BILLION

The Nigerian Navy has excavated and dismantled oil equipment of a suspected oil syndicate on Oil Mining Lease-18 in Elem Krakama Creek in the Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State. The Navy said it dismantled the equipment used in siphoning crude precisely on Oil Well 17 operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. The Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship Pathfinder, Commodore Suleman Ibrahim, said the Navy spotted the illicit activities by its patrol helicopter on July 11, 2023. Ibrahim, who led newsmen to the site on Saturday, said the discovery led to the dismantling of the multiple pipelines buried in the ground. He also said four suspects, engaging in the illegal oil bunkering, were arrested in a separate incident. He said excavation was done in collaboration with the NNPCL, and expressed shock at the level of expertise deployed by the suspects. Ibrahim stated that such massive oil theft could not be done by as amateurs, saying the syndicate were sophis...

The Lagos State Police Command on Friday said its men arrested 27 suspects engaged in different crimes, including armed robbery, murder, and cultism. The state Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, during a press briefing at the command’s headquarters, Ikeja, on Friday, said arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects. He said, “Before you today we have a total of 27 suspects who engaged in varying crimes including armed robbery, murder, cultism, vandalisation, etc. “From all these cases, which we successfully cracked, we recovered a total of six arms, 12 live ammunition, one knife, two motorcycles, one vehicle, and SIM cards.” Giving a summary of the arrest, Owohunwa said suspected members of a cult, Kesari Confraternity, who planned to retaliate their leader’s death in the Mushin area of the state, were arrested on June 30. “Police operatives swung into action and arrested four suspects: Tobi Robert, 23; Opeyemi Adeosun, 22; Jenkeo Olumide, 20; Toheeb Tajudeen,...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibadan Zonal Command, has re-arrested a cybercrime convict, Adeniran Tijesunimi, and 54 others for Internet fraud. Justice Uche Agomoh of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, Oyo State, on February 15, 2022, sentenced Tijesunimi to seven months’ imprisonment without an option of fine for his involvement in cybercrime. He was again arrested alongside others in Oyo town on Thursday, July 13, following verified intelligence regarding their Internet fraud activities. The suspects include Ademola Adeniyi; Olayinwola Rokeeb; Moses Biola; Adewale Adeyemi; Olowuoyin Atanda; Mojeeb Olamilekan; Jonathan Opashi; Usman Aruwa; Bamidele Joseph; Daniel Omyajowu; Olayinwola Zacheous; Adekunle Adeniyi; Azeez Ademola; Olatunde Bode; Lawal Hammed; Adeniyi Abiodun; Abdulazeez Ayokunu; Adeleke Arise; Omiyale Akin; Segun Lekan, Popoola Sunday; Jimoh Adewale; Bashir Yinka; Adedeji Ademola; Ajibade Femi; Omolulu Alabi; Victor Junior; Lateef Aremu; Balogun I...

Authorities of the Rivers State Police Command said they had arrested one of their personnel, Bright Oke, for alleged armed robbery and car snatching. The command’s spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this to journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Thursday. Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police said the police corporal who had already been dismissed, along with three of his accomplices snatched a Toyota Corolla car at the Gateway area of Ada George in Port Harcourt before they were intercepted by men of the C4i Intelligence Unit. She said, “On Thursday, May 18, 2023, at about 11pm, men of the C4i Intelligence Team, while on a routine patrol, became suspicious of a Toyota Corolla 2005 model with number plate BNY 741 FV along Ada George Road, Port Harcourt, which aligned with an earlier intelligence the team had received. “The team members gave a hot chase and eventually intercepted the vehicle. “Three armed robbers, Corporal Bright Okey (a policeman), Sa...

A Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Port Harcourt has remanded the pastor of a new generation church, Piller Erekwa, to the maximum security custodial centre in the Rivers State capital for allegedly defiling a minor. This followed his arraignment by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the Rivers State Police Command on a one-count charge of sexual abuse. Erekwa pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him that he sexually abused a 15-year-old girl in Mgbuola village in Ndele, the Emuoha Local Government Area of the state between December 2022 and January 2023. The court presided over by Chief Magistrate Ogeh Elkanah adjourned the matter till July 19 for facts and sentencing after remanding the suspect. Erekwa was arrested last Thursday at Ndele by men of the Rumuji Police Division and was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation. He was accused of defiling and impregnating the teen...

Two men, Musa Saheed and Obinna Onyema, were on Wednesday, remanded to the Kirikiri Custodial Centre for allegedly attempting to kill their colleague, Adamu Makinta. They were said to be co-workers in the Ajah area of Lagos State. The two defendants were remanded by Magistrate Patrick Nwaka of Yaba Magistrates’ Court where they were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and attempted murder. The prosecution said Saheed, a security guard, and Onyema planned to kill Makinta because he had a misunderstanding with Onyema. The prosecutor, Thomas Nurudeen, told the court that Onyema planned that Saheed would block the CCTV from capturing him while perpetrating the crime. Nurudeen added that on June 21 around 9pm, while Makinta was sleeping, Saheed blocked the CCTV while Onyema attempted to strangle Makinta. Makinta was, however, said to have overpowered him after struggling with him for a long time. According to Nurudeen, the offences contravened and are punishable under Sections...

A police Inspector, Jude Ukpaka, has been shot dead and his AK 47 rifle with unspecified rounds of ammunition stolen by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. PUNCH Metro  gathered that Ukpaka and two of his other colleagues of Dragon 19 attached to the Ughelli Area Command were at a checkpoint near the Evwreni axis of the East-West Road when the hoodlums attacked them on Wednesday. The windshield of the Toyota Hilux patrol van of the Police Dragon 19 used by the policemen was riddled with bullets. The incident was recorded barely two months after gunmen killed two policemen, Ujeyah Matthew and Sergeant Ijebu, attached to Ofuoma Police Division. They were killed and their guns were reportedly stolen at the Ekredjebor community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area. A trader who gave her name simply as Esther told journalists on Thursday that armed robbers attacked travellers returning from Bayelsa in the same area ear...

The management of the Osun State University, Osogbo, has suspended a 100-Level student of the institution, Victory Ehiremen, indefinitely. 17-year-old Ehiremen was suspended following her arrest by men of the Osun State Police Command in connection with a case of armed robbery in Ikire. PUNCH Metro  reported on Wednesday that Ehiremen and her boyfriend, Ayobami, allegedly lured the victim said to be based in Lagos State, who she met via WhatsApp to Ikire, Osun State, where he was assaulted and a sum of N1. 5m was transferred from his account. When paraded by the state Commissioner of Police, Kehinde Longe, on Wednesday, the suspect said she only witnessed how the victim was assaulted, but was unaware that money was transferred from his account. Addressing journalists on the campus of the university in Osogbo on Thursday, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Clement Adebooye, said the management decided on the suspension after considering the statement written by the suspect and in...

At least 346 persons have been reportedly killed within three months in eight local government areas of Plateau State, a human rights organisations, Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, said in its report released on Thursday. The organisation said out of the number, over 200 lives  were lost to sustained violent attacks in the Mangu LGA alone as of Saturday, July 8 2023. The Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation, Rev. Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, who gave the figures in the report obtained by journalists in Abuja, said the killings which took place between April 17 and July 10, 2023. He added that there were currently about 18,751 Internally Displaced Persons in 14 camps in Plateau State. Para-Mallam, a peace advocate, said 17 people were killed in Bokkos, Mangu, 234; Barkin Ladi, 39; Riyom 36; Jos North 5; Jos North 9; Mikang 5 and Bassa 01. He said 14 IDP camps are hosted by the Church of Christ in the Nations Local Church Councils, adding that a brea...

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it had commenced investigations into the shooting of two brothers, Abdulmalik Abubakar and Ibrahim Abdullahi, by some local vigilantes in the Bobota/Dabi Kwali Area Council of the FCT. PUNCH Metro  reports that the brothers were shot by some local vigilantes who double as hunters on Sunday while they were sleeping in their family house. It was gathered that Abdullahi, 22, sustained gunshot wounds to the lap and buttocks while Abubakar, 27, was hit in the leg. The two brothers were rushed to the hospital where surgery was performed on one of them. The Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Command, Josephine Adeh, confirmed on Wednesday that the investigation had commenced.  “We have commenced an investigation into it,” Adeh said.  that a suspect arrested on the day of the shooting was still in police custody despite moves by the local vigilantes to release him. A source familiar with the matter told  PUNCH M...

Police authorities, on Thursday, in Abuja paraded no fewer than 20 suspects arrested for offences including conspiracy, attempted murder, murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and possession of illicit drugs among others. One of the suspects is 32-year-old Yusuf Isah who was arrested in connection with the October 2022 attack on the General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Apostle Johnson Suleman. The suspect, in an interview with journalists, admitted that the attack on the cleric was meant to assassinate him. Gunmen attacked the convoy of the cleric along the Benin-Auchi Road in Edo State and killed six persons, including three policemen. Addressing journalists while parading the suspect and others in Abuja, the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said operatives of the Intelligence Rapid Team arrested Isah following an intensive investigation. Isah told journalists that he and his gang members trailed the pastor to the point where he was attacked with...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested 13 Chinese nationals for allegedly engaging in illegal mining activities in Ilorin, Kwara State. The anti-graft agency disclosed this in a statement on Thursday by its Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren. According to Uwujaren, the 12 male and one female suspects were arrested on July 12, at the Government Reserved Area, Ilorin. He said their arrest followed “credible intelligence about their activities, which included but not limited to, illegal mining and non-payment of royalties to the Federal Government as required by law.” “The suspects are Guo Wang (36), Lizli Hui (42), Guo Rong (36), Lizh Xianian (37), Lishow Wu (26), Guo Pan (38), Lia Meiyu (53), Guo Quan (36) Lin Pan (50) “Others are Ma Jan (38), Wendy Suqin (31), Li Zhinguo Wei (29) and Xie Zhinguo (53),” the EFCC spokesman said. He explained that “prior to their arrest, discrete investigations on the activities of illegal mining operators in Kwara...

A 17-year-old female student of the Osun State University, Ikire campus, Victory Ehiremen, has been paraded alongside her boyfriend, Ayobami Ariyo, for allegedly luring a man from Lagos to Osun and robbing him of N1.5m.    Victory who was paraded before journalists at the state police command headquarters, Osogbo, on Wednesday, July 12, met the complainant on social media a few days before the incident.   After days of chatting on social media, the complainant was invited to Ikire from Lagos by the student. During the visit, she lured him to her boyfriend’s house where he met some people that attacked him and transferred N1.5m from his bank account.   The state Commissioner of Police, Kehinde Longe said;    “Immediately the case was reported, police detectives swung into action and arrested one Ariyo Ayobami from his hideout. “Preliminary investigation led to the arrest of the two other accomplices. Efforts are ongoing to arrest other culprits w...

The Bayelsa State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of three suspects in connection with the lynching of a 32-year-old man, Ebimotimi Freeborn, accused of stealing bread along the Tombia-Amassoma Road, in the Yenagoa area of the state. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Asinim Butswat, in a statement on Tuesday, identified the suspects as Preye Mathew, Theophilus Tiro and Famous Precious. Butswat said, “The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested three suspects in connection with the mob action by an unruly crowd, which led to the death of Ebimotimi Freeborn, 32. “The suspects, Preye Mathew, 50, Theophilus Tiro, 28, and Famous Precious, 22, were arrested on July 9, 2023, around 5pm along the Tombia- Amassoma Road, after an angry mob lynched the suspect to death for allegedly stealing bread. “The command condemns the action of the mob and warns members of the public to desist from taking laws into their own hands. The suspects are undergoing interrogation and...

A Family Court sitting in Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday, again ordered the remand of a prankster, Maruf Abdullahi, aka Trinity Guy, and the parents of a minor to the Agodi Correction Centre until August 31, for allegedly sexually exploiting a 10-year-old girl in the state. PUNCH Metro  had reported that the police invited the prankster in connection with a video clip that involved a minor and was, alongside the parents of the minor charged with conspiracy and sexual abuse/exploitation. “Popular content creator, Abdullahi, aka Trinity Guy, has been contacted and invited to the state police command in connection with the disturbing viral skit content making the rounds across the social media space concerning a female minor. Further updates would be provided soon,” the state Police Public Relations Officer, Adewale Osifeso said. The Magistrate, P. O. Adetuyibi, ordered Abdullahi, 31, and the parents of the child, Isiaka Ahmed, 40, and his wife, Rofiat, 29, to con...

A member of the Digbolukolu Local Security Outfit identified simply as Ezekiel, aka Baba Malu, has been tortured to death by his colleagues on the premises of the Langbasa Health Centre in the Ajah area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro  gathered that members of the security outfit established by the Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area accused Ezekiel of stealing a phone during an event members of the outfit attended in the community on Monday, June 26, 2023. In an effort to reprimand him, the leader of the security outfit, Olaide Taofik, reportedly ordered members of the outfit to tie Ezekiel and beat him up in the guardroom of the security outfit on the premises of the Langbasa Health Centre. A source in the area said after beating Ezekiel, members of the security outfit allegedly abandoned and starved him for two days till he became unconscious and died on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. The source said, “Members of the security outfit attended an event on Monday and Eze...

A report by FITC has revealed that bank customers in Nigeria lost N472m to fraud in the first quarter of 2023. It was also disclosed that there was a total of 12,553 cases of fraud recorded within this period. This was according to the Q1 report obtained by The PUNCH from the website of FITC. FITC’s institutional members are members of the Nigerian Banker’s Committee, which comprises the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and all licensed banks in Nigeria. The data, however, showed a decline in losses compared to what was lost to fraudulent banking activities in Q4, 2022. According to FITC, a total of N3.18bn was lost to fraudsters across banking platforms in Q4 2022, which meant that the losses declined by 85.13 per cent in Q1 2023. The FITC data also revealed that there was a 79.44 per cent decrease in the total amount involved in fraud cases in Q1 2023 compared to the previous quarter, with a decrease from N12.58bn to N2.59bn. The total nu...

A 31-year-old debtor, Musa Ayeni, was on Thursday, arraigned before Chief Magistrate P.E Nwaka, at the Yaba Magistrates’ Court, Yaba, Lagos State, for allegedly owing one Awosola Olusola, N1.7m, and for issuing him a fake bank cheque in the Shomolu area of the state. The Lagos State Police Command arraigned Ayeni on three counts of obtaining money under false pretence and issuing of fake cheque. According to the prosecutor, Thomas Nurudeen, the defendant, knowing that there was no money in his account, issued a fake cheque of about N2m to the complainant, an amount higher than what he owed. According to him, the offences debtor committed contravened Sections 314(a) and 319 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State. The charges read in part, “That you, Musa Ayeni, on March 27, 2023, around 2.53pm, at No. 6, Adeola Street, Somolu, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did obtain the sum of N1.7m from one Awosola Olusola, under the pretence of needing funds to execute a job orde...

An admission seeker, Sodiq Oladebo, who was travelling from Osun State to Benin, Edo State, on Saturday, accused policemen attached to the Osun State Police Command of extortion to the tune of N20,000 along the Ilesa Expressway area of the state. PUNCH Metro  gathered that the incident happened after the policemen at a checkpoint on the expressway stopped the Sienna vehicle in which Oladebo and other passengers were travelling in. The policemen, thereafter, searched their bags. Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, Oladebo said the N20,000 was part of the money he was to use to purchase an Interim Joint Matriculation Board form to process his admission into a university. He said, “We left Old Garage Park in Osun State, and were going to Benin, Edo State. Our vehicle was stopped by the policemen. They checked the passenger at the front and later asked me to come down from the vehicle to identify my luggage. “They searched and didn’t find anything incriminating. He t...

An officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, identified simply as Lamba, has been accused of shooting a protester, Jacob Bamgbola, to death in the Idigbo community, Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State. PUNCH Metro  gathered that Bamgbola was conveying his sister’s daughter on a motorcyclist to a destination in the community when some immigration officers manning a checkpoint on the expressway stopped him along the Ijowun end of the Idiroko Expressway and demanded N200 before allowing him to continue his journey. Our correspondent learnt that Bamgbola refused to accede to the officers’ request, noting that he did nothing wrong to warrant him being allegedly extorted of N200. The situation led to an argument and while some of the officers were busy interrogating other motorists, Benjamin took advantage of the fact that much attention was not on him and zoomed off. On getting to his sister’s place, Bamgbola dropped his niece and proceeded to inform some youths...