had asked the court to dismiss the charges because it amounted to double jeopardy as they were facing similar charges at the Federal High Court and at the Investment and Securities Tribunal.

They had also challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the case.

Dismissing the applications, Okunnu held that they lacked merit because the offences for which they were charged at the Federal High Court were different from the ones before her.

She said in the case at the Federal High Court, they were not accused of stealing, but of money laundering and violation of banking rules.

“None of the accused persons have provided particulars to controvert the facts that the charges are not similar.

Okunnu maintained that the case at the Federal High Court and at the Investment and Securities Tribunal are not prejudicial to the charges before her, and so do not amount to double jeopardy.

On whether the EFCC could prosecute the accused at a state high court, Okunnu said the 1999 Constitution in Section 211 authorizes the attorney-general of a state to take over criminal cases instituted by any other person or authority.

She said relevant sections of the EFCC Act allow it to institute a criminal case under a state law without the fiat of the attorney-general.

Federal Laws and the Constitution will override anything to the contrary in the Administration of Criminal Justice Law.

Okunnu said there was a fiat from the attorney-general empowering the EFCC to prosecute them, which was already before her for consideration.

On the issue of jurisdiction, she said this court can entertain the charge of stealing against the accused persons. The evidence reveals that the series of transactions took place in Lagos.”

She fixed June 23, 24 and 30 for commencement of trial.

LAGOS STATE POLICE CHIEF YAKUB ALKALI

Man charged with allegedly stabbing couple.

A 43-year-old man, Goddy Ogbonna, was on Tuesday dragged before a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly stabbing a couple.

Ogbonna, who is facing a two-count charge of assault and causing grievous harm before Chief Magistrate Abiola Soladoye, however, pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Sgt., Sunday Olaide, told the court that Ogbonna during an argument used a kitchen knife to stab Mr and Mrs Ambrose Asonye, his co-tenants.

He said the offence committed on May 23 at No. 17, Olufemi St., Surulere contravened Sections 335 and 355 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

Soladoye granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The case was adjourned till June 17 for further hearing.
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2 guards docked for stealing.

Two security guards in Lagos were on Tuesday docked at an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court Lagos for allegedly stealing a generator set, valued at N500,000.

The accused, Useni Bulami, 20, Ibrahim Babangida, 35, are standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Innocent Odugbo, told the court that the accused committed the alleged offence on March 14, 2010, at No. 10 Niyi Okunubi St., Lekki, Lagos.

Odugbo alleged that the duo conspired and stole the generator, property of one Akinola Ojo, their employer, and sold it.

He said the alleged offence contravened Sections 390(9) and 516 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State.

They pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate, O. A. Ogunbowale, granted them bail in the sum of N200,000 each, with two sureties each in like sum, and adjourned till June 7 for mention.
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Police Arrest Fraudster

A man, Mukiala Andrew, 32, has been docked at Abule-Egba Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, for attempting to defraud one Rotimi Bode of N80,000.

The prosecutor, Inspector Lugard Ahonle, disclosed in the charge sheet that the offence he committed are punishable under Sections 419 and 390 of the Criminal Code Cap 32, Vol 2 Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.

The charge read: “That you, Mukaila Andrew, on 22 January, 2011 at about 12.35 p.m. at pipeline area, Oke Odo, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, with intent to defraud by obtaining N80,000 from Rotimi Bode with pretence to supply PVC ceiling and on the same day, time and place, did steal N80,000 from Rotimi Bode.”

He pleaded not guilt to the charges and the presiding magistrate, Mr. Owolabi Komolafe, granted him bail in the sum of N50,000 with sureties who must be fully employed, while the case was adjourned till 20 June, 20ll.
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Court Sentences Bus Driver To Death

Justice Habeeb Abiru of an Ikeja High Court in Lagos, yesterday sentenced a bus driver, Tunde Akinola, to death for killing his wife, Mrs. Funmilayo Awosika.

The prosecutor, A.A. Sanusi, said Akinola murdered his wife on 4 February, 2006, by stabbing her with a broken beer bottle after an argument at Oshodi Motor Park, Lagos.

Delivering judgment, Abiru said the accused was guilty of murder “because the prosecution proved his case beyond reasonable doubt.”

He said for a murder charge to hold, the prosecution must prove that the deceased died from the action of the accused person.

He said such action must be with the intention of causing bodily harm to the victim.

Abiru said the accused, in his statement of confession to the police which he later retracted during trial, admitted to stabbing the deceased with a broken bottle.

The judge said the accused also told the police that it took him almost a year to recover from the strange ailment and that the wife abandoned him during this period.

He said Akinola’s statement admitted by the court implicated him on the murder.

He added that the accused’s attempt to cook up story a that the wife fell into a gutter was not consistent with the facts.

He said from the photographs tendered before the court, it was clear that the deceased was stabbed on the neck and other parts of her body with broken bottle.

Abiru said the action of the accused was not in self-defence but intentional because the victim was reportedly stabbed in various places.

“I find the accused guilty of murder which is contrary to Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Law Cap C. Vol. 2, Laws of Lagos State 2003 and punishable by death.

“I hereby sentence Akinola to death for the murder of Funmilayo Awosika,” the judge said.

The convict’s counsel, O. Rotimi, appealed to the judge to temper justice with mercy because of the children.

The judge, however, maintained that the law stated clearly that the punishment for murder is death.

Apatira Babatunde Abiodun and 30-year old Oluseyi Taiwo Abbey, lying dead inside a tailor’s shop at Obalende, Lagos.

Mystery Deaths In A Tailor’s Shop

The police in Lagos State, are trying to unravel how 29-year old Apatira Babatunde Abiodun and 30-year old Oluseyi Taiwo Abbey died at the weekend inside a tailor’s shop in mysterious circumstances.

It was gathered that the two friends were found dead at the weekend in a shop located at No 70, Ajeniya Street, Obalende, Lagos Island with blood stains in their mouths. Eye witnesses said they might have been poisoned.

Neighbours narrated that Abiodun and Abbey had gone to relax in the neighbourhood in the evening and returned to the shop where they usually sleep late in the night before they were discovered dead the following morning.

“The two of them were very good friends and they had been sleeping together for long. I was surprised the following morning when some people came shouting at my door to come out and see my son, and on getting there, I met the two of them dead with blood and foam coming out from their mouths.

“Now, nobody really knows where they went that night. I have left everything to Allah because he gives and he takes,” Sakirudeen Apatira, a printer and father of Abiodun said.

“I am still in shock over the sudden death of my son who was hail and hearty the night before the incident. My son and his friend told me they were going out in the evening of the previous day and when they came back, they also came to greet me and told me that they were back and were going to sleep,” he added.

The strange incident threw the whole area into confusion as onlookers gathered on Odo, Moshalasi and Toyan Streets to find answer to what might have led to the death of the two young men they all knew.

Biodun has been buried at Ikoyi Cemetery while Abbey has been taken to the mortuary by Onikan Police officers who are still investigating the matter.

ERASTUS AKINGBOLA

Defence again frustrates EFCC effort to arraign Erastus Akingbola on fresh charges.

Lawyers to Eratus Akingbola on Monday again frustrated attempts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC to arraign him before an Ikeja High Court on fresh theft charges.
The EFCC had dragged the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, and an associate, Bayo Dada, before Justice Habeeb Abiru on a 29-count charge, bothering on theft.
The EFCC alleged that Akingbola conspired with his wife, Anthonia now at large and Dada to steal over N47.1 billion belonging to Intercontinental Bank Plc while he was its Chief Executive Officer.
The anti-crime agency had made two previous attempts to arraign the accused persons which were stalled due to series of applications filed by their counsel stopping the arraignment.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, Akingbola’s lead counsel, Felix Fagbohungbe SAN, told the court that the defense had filed a fresh application dated May 20, 2011 which had been served on the prosecution.
Fagbohungbe asked the court to withdraw their earlier application dated May 10, 2011 in light of recent development concerning the matter.
The fresh application sought an Order of the court declining jurisdiction to entertain the case and also asked it to restrain the EFCC from arraigning the accused persons in respect of the fresh charges.
It also asked the court for an Order dismissing the charges brought against them on the grounds that the EFCC had no statutory powers under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2007 to prosecute the matter.
Fagbohungbe said the charge filed against the accused persons by the EFCC was done in bad faith and was an abuse of court processes.
He informed the court that Justice Charles Achibong of a Federal High Court in Lagos had on May 18 ordered the EFCC to release the accused persons immediately.
According to him, the former application was based on an interim order and with the substantive Order given by the Federal High Court Judge, the EFCC has no option but to release them.
He said Order that our clients must be released forthwith is an absolute Order. For the EFCC to keep holding them in their custody is contemptuous.
Fagbohungbe asked the court to declare an interim order releasing the accused persons from EFCC custody, pending the determination of the issues raised in the application.
However, EFCC lead counsel, Kola Awodein SAN, asked the court to grant the prosecution a short adjournment date to respond in writing to the fresh application filed by Akingbola’s lawyers.
Awodein also objected to the oral application made by the defense for the release of the accused persons, adding that the EFCC had filed an appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court.
The judge, while expressing dismay over the slow pace of the matter, cautioned both parties against unnecessary delay tactics.
He adjourned the matter to May 31 to enable the prosecution respond in writing to the fresh application served on them by Akingbola’s lawyers.

Lawmaker decries non-enforcement of resolution on containers.

A Lagos State lawmaker, Ipoola Omisore on Monday decried the lack of enforcement of a resolution of the Lagos State House of Assembly on unlatched containers along the highways in the state.
Omisore said in Lagos that the State Assembly had passed two resolutions to regulate the activities of drivers of articulated vehicle carrying containers not properly latched.
He, however, lamented that the resolutions were not being enforced by members of the Nigeria Police Force.
The chairman, House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy said he moved the motion twice in 2010 and had expected the police or the Federal Road Safety Corps to enforce the resolutions
Omisore lamented that some articulated vehicles latch their containers but exceed the haulage capacity and often risk falling on other road users when negotiating bends or when plying bad portions of the roads.
He explained that the Assembly was going to take more proactive measures by seeking the support of the Inspector General of police, other traffic agencies and stakeholders, to reduce accidents.
He said the assembly would also lobby federal lawmakers to raise the issue on a national level to ensure the police began enforcement of other traffic laws and resolutions nationwide.
Omisore added that the Assembly was planning to do an impact assessment of all the previous laws it had passed to upgrade the ones that were obsolete.

LAGOS POLICE SPOKESMAN

Police arrest seven over attack on LUTH.

Seven persons have been arrested in connection with an alleged destruction of properties of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.
Lagos State Police Command Spokesman,Samuel Jinadu told newsmen on Monday that the suspects were arrested for attacking the hospital and damaging some properties belonging to the institution.
Jinadu explained that some unidentified gunmen had last week Tuesday engaged each other in a shootout along Temple St. in Bariga, during which four persons were hit by stray bullets.
The four victims were rushed to LUTH where doctors on duty struggled to save them but two of the victims were confirmed dead.
The relations of the deceased became enraged and therefore attacked the hospital and damaged some of the its properties, he said.
The Police PRO said policemen drafted from Ikeja Police Division to the scene of the crime arrested the seven suspects.
The suspects have been taken to the State CID, Panti, Yaba, for interrogation.

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SS2 student docked for assaulting school’s security guard.

An 18-year-old student of Iganmu Secondary School in Lagos was on Monday docked in for assaulting the security guard of his school.
Jamiu Muritala, who is facing a count charge before Senior Magistrate M.K.O. Fadeyi of a Surulere Magistrates’ Court, was alleged to have hit the security guard on the head with a bottle.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Idowu Onime told the court that Muritala, an SS2 student, went late to school and was punished along with other late comers.
A security guard, Ajagunna, was asked to supervise those being punished for lateness.
He said the offence committed on May 19 at the school premises, contravened Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.
Muritala, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Fadeyi granted him bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties, each in like sum.
The case was adjourned till June 15 for further hearing.
If convicted the accused could go to jail for three years.
Suspected cultist arraigned in Lagos.
A 21-year-old suspected cultist, Tobi Olusanya was on Monday docked at a Surulere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos for allegedly belonging to a secret society and arming himself with dangerous weapons.
Olusanya is facing trial on a four-count charge of conspiracy, engaging in a secret society, arming self to terrorise people and possessing charms.
He, however, pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Raji Hakeem told the court that the accused was found on May 19 at Onitolo St., Surulere, with dangerous weapons and charms during a police search on him.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 63, 80, 213 (b) and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.
The Senior Magistrate, Aderemi Gbajumo granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties, each in like sum.
She said one of the sureties must be either of the parents of the accused, who must show evidence of tax payment.
The case was adjourned till June 20 for further hearing.

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Ex-convict in court for alleged robbery.

An ex-convict, Stephen Ezurike was on Monday arraigned before an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court for allegedly attempting to rob some residents of Orile-Agege, Lagos, with a toy gun.
The prosecutor, Sgt. Paul Inedu said the accused, along with others still at large, attacked residents of 11 Ayegbami St., Orile-Agege, Lagos at midnight on April 28.
Inedu said the accused and his accomplices were armed with a toy gun, knives and cutlasses.
Ezurike was with the toy gun and was overpowered by the residents when they (resident) discovered that the gun was fake.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened Section 1 (2) (a) and punishable under Section 6 (b) of Robbery and Fire arms Act, Laws of the Federation.
The Magistrate, Folashade Kayode, ordered that the accused be remanded in Ikoyi Prisons pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions and adjourned the case to June 1 for further hearing.
In a related development, three men were arraigned before the court for allegedly robbing, stealing and receiving a Toyota Camry saloon car valued at N4 million.
The accused, Jamiu Taiwo, 30; Kunle Balogun, 39; and Adeshina Seriki, 48, were brought before Chief Magistrate Philip Ojo on a three-count charge of armed robbery, robbery and receiving stolen property.
The prosecutor, ASP Innocent Effiong told the court that Taiwo stole the Toyota car with Lagos number RX 423 AAA and two handsets valued at N50, 000.
The prosecutor said that Balogun and Seriki received the stolen car from Taiwo.
He said the robbery incident took place on March 21 at Karimu-Laka St., Egbeda, Lagos.
The prosecutor said the first two charges contravened Section 1 (2) (a) and punishable under Section 6 (b) of the Robbery and Fire Arms Act, while the third charge contravened Section 427 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.
Taiwo’s plea was not taken on the first and second count charge and was ordered to be remanded in prison custody pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions.
Balogun and Seriki pleaded not guilty to the third-count charge of receiving stolen car and were granted N100,000 bail each with one surety in like sum.
The case was adjourned to July 11 for further hearing.

former Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke

Court nullifies Okereke-Onyiuke's removal by NSE.

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday nullified the removal of a former Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Justice Mohammed Idris also awarded the sum of N500 million to the former NSE boss as exemplary and aggravated damages.
Okereke – Onyiuke had challenged her removal as the DG of the NSE by SEC and demanded N3 billion as damages.
The former DG NSE was removed on August 5, 2010 by SEC over allegations of financial impropriety.
The capital market regulatory agency also removed Aliko Dangote as the president of the NSE during the period.
Delivering his judgment on Friday, Justice Muhammed Idris held that Okereke-Onyiuke’s removal was “irrational and hasty.”
The judge held that the plaintiff’s right to fair hearing was breached, adding that ``it is ridiculous that SEC removed the plaintiff within 24 hours after directing the NSE to remove her.’’
Idris also dismissed SEC’s objection that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit, stressing that the Federal High Court had an exclusive jurisdiction over the case.
Idris ruled that Okereke-Onyiuke’s removal was not in accordance with the rule of law and should not be condoned in a democratic dispensation.
He declared the removal as “illegal, unlawful, null and void”.
Meanwhile SEC’s Head of Media, Lanre Oloyi, said his organization would appeal the judgment.

Okey Nwosu

Court rules on former Finbank boss bail May 24.

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed May 24 for ruling on the bail applications filed by Okey Nwosu , former Managing Director of Finbank Plc.
Nwosu and three other executives of the bank were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged theft on May 10.
The others standing trial before Justice Lateefat Okunnu along with Nwosu, are Agnes Ebubedike, Danjuma Ocholi and Dayo Famoroti.
The accused persons are facing a 26-count amended charge, were alleged to have stolen about N10.9 billion belonging to the bank.
The accused persons had separately filed applications for bail and had also filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection seeking the court to quash the charges against them. The ex-bank chiefs in their preliminary objection had asked the court to quash the charges on the grounds that they were being tried for the same offences before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
At Friday’s proceedings, Nwosu’s counsel, M. Dimgba SAN told the court that all the accused persons had been granted bail by the same Federal High Court.
Speaking similarly, Ocholi’s counsel, Victor Ukutt urged the court to exercise its discretionary power in favour of his client who had no prior criminal record.
The defence counsel assured the court that the accused persons would not jump bail and pleaded that should it not be on stringent conditions that would defeat its essence.
Ukutt urged the court “to grant the bail to give validity to the principle of ‘presumption of innocence’ and on liberal terms’’.
The defence further argued that it would amount to double jeopardy for the accused to be tried by two different courts on the same charge.
EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacob objected to the application contending that granting of bail was not automatic, even if it had been granted in a suit of similar charges before another court.
Jacob also argued that the charges brought against the accused persons were totally different from the ones they were charged with at the Federal High Court.
Okunnu, after hearing the submissions of both the prosecution and defense counsel, adjourned ruling on the applications to May 24.

LASTMA OFFICIAL

LASTMA official assaulted for crashing bus.

Angry occupants of a bus on Friday morning pounced on an official of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority LASTMA at Iponri Bus Stop, beating him to a pulp.
Trouble started when the official seized the bus on top of National Stadium Bridge, took over the wheel and crashed it at Iponri a few minutes after.
The bus, believed to be carrying some church members who were coming from a vigil and heading towards Apapa, was allegedly seized for driving on the bridge.
The official while attempting to drive the bus with registration no. AE568-LEW with the inscription “missionary’’ to their office at Iponri, lost control and crashed into a culvert.
Infuriated by the conduct of the official, the occupants, some of who sustained minor injuries, pounced on the official.
It, however, took the intervention of some other LASTMA officials and the police to rescue him.
The bus’ windows and the windscreen were damaged.
The driver of the bus, who identified himself as Kuku, said the incident occurred at about 8.35 a.m. while he was going to his workshop at Apapa after a vigil at his church.
The Head of LASTMA Office, Iponri, Olalekan Oti, was not available for comment when contacted, but a senior official in his office, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the incident.
He, however, said the incident had been reported to the police because an officer was assaulted.

FRANCIS ATUCHE

Court strikes out motion of preliminary objection by EFCC on Atuche’s bail application.

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos on Friday struck out a motion of preliminary objection filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC urging it to dismiss the bail application of a former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche.
Atuche is standing trial alongside the duo of Funmi Ademosun and Lekan Kasali on a three-count charge of conspiracy to commit felony and stealing before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo.
The EFCC alleged that Atuche had conspired with his co-accused persons to steal over N11.4 billion belonging to the bank, while he was its Chief Executive Officer.
The agency had sought an order striking out his summons for bail and an order staying proceedings, pending the determination of his Notice of Preliminary Objection filed by his lawyer, Anthony Idigbe SAN.
The application dated May 12, 2011 had challenged the court’s jurisdiction to try the case on the grounds that Atuche was facing similar charges before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
EFCC, through its counsel, Kemi Pinheiro SAN, said the court could not hear Atuche’s bail application when it was yet to determine the issue of jurisdiction raised by his lawyer.
It said the bail application was premature and an abuse of court process, but Idigbe had urged the court to dismiss EFCC’s objection for being incompetent.
In his ruling Onigbanjo dismissed EFCC’s preliminary objection to the motion for bail.
He added that the preliminary objection earlier filed by Atuche challenging the jurisdiction could not stop his motion for bail as the court’s jurisdiction to hear bail applications was inherent.
Onigbanjo added that the fact that the prosecution had on May 17 arraigned the accused before him conferred a certain assumption of jurisdiction on the court.
Moving Atuche’s bail application, Nnamdi Oragwu, who stood in for Idigbe, urged the court to grant his client bail in the interest of justice.
Pinheiro, however, opposed the bail application, adding, however, that should the court wish to grant bail, it should be on stringent terms.
Onigbanjo fixed May 25 for ruling on Atuche’s bail application.
The court also heard the bail application of Kasali, arraigned along with Atuche.
Kasali’s counsel, Abraham Oshobamisole said his client should be granted bail on health grounds because he is asthmatic and had been receiving treatment in a Lagos-based hospital since 2004.
But Pinheiro also opposed the application, saying that Oshobamisole’s argument was “fallacious.”
He said for bail to be granted on the basis of ill-health, the ailment must be contagious, and its treatment must require a specialist that was not available within the court’s jurisdiction.
Pinheiro added that should the court be inclined to granting bail, it should be on stringent terms to compel the availability of the defendant in court for trial.
The judge adjourned the matter to May 25 for ruling on Kasali’s bail application.

COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF CUSTOM, ABDULLAHI DIKKO

Federal Operations Unit of Customs arrests contraband at Agbara

The Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service has seized a large contraband on the lagoon in Agbara, a suburb of Lagos.

Area Comptroller of the unit, Victor Dimka said the contraband, estimated at several millions of naira, was seized at about 5.00 am on Thursday.

Dimka said the several sacks in contraband contained shoes and textiles, adding that the sacks were enough to fill nine large trucks.

He said the sacks were loaded into three locally made jumbo boats.

Gidado said the real value of the goods had not been ascertained

Gidado promised that the fight against smuggling would be sustained, despite the resilience of smugglers.

The unit had earlier seized a big boat laden with 5,500 bags of rice.

LAGOS POLICE IMAGE MAKER, SAMUEL JINADU

Security guards charged with stealing N400,000 motor parts.

Four security guards in were on Friday in Lagos docked at an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing automobile parts valued at N400,000.
The accused GoodLuck Amanze, Titus Ngise, Ature Ento, Sanya Seun, are standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
The prosecutor, Sgt Igonbo Emby, told the court that the accused committed the alleged offence on May 17 at Swift Network Limited locatedat No. 31b Saka Tinubu St., Victoria Island.
Emby alleged that the accused stole four brain boxes from four buses parked inside the company’s premises they were guarding.
He said the registration numbers of the buses are XK 24 BDG, KR 427 GGE, XK 26 BDG and XK 25 BDG.
He said the alleged offence contravened Sections 390(9) and 516 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State.
The accused pleaded not guilty.
Magistrate, Adebayo Sonuga, granted each of the accused a bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties each in like sum, and adjourned till June 13 for mention.

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Lagos court dissolves 5-year-old childless relationship.

A five-year-old marriage that did not produce an offspring was dissolved on Friday in Lagos owing to the mutual consent of the couple.
A Grade “A” Customary Court in Mushin, which gave the order, noted that the marriage between 55-year-old Oluwole Shoniran, a tailor, and his wife, Olayinka, 45, had broken down irretrievably.
The estranged husband had on Feb. 17 filed a suit seeking the dissolution of the union on the grounds that it was barren.
President of the court, Abayomi Ipaye, said since the marriage was childless the court had no option than to dissolve it.
Earlier, Shoniran had told the court that he was tired of Olayinka, his fourth wife.
Olayinka, who said she was no longer interested in the relationship, urged the court to order Shoniran to pay the N250,000 he owed her.

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4-day old baby girl abandoned in Badagry.

An unidentified woman has abandoned a four-day-old baby girl at a private maternity home in Ajara Topa, Badagry.
The proprietress of the maternity home, Juli Onyekame said the baby was delivered at about 6:30pm on Tuesday by the mother who never registered for antenatal care in the maternity.
Onyekame said after taking delivery of the baby, the unidentified mother said she was leaving the maternity to arrange payment of her hospital bill, only to phone her later that she should take charge of the baby. Onyekame, who said she never knew any relations of the woman, stated that she admitted the woman on “humanitarian ground” since she did not register with her maternity home.
Onyekame said she had reported the matter to Badagry Police Station when it became clear that the unidentified woman had apparently abandoned the baby.
An Assistant Superintendent of Police and Divisional Crime Officer at Badagry Police Station, Samson Okudiji said the abandoned baby would be taken to the Lagos Welfare home along with an 11-year-old boy who was lost and found.

EFCC'S CHAIRMAN TO PROBE EMBATTLED HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE SPEAKER, DIMEJI BANKOLE

EFCC Ready To Probe Bankole Over N10b Loan Scandal.

All things being equal the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole may be quizzed soon by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, over the controversial N10 billion loan obtained by the House.
The loan scandal is currently rocking the House, with Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and some members of the House such as Dino Melaye calling for a probe.
Spokesman for the Commission, Femi Babafemi confirmed that the anti-graft agency has received a petition against Bankole regarding the scam and that it is being given speedy consideration.
According to him, the Commission is in receipt of a petition calling for the probe of the Speaker of the House of Representatives over an alleged N10 billion scam.
Babafemi said the commission have always done its job without undue delays and pledge the readiness of this commission to commence investigation on the matter very soon bearing in mind that the tenure of the present crop of legislators will lapse very soon.
The controversial loan is part of the severance package for legislators in the lower chamber of the National Assembly.
Their tenure ends next week and the legislators may leave empty-handed if funds could not be raised from alternative sources to provide the much needed cash to pay the severance package.
The embattled Bankole’s efforts to raise the money through alternative means have so far failed following an order by the Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi that banks should not honour any loan request by the House leadership.

ERASTUS AKINGBOLA AND EFCC BOSS FARIDA WAZIRI

Court orders Akingbola’s release from EFCC custody.

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday upheld the fundamental human rights case filed by the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Erastus Akingbola, against the EFCC.

The EFCC had through its counsel, Joseph Daudu, filed the stay of proceeding to enable the commission to appeal an order of the court made on May 6.

The court had directed EFCC to immediately release Akingbola and one of his aides, Bayo Dada, from its custody.

Justice Charles Archibong had also ordered the EFCC to stay off all actions against Akingbola pending the determination of the suit before it.

He described the re- arrest and detention of the former bank chief by the EFCC as unlawful.

At the resumed hearing, counsel to Akingbola, Felix Fagbohungbe (SAN), informed the court that the EFCC served him with the application late on Tuesday and that he needed time to respond.

He also informed the court that the EFCC was yet to release his client as ordered by the court even though they had been served with a copy of the order.

The EFCC counsel, however, argued that the court could not go into the issue of why the order was not obeyed at this stage.

Justice Archibong dismissed the motion, saying that that the EFCC was in contempt of court.

After the ruling, Daudu informed the court that he was no longer interested in the proceedings and stormed out of the court with the other lawyers who appeared with him.

The court, thereafter, went ahead to listen to the fundamental human rights application filed by the embattled former bank chief and his aide and granted their prayers.

The court held that the arrest, detention, harassment and incarceration of Akingbola and Dada violated their fundamental rights, dignity of human person, personal liberty and freedom.

It further restrained the EFCC, whether by themselves or by their agents, servants, officers, privies or otherwise, however, from arresting and or detaining the applicants in any other manner.

WAZIRI PROSECUTES FORMER DIRECTOR GENERAL OF NIMASA

Trial of former NIMASA D-G begins at Federal High Court

The trial of Raymond Omatseye, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, commenced on Wednesday at the Federal High Court, Lagos.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC is prosecuting Omatseye for the illegal transfer of NIMASA's funds and contract splitting.

In an 11-count charge, the agency said that the ex-NIMASA boss allegedly transferred 300,000 pounds sterling from the agency’s account.

It further alleged that he used the money to fund the election of one Mrs Mbanefo as the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation.

It also said Omatseye used his position in NIMASA to split contracts to 10 companies, all in a bid to evade his official approval limit.

The companies, the EFCC said, were asked to supply office accessories, computer accessories and office equipment between 2009 and 2010.

The accused had earlier pleaded not guilty.

At the resumed hearing, the prosecuting counsel, Godwin Obla, led his first witness, Ibrahim Ahmed, an investigating officer to testify.

Ahmed informed the court that he was asked by his superior in the office to lead a team to investigate NIMASA management.

The prosecutor then tendered the statements as exhibits after the defence counsel, Joseph Nwobike SAN, said he had no objection.

Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako adjourned the case to June 29 for further hearing.

INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, HAFIZ RINGIM

Court discharges 2 over alleged forgery of IGP, DIG’s signatures.

A Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday in Lagos discharged two men accused of forging the signature of the Inspector-General of Police for lack of diligent prosecution.

The accused were also set free on the charge of forging the signature of a Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of ‘’D’’ Department, Alagbon Close, Lagos.

The duo Donatus Orji, 46, and Salami Jato, 49 (now deceased) -- who were clearing agents, were first arraigned on Jan. 20, 2010 on a nine-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and stealing to which they pleaded not guilty.

The accused had been remanded in Ikoyi prison since January 2010 because they could not fulfill their bail conditions.

Jato has since died in custody, the court was told.

They were granted bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum, one of whom must be a civil servant with a landed property in Lagos.

The prosecution had alleged that the accused conspired and stole N800, 000 from the house of a businessman, George Nwamana, at Ijegun, a Lagos suburb, on Dec. 4, 2009.

The offences, according to the prosecution, contravenes Sections 390 (9), 467 (3a), 473, 484 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The Chief Magistrate, Abiola Soladoye said she decided to strike out the case for lack of diligent prosecution by the police.

She warned the accused to refrain from committing such crimes in future.

Soladoye, however, said they could be re-arrested and charged to court if the police authorities were ready to prosecute them.

Also, a 29-year-old man, Obinna Ezenwa, who was arraigned for allegedly stealing N1. 5 million belonging to a trader, Chukwudi Egbeuchi, was discharged.

Standing trial for fraud and stealing at the court, Ezenwa, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecution said the offence was committed on Aug. 27, 2010 at Block 1, Agric Market, Odun-Ade, Orile-Iganmu, a contravention of Sections 390 and 419 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

Soladoye had at their arraignment granted the accused bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.
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Businessman docked for impersonation

A businessman, Akindele Omole, was on Wednesday arraigned for allegedly impersonating as a superintendent of police to secure the release on bail of a suspect.

Omole is standing trial before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on a two-count charge of impersonation and forgery.

The accused allegedly belonged to a syndicate which patronised courts and police stations in Lagos as professional sureties.

The prosecutor, ASP Raymond Odion, told the court that Omole had on Feb. 7 at Alakuko Police Station, presented himself to Tayo Ogunmola, as a senior police officer.

He had claimed that his mission was to secure the bail for his detained relation, in his capacity as an officer.

He said the accused presented to Ogunmola a complimentary card bearing his name with the rank of superintendent of police.

Odion said Omole’s words were incoherent as he could not give satisfactory explanations to establish his identity.

He said Omole was also being charged for unlawfully forging police complimentary cards to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

Odion said the offence contravened Sections 109 and 467 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The Magistrate, J.A. Adegun, adjourned the case till June 9 for further hearing.
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Student remanded in prison for stabbing friend to death.

An Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court, Lagos on Wednesday remanded a 19-year-old student, Adedayo Abubakar, at the Ikoyi Prisons for allegedly stabbing his friend.

Abubakar appeared before Magistrate Tubosun Abolarinwa on a one count charge of unlawfully stabbing Ismaila Oris with a broken bottle.

The accused plea was not taken by the court.

The magistrate ordered him to be locked up in prison custody pending the advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Ebi Ajala, told the court that the accused and his elder brother were friends to Oris, who later died as a result of the injury sustained during the attack.

According to him, the accused allegedly committed the offence on March 20 along Idowu St. in Olodi-Apapa.

He said Abubakar, his elder brother and Oris were together when the deceased took a broken bottle and stabbed Abubakar’s brother on the neck.

The prosecutor said Abubakar’s elder brother survived the cut while Oris later died due to loss of blood.

Ajala said the offence contravened Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State and punishable with death on conviction.

The case was adjourned to June 23 for further hearing.
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2 arraigned over alleged theft of motorcycle

Two men who allegedly stole a motorcycle valued at N120, 000, were on Wednesday brought to trial at an Apapa Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

The duo Nwachukwu Godwin, 25, and Chinedu Obi, 38 -- are facing a two-count charge of stealing and conspiracy.

The prosecution said the accused conspired and stole the motorcycle from where it was parked on April 26 at 36, Ikoba St., Maza-Maza, Apapa, property of Mr Luke Ugwu.

Cpl. John Iberedem told the court that the offence contravened Sections 390 (9) and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail in the sum of N50, 000 with two sureties each in like sum.

The Chief Magistrate, E.O. Ogundare adjourned the case till June 17 for further hearing.
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Court summons respondent in divorce suit

The President of a Grade “A” Customary Court in Somolu, Lagos, Mrs Modupe Bajulaiye, on Wednesday adjourned hearing in a divorce suit and ordered the respondent to appear in court.

The petitioner, Yinka Adeoye, 43, a trader had pleaded with the court to dissolve her 17-year-old marriage, alleging neglect by her husband, Mr Steven Adeoye, 52, a businessman.

Bajulaiye said the respondent should be in court before the petitioner could be cross examined.

She then adjourned the case till June 1, 2011 to enable the respondent to appear in court.
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Man charged with assault, threat to life.

An unemployed 28-year-old man, Ifeanyi Eze, was on Wednesday docked at a Somolu Magistrates` Court in Lagos for alleged assault and threat to life.

Eze, who appeared before Magistrate B.O.Osunsanmi, pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Insp. Akinlabi Adegoke, told the court that the accused on May 13 at about 8 p.m. on Community Road, Akoka, threatened the life of the complainant, Frank Alex.

According to the prosecutor, Eze threatened Alex’s life following a ``minor’’ disagreement between them.

He said the alleged offences contravened Sections 86 and 355of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The magistrate granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

She adjourned the case till July 13 for further hearing.
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Suspected fraudster removes victim’s teeth.

A suspected fraudster who allegedly knocked out the teeth of his victim, was on Wednesday arraigned before an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ court in Lagos on a five-count charge.

Anthony Chiegboka was accused of removing two teeth of one Mr Kanayo Paulinus, who he allegedly defrauded of N127, 000.

Chiegboka is standing trial before Magistrate Tubosun Abolarinwa, but he pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy, stealing and causing grievous harm.

The magistrate granted the accused bail in the sum of N50, 000 with one surety in like sum.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Emmanuel Ajayi, said that the accused, a salesman at the Tinubu Market, Lagos Island, defrauded his victim under the pretext of supplying him a laptop.

He said Chiegboka removed his victim’s teeth through fist blows during a fight after Paulinus confronted him over the alleged fraud.

The prosecutor also submitted that the accused stole two handset worth N88,000 from Paulinus during the fight.

He said the alleged incident took place on May 2 at No. 22 Olaboye St., Iwaya.

Ajayi noted that the alleged offences contravened Sections 335, 390 (9), 419 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, and punishable with seven years’ imprisonment.

The case has been adjourned till June 13 for further hearing.
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Commercial motorcyclist in trouble for allegedly stabbing a man.

A commercial motorcyclist, Abdulrahaman Musa, was on Wednesday arraigned before an Apapa Senior Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stabbing a man, Saliu Lawal, with a knife.

The accused, who is facing a charge of assault, however, pleaded not guilty.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Uche Kalu, alleged that the accused stabbed Lawal following a disagreement.

He said the stabbing caused Lawal a grievous harm which led to his admission in a hospital.

Kalu said the offence which was committed on May 5 at 12, Otubu Estate, Ijegun, a Lagos suburb, contravened Section 335 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The Senior Magistrate, Amos Adeyemi, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case till May 30.
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Two in court for allegedly stealing N1.1m goods

Two men were on Wednesday charged before an Apapa Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, over alleged burglary of a shop and theft of goods worth N1.1 million

The accused Hafees Fatai, 28 and Ali Suleiman, 48 are facing a three-count charge of stealing, shop breaking and receiving of stolen items.

The duo, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Benedict Unawunwa told the court that Hafees, with five others who are still at large, broke into a shop belonging to Andrew Irighogbe and carted away the goods.

He said the accused removed 47 cartons of motor brake kits valued at N1.1 million while Suleiman received the stolen items.

Unawunwa said the offences, which were committed at Progressive Market, Trade Fair Complex, Lagos, on May 5 at about 12.30 a.m., contravened Sections 390 (9), 427 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State.

The Chief Magistrate, Oluyemisi Adelaja, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200, 000 with one surety each in like sum.

She ordered that the sureties should show evidence of tax payment in Lagos State.

The case has been adjourned till June 8 for further hearing.