TheNewsGuru

Tag: Hoodlums

  • Hoodlums attack Igbo traders in Lagos for allegedly voting Atiku against Buhari

    Hundred of social miscreants, popularly known as ‘Area Boys’ have attacked Igbo traders on Lagos Island for not voting for President Muhammadu Buhari in the last Saturday election.

    The miscreants, who were armed with dangerous weapons like cutlasses, broken bottles, wood and knives struck at about 9.am at Oluwole, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tinubu, Bamgbose and Alli Streets.

    Some Igbo traders who were just opening their respectful shops for business were beaten with the instruction that all their shops should remain locked.

    Armed hoodlums were seen parading the Streets, shouting “Igbo should go back to their States to do business. This is Lagos.”

    “We campaign for them to vote for Buhari, but they refused and voted for Atiku. They cannot come here to do business again. They must follow us to vote whoever we ask them to vote for. This is just a sample for them, if they ever vote for PDP again, that will be their end”, the hoodlums threatened.

    This threats made the Igbo traders to quickly close their respectful shops and stood nearby to witness what was going to happen to their shops.

    Some Yoruba men in the areas were also seen challenging the hoodlums not to cause problem because the Igbos have the right to vote for the candidate of their choice.

    Chris Onyekachi, President, Amalgamated Computer Stationery and Allied Trader Association of Nigeria, said he got a call this morning that hoodlums had attacked Igbo traders on Lagos Island because they voted for Atiku Abubakar.

    He said the hoodlums locked their shops and destroyed goods worth millions of naira and even beat up some Igbo traders for daring to vote for Atiku.

    Onyekachi condemned the act, describing it as lawlessness, saying that it was a breach of their fundamental human rights as they had the right to live anywhere and vote for whom they chose to vote for.

    He added that the arrival of the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in the area saved the day as the police restored normalcy.

    Also, policemen were drafted to the areas on the order of the Area ‘A’ Commander, Bode Ojajuni who was informed about the situation.

    As at the time of this report, Police vehicles ere seen patrolling the areas, but the Igbo traders still gathered nearby and refused to open shops for the fear of another attack.

  • Panic as hoodlums shoot NURTW Treasurer dead in Lagos

    Panic as hoodlums shoot NURTW Treasurer dead in Lagos

    There was pandemonium at the Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos last Friday as the Treasurer of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Jibowu-Yaba Branch, Alowonle Asekun, was murdered in cold blood by hoodlums.

    The incident took place at the Grammar School area of the Ikorodu Local Government Area of the state.

    According to reports, Asekun, while on his way out of the Ajasa-Lamberu Street in the Grammar School area, was accosted by the hoodlums, who reportedly shot him to death in front of the First Atlantic School on Friday, February 8, 2019.

    Eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident, said the hoodlums trailed Asekun to the area, adding that the news of his death had caused panic in the Jibowu and Fadeyi areas of the state.

    One of the eyewitnesses, Akeem Adepoju, a taxi driver said Asekun was shot three times and died on the spot.

    The taxi driver said, “I was in my wife’s shop when the incident happened. Before the hoodlums carried out the attack on the man, I observed that about four boys, who wore fez caps, parked their motorcycles and walked around our street for over one hour. Around 2pm, Asekun was on his way out when they attacked him and shot him three times till he died.

    “Immediately they killed him, they took his wristwatch, phone and emptied his pocket. Later on, the patrol vehicle of the Onyabo Vigilante Group came to carry his remains,” Adepoju told The Punch in an interview.

    A resident of the area, who pleaded to remain anonymous, said the deceased was a member of the NURTW at Jibowu, Yaba.

    When contacted, a member of the NURTW in the branch, Shehu Kazeem, said one of the suspected killers used a hidden number to call and inform him that Asekun had been murdered.

    Kazeem said, “Immediately the incident happened, we realised that police officers had been stationed in the Ereko area. At first, I didn’t know what was going on, until someone called me with a hidden number to inform me that we should go and carry Asekun’s corpse.

    “I went to the place where he was murdered and confirmed what they said. I really can’t explain how I felt when I saw his corpse. His death was very painful.”

    Meanwhile, the Chairman of the NURTW branch, Femi Akinboyeku has charged the police to investigate the case and arrest the killers.

    He said, “I was at home when I received the news of the death of my treasurer. From what I gathered, it’s like some people used the number of someone he was familiar with to call him to meet them at the particular point where he was murdered.

    “The people I suspect to have carried out the attack are the ‘Ereko boys’ at Fadeyi. These ‘Ereko boys’ are not our union members; they are usually not happy with our activities as a union.

    “Honestly, I feel very sad about Asekun’s death and I want the law enforcement agents to investigate this case so that the suspects can be apprehended and brought to justice. As for my treasurer’s two wives and children, as the branch chairman, I will ensure that they are well taken care of to the best of our capacity.”

    Asekun’s wives, when contacted, demanded justice over his death and tasked the police to apprehend the hoodlums, who perpetrated the act.

    The deceased’s first wife and mother of three, Suliat, said, “We are housewives who depended on our husband to survive; and now he is gone. We want the police to please help us get justice.”

    “I don’t want his death to be in vain; he was my only hope,” Anuoluwa, the second wife and mother of one said.

    The Provost Marshal, Onyabo Vigilante Group, Olabinjo Olanrewaju, while blaming residents for not informing the outfit early enough when the hoodlums were roaming the area, said the remains of the deceased were recovered and taken to the Ikorodu Division Police Station.

    “The people we spoke to in the area said those hoodlums ,who murdered the man, had been in the area for a while and they didn’t inform us that they were seeing strange faces. If they had, we would have engaged the hoodlums before they carried out the crime. The people said they were four in number, who attacked the deceased; they shot him with a pistol.

    “When we got to the scene of the incident, we took the corpse to the police station, where we gave an account of what we gathered at the scene of the incident. The corpse was later taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital’s morgue.”

    The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, who confirmed the inciden, said two people had been arrested in connection with the crime, adding that the state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Mu’azu, had transferred the case to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, for further investigation.

    Oti said, “The deceased was a member of a motor union and was trailed to the Ikorodu area of Lagos by a fractional group of the union and killed him.

    “During the fracas that led to his death, the police in the Ikorodu Division received a distress call and mobilised swiftly to the scene and brought the situation under control. Two arrests have been made in connection with the incident.

    “However, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Zubairu Mu’azu, has directed that the case be transferred to the homicide section, SCIID, Panti, for further investigation.”

  • Python Dance: Army arrest seven ‘hoodlums’ in Sokoto

    The Nigerian Army says it has arrested “a group of hoodlums causing mayhem, extorting money and threatening the lives of innocent citizens” in Sokoto.
    Maj. Clement Abiade, the Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, told newsmen on Saturday in Sokoto that the seven suspects were apprehended at the Kalambaina and Federal Government College junction in Sokoto on Wednesday.
    Abiade said that the suspects, who were in two vehicles were intercepted and found to be in possession of dangerous weapons.
    He added that the suspects were allegedly seen throwing stones indiscriminately while chanting political slogans.
    According to him, they obstructed the free flow of vehicular traffic and attempted to cause a breakdown of law and order.
    He said that although soldiers arrested some of the suspects, many others fled the scene of the incident.
    The spokesman gave the names of the suspects as Auwalu Shehu, Muritala Garba, Jamilu Bello, Abubakar Aliyu, Musa Abubakar, Zayyanu Aliyu, and Bashir Sarkinfawa.
    “A group of miscreants and thugs along Kalambaina area blocked roads throwing stones and harassing passerby.
    “The troops on routine patrol for the safety and serenity of the metropolitan ran into a groups of hoodlums causing mayhem, extorting and threatening the lives of innocent citizens,” Abiade said.
    According to him, the exercise is part of Egwu Eke III, Python Dance inaugurated by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai to strengthen internal security.
    He said that developments in the area made it imperative for the army to activate Operation Python Dance in the states that make up the North West zone of the country with the deployment of troops in all areas of operation.
    Abiade stated that the effort has begun to yield positive dividends.
    He said the items recovered from the suspected hoodlums were five machetes, two knives, two catapults, two long sticks, one tyre ream, three bottles of codeine and stones.
    He added that the army would handover the arrested suspects to the police for appropriate action.
    He appealed to people in the area to live in peace with one another and abide by the stipulated rules enshrine by constitution.

  • Again, hoodlums attack Rivers state varsity; VC cries out for help

    Again, hoodlums attack Rivers state varsity; VC cries out for help

    Vice Chancellor (VC) of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), Professor Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele, has called on security agencies to prevail in finding lasting solution to incessant attacks on students and staff of the Rivers state-owned institution.

    TheNewsGuru reports Ndimele made the call on Monday following series of attacks on the institution, which the VC revealed that following Saturday’s attack on the school, the hoodlums stroke again.

    “Community hoodlums last night again invaded the Ndele Campus of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education and attempted to kidnap one of our lecturers. He was severely jostled and about to be whisked away when security operatives on campus intervened to rescue him,” the VC said.

    Ndimele narrated that this year alone, Dr. Kalio, an Associate Professor with the Department of Agricultural Science, and three female students were separately kidnapped from the Ndele Campus.

    He said, “In 2016, armed robbers also invaded the Ndele campus and killed a member of staff and in separate operations kidnapped some members of staff and secondary school children of our NDSS. The community leaders from Ndele are aware of these ungodly incidences”.

    He went further to say, “We spent huge sums of money to clear the forest in front of the campus which was the den of hoodlums and converted the area into a huge vegetable farm. The new strategy is to pull down the walls behind the campus through which they invade us at will. We spend money on regular basis to fix the fences as they pull them down.

    “Where it hurts most is that we are in the process of creating new programmes to be hosted at the Ndele Campus. As a University of Education, we are discussing with NUC and NCCE to run dual mode, so that we can bring back the NCE programme which was suspended when we became a fully-fledged university.

    “Our proposal is to also domicile the NCE programmes at Ndele to maximize the space and to increase students’ population there. But the fear to pull through these lofty ideas is the security challenges at Ndele”.

    TheNewsGuru reports on Saturday night, the hoodlums had stormed and attacked students at the Rivers state-owned university.

    Professor Ndimele lamented that Saturday’s incident was the third time in two months hoodlums from the community would attack the school, before the Sunday’s incident.

    “Last night, some hoodlums from Ndele community stormed our students’ hostels on campus for the third time in two months to attack students.

    “Due to insecurity, the majority of our students left the Ndele community and entered the hostels. Let me also mention that because of the attack on students who lived outside the school, the University management throw open the hostels for free accommodation so that all students would be residential at the Ndele Campus.

    “What now is our offence that they visit the hostels at will with dangerous weapons to attack and force our students to sleep in bushes?

    “It is unbecoming of a gang of community boys from Ndele to frustrate a most civilizing facility as a university which most communities are praying to be sited at their place.

    “In addition to the University security men, we have engaged armed policemen who patrol the campus.

    “But our worry is that these hoodlums from Ndele have no regard for the presence of armed policemen around the campus.

    “They are rather tempting the armed policemen to confront them in what might result in a deadly clash,” the Vice-Chancellor stated.

    Ndimele appealed to the chiefs and elders of Ndele, the Federal and Rivers state governments for a lasting solution to the incessant attacks.

    He also appealed to staff and students to be law-abiding, while assuring that if the attacks persist, the university management might be forced to relocate the IAUE campus from Ndele community.

    “Let the world hear us again; the sanctity of an Ivory Tower is being violated with impunity. Let the hoodlums from the Ndele community be told in clear terms that our patience is being over-stretched,” he said.

     

  • Deadly clash looms as hoodlums storm hostels, attack varsity students in Rivers

    Information reaching TheNewsGuru has it that hoodlums from Ndele community stormed and attacked students at the Rivers state-owned university, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) on Saturday night.

    Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele, made the disclosure on Sunday crying out loud that the Ndele community is becoming too hostile and unsafe for students, academic and non-academic staff of the institution.

    Professor Ndimele lamented that Saturday’s incident was the third time in two months hoodlums from the community would attack the school.

    “Last night, some hoodlums from Ndele community stormed our students’ hostels on campus for the third time in two months to attack students.

    “Due to insecurity, the majority of our students left the Ndele community and entered the hostels. Let me also mention that because of the attack on students who lived outside the school, the University management throw open the hostels for free accommodation so that all students would be residential at the Ndele Campus.

    “What now is our offence that they visit the hostels at will with dangerous weapons to attack and force our students to sleep in bushes?

    “It is unbecoming of a gang of community boys from Ndele to frustrate a most civilizing facility as a university which most communities are praying to be sited at their place.

    “In addition to the University security men, we have engaged armed policemen who patrol the campus.

    “But our worry is that these hoodlums from Ndele have no regard for the presence of armed policemen around the campus.

    “They are rather tempting the armed policemen to confront them in what might result in a deadly clash,” the Vice-Chancellor stated.

    He appealed to the chiefs and elders of Ndele and the Rivers State Government for a lasting solution to the incessant attacks.

    Ndimele also appealed to staff and students to be law-abiding, while assuring that if the attacks persist, the university management might be forced to relocate the IAUE campus from Ndele community.

     

  • Hoodlums invade, set Imo APC secretariat on fire

    There was pandemonium in Imo State on Friday as hoodlums invade and set the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat on fire.

    Though the fire didn’t affect the external parts of the building, the internal parts were engulfed in inferno.

    The secretariat located at the Imo State University junction in Owerri around 6:30 pm amidst downpour, saw the secretariat engulfed in smoke.

    Though no member of staff was sighted, people watched from afar as the smoke surged.

    According to eyewitnesses, secretarial equipment, including files and documents, were destroyed.

    No firefighter was seen on ground, neither did anybody make efforts to fight the fire.

    When contacted, the state party chairman, Hilary Eke, who confirmed the development, accused those who he said attacked the party state office last weekend.

    Eke, who said that the unidentified hoodlums attacked the secretariat “just to frustrate the Local Government Areas congress of the party on Saturday”, vowed that the exercise must go on.

    He insisted that the contentious ward congress of the party was successful, urging those “who lost during the last weekend exercise to give peace a chance.”

    “I have been in a meeting ahead of the LGA congress of the party in Imo State.

    “Those who attacked the secretariat the other Saturday are likely to be the same people who set it on fire on Friday (today).

    “Despite the provocation, the LGA congress must go on on Saturday.

    “We have already elected five-man per ward during the ward congress. The Congress does not take place at party secretariat, it will take place in the 27 LGAs of the state on Saturday.

    “I petitioned the Inspector General of Police over the attack on the Secretariat the other Saturday.

    “My duty is to report to the Police and the Police have the duty to investigate.

    “So, members of staff identified those who attacked it. “

  • Pandemonium as hoodlums set seven ablaze in Benue

    The Benue State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said on Wednesday that seven people have been killed in Gboko by “criminal elements.”

    He also said several people have been arrested in connection with the killing and brought to the state police command in Makurdi for interrogation.

    He refused to reveal the number of suspects arrested so far.

    Addressing journalists at the command headquarters, Owoseni said the victims were attacked at a motor park in Gboko.

    He said the victims were set ablaze by the hoodlums.

    “It is a pure act of criminality which has no ethnic or religious coloration. Those behind the dastard act will be apprehended and dealt with according to the law of the land,” Owoseni said.

    The police commissioner said Governor Samuel Ortom has visited Gboko for on the spot assessment and a dust- to- dawn curfew has been imposed on the town.

    He warned that anybody found wandering between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in Gboko would face the law.

  • Tension in Osogbo as police clash with hoodlums over death of resident

    Tension in Osogbo as police clash with hoodlums over death of resident

    There was tension in Osogbo, capital of Osun state on Sunday as irate youths attempted to set the Oja-Oba Divisional Police Headquarter ablaze over the killing of one ‘Segun Emir’.

    The protesters said a policeman shot Segun on his chest over an argument at Gbeja area. The deceased was said to have been taken to a nearby private hospital but he was rejected.

    He was later rushed to Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, (LAUTECH) but he gave up the ghost on the way and confirmed dead. His remains were deposited at mortuary.

    His death triggered a riot as his friends attempted to set the Oja-Oba police station ablaze but policemen prevented them. The rioters blocked roads and prevented vehicular movement for hours.

    The Police Public Relation Officer in the State, Folasade Odoro said the Commissioner of Police in the state; Mr Fimihan Adeoye has ordered a full scale investigation into the matter.

    The PPRO explained that the deceased was among those that attacked the police patrol team and prevented the policemen from rescuing some people who made a distress call to the police.

    Odoro said “we received a distress call that over 50 thugs were harassing innocent people at Aloyunkewu, Imole n fe Alaafia street, Lion Junction, Ori Eeru, Oke Allahu all at Oke Baale area in Osogbo and that peoples’ lives were in danger.”

    “Policemen were deployed to the scene swiftly to rescue people and when the police patrol team got there, the thugs attacked the policemen with dangerous weapons. The Commissioner of Police in the state; Mr Fimihan Adeoye has ordered a full scale investigation into the matter,” Odoro said

    The PPRO told our correspondent that the policeman that open fire on the deceased has been arrested and detained for proper investigation and that the authority will ensure that justice is done.

  • Tragedy as hoodlums butcher cleric, wife, 4 children to death

    Tragedy as hoodlums butcher cleric, wife, 4 children to death

    A 35 year-old Muslim cleric, Sheikh Yusuf Amzat-Salam, also known as Alfa Abu, his wife and four children were killed by hoodlums in the early hours of Tuesday in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.

    The incident occurred at Atiba area of Odogbolu Local Government Area.

    The eldest child, a girl aged 11, her twin brothers, aged 8 and the last female child, aged 2 were all killed.

    All the victims had been buried in accordance with Muslim rites, amid wailing by sympathisers and relations.

    The attackers, whose motive could not be ascertained, butchered the entire household with machetes.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the victims were discovered in the pool of their blood when a school bus came to pick the children.

    A close family friend, Mr Yusuf Oludaisi, described the act as dastardly and wicked, wondering what the victim must have done to warrant such treatment.

    “He was someone whom we grew up together. I have known him for 30 years to be humble and kind to everyone who came across his path.

    “It’s really sad because this was someone you will never see quarrelling or being disrespectful”, said Oludaisi.

    The younger brother of the victim, Alfa Ishaaq Amzat-Salam, however, said he would leave the matter for God to judge.

    “I leave those who perpetrated such evil into God’s hands for He alone will judge them. The deed cannot be undone.

    “I will always remember my brother forever for his loving kindness as he was a shining light to us all”, said Ishaaq.

    Senator Gbenga Kaka (Ogun East), who was at the burial of the victims, described the incident as very sad.

    “I am a close friend to the father of the victim and when I heard what happened, I was in shock.

    “It is unimaginable what these people did and it brings much sadness to my heart. I don’t even have the words to describe it”, said Kaka.

    Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in Ogun, Bimbola Oyeyemi, said the command was aware of the incident.

    “We are already doing all to investigate and apprehend the culprit”, he said.

    Sympathisers described the cleric as a peace-loving, humble and caring individual.

     

     

     

     

    NAN

     

  • 1 dead, several injured as hoodlums clash over girl in Lagos

    The Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of eight suspects following a street fight at Iyana-Ipaja which claimed one life and injured several others.

    The State’s Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, told newsmen that the fight broke out at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday and lasted until about 2 a.m. on Wednesday.

    He said, “At about 10 p.m on Tuesday, we received distress call that some youths were on rampage at Iyana-Ipaja and we sent the police response team there.

    “The fight raged and continued till 2:00a.m on Wednesday when normalcy was restored.

    “Eight suspects were arrested and one person was killed in the course of the fight.

    “Investigation, however, revealed that fighting ensued over a girl, who resides at Abule-Oki area of Iyana-Ipaja.

    “The girl had gone to a party at Elere, Agege, where she was molested.

    “On getting back to her area, she told the youths who later blocked the road and led a fight towards Elere during which the police moved in to stop them.

    “Investigation is still on and will be extended to both sides of the community and those involved will be brought to book.”