TheNewsGuru

Tag: Hoodlums

  • Hoodlums attack four Amotekun corps, policeman in Oyo

    Hoodlums attack four Amotekun corps, policeman in Oyo

    Hoodlums have attacked four operatives of the Oyo State Security Network otherwise called Amotekun Corps and a policeman in Ibadan, Oyo State.

    The victims were attacked on Friday in another crisis suspected to have culminated from a gang fight at Odeyale area of Ona Ara Local Government Area of the state, leaving them critically injured.

    The security operatives were said to be receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

    Confirming the incident on Saturday, the Amotekun Commandant in the state, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (rtd), in a statement said the personnel moved to the area following a distress call by Odeyale Community Landlord Association to help dislodge hoodlums perpetrating violence in the community.

    Also, the Police Public Relations Officer, Gbenga Fadeyi confirmed the incident, noting that some arrests have been made while investigations continue into the cause of the violent attacks.

    Fadeyi said that the Amotekun operatives drafted to the area sent a distress call to the police for support and some policemen were drafted to help in restoring peace to the area but some of them ended up being attacked by the hoodlums.

    He however said normalcy has been restored to the area as more security operatives have been dispatched to prevent further breach of peace.

  • BREAKING: Hoodlums shoot mobile policeman dead in Delta, cart away rifle

    BREAKING: Hoodlums shoot mobile policeman dead in Delta, cart away rifle

    Arms-wielding hoodlums on Friday shot a mobile policeman dead in Effurun, Uvwie council area of Delta State.

    His rifle was also carted away by the hoodlums.

    According to reports, the incident occurred at about 2:30p.m along the popular Jakpa Road.

    It was gathered that the deceased officer was detailed to an unidentified man who had stopped by a shop along the road to purchase some items.

    The hoodlums were said to have zoomed to the spot in a vehicle, shot him multiple times and made certain that he was dead before, driving away with his gun.

    At least five mobile policemen have been killed and their arms carted away within the past two months, in the state.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident, but could not give details about the deceased officer.

    “It is true. I don’t have more any information but the truth is that a mobile policeman was killed along Jakpa Road. But his details, where he is attached to, I don’t have for now,” the PPRO said.

  • JUST IN: Hoodlums invade Ogun Assembly, cart away mace from Speaker’s office

    JUST IN: Hoodlums invade Ogun Assembly, cart away mace from Speaker’s office

    Information reaching TheNewsGuru.com, TNG has it that the Ogun State House of Assembly was on Thursday invaded by suspected hoodlums.

    According to reports, the suspected hoodlums attacked the office of the Speaker, Olakunle Oluomo, and carted away the assembly’s mace.

    It was gathered that the yet-to-be-identified hoodlums broke into the speaker’s office overnight and stole the official symbol of the legislature.

    Meanwhile security agents have since taken over the premises of the assembly building which is located a few metres away from the Governor’s Office complex in the precinct of the State Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

    Confirming the development, spokesman for the Ogun State Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the coat of the arm has been recovered but the stick is still missing.

    The PPRO added that an investigation into the burglary and theft has commenced.

    Oyeyemi said, “Yes, there is an unfortunate incident today in the assembly complex. The hoodlums broke into the assembly through the ceiling and removed the official mace of the house. That is why the Commissioner of Police has to go there for an on-the-spot assessment.”

    Details later…

  • Lagos by-election: Hoodlums accost INEC officials at Mile 12, demand money

    Lagos by-election: Hoodlums accost INEC officials at Mile 12, demand money

    Some hoodlums accosted INEC officials as they prepared to commence voting during Saturday’s by-election at Unit 13, Kosofe council area of Lagos State.

    A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who was at the centre reports that the hoodlums insisted on collecting money from INEC officials before voting could commence.

    An INEC ad-hoc staff, Mrs Monsurat Aladeloba, told NAN that the hoodlums got to the unit at about 8:37 a.m, brandishing dangerous weapons.

    NAN reports that the INEC ad-hoc staff packed up their materials so as to relocate from the area in the midst of the confrontation between some electorate and the hoodlums.

    “The boys were about fighting themselves when more police officers were drafted here,” she said.

    NAN reports that the the situation was later brought under control at about 10 a.m. following intervention of some community leaders in the area.

    One of the community leaders, Alhaji Gbenga Mola, said that the hoodlums had been taken care of and assured the INEC officials of their safety.

    “There will be no problem here. I have talked to the boys. Election is holding here,” he said.

    NAN reports that voting later commenced at about 10.15 a.m.

    Meanwhile, an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Mr Femi Saheed, contesting for Kosofe Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assembly, commended the peaceful conduct of the election in the area.

    Saheed, who voted at Unit 003, Aina Road, Kosofe, at about 10.28 a.m, commended INEC for the logistics.

    NAN observed that unlike in Ojota/Ogudu areas where there was voter apathy, there was massive voter turnout at Agility in Mile 12 area of Lagos.

  • Hoodlums loot vehicles, factory equipment, others in FCT

    Hoodlums loot vehicles, factory equipment, others in FCT

    The FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) has disclosed that no fewer than 174 vehicles, 3,432 motorcycles and 43 tricycles were carted away at its Auto Pond in Gosa area by hoodlums during the recent EndSARS protest.

    Director of the services, Alhaji Wadata Bodinga, made the disclosure when the FCT Ministerial Committee on Assessment of Losses caused by #EndSARS Unrest’ visited the Pond on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Bodinga explained that hoodlums operated unchallenged for about three days and in the end also vandalised offices in the premises, stole the electricity transformer and looted about 40 solar panels.

    “We had over 3,432 motorcycles and not one of them was spared, not even a bolt was left because everything was completely looted.

    “We had about 174 vehicles and even the offices were vandalised, including the roof which were removed.

    “About 40 poles of solar have equally been removed; the observation post was vandalised. Anything metal, whether alloy or non-alloy were removed.

    ” The fence was pulled down and the rods removed. About 43 Keke NAPEP were stolen. The transformer supplying the place electricity was also taken away.

    “We have evaluated the items. Like the motorcycles, we placed a value or N26, 000 on each and even at that value, you have money running into over N800 million.

    ” And the value of the vehicles is about N76 million. So, in all, what has been looted here is over N1 billion”.

    On his part, Mr Odun Emasealu, Chairman FCT, Nasarawa and Niger States Branch of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said billions of Naira investments have been looted by hoodlums at Idu Industrial layout.

    “We have gone round and the industrial equipment looted are very expensive. They raided the buildings and vandalised equipment.

    “About 15 to 20 factories were affected. They took away windows, doors and other things including toilet seats and bathtubs, all running into billions.

    “They have rendered these factories totally incapacitated and in fact, the owners need to reinvest to get some of them back up again.

    “We just hope that these people will not be demoralised, that they will have the faith to come up again,” said Emasealu.

    Similarly, in Kuje Area Council, the Central Store which contained medical supplies and other non-medical assets was also looted.

    The council’s ICT Centre and Library was raided with 20 desktop computers, eight standing fans and eight Air Conditioning systems and 13 inverter batteries stolen.

    The hoodlums also invaded the offices of the FCT Fire Service and the Federal Road Safety Corps within the library premises where they carted away office equipment and stationeries.

    The Women Centre in Jiwa was looted bare and the assessment team was welcomed into the premises by a pungent stench of human faeces.

    The team also visited the palaces of the Gomo of Kuje and the Sarkin Jiwa to commiserate with them on the losses.

    Responding, the Emir of Jiwa, Dr Idris Musa, alleged that most of the hoodlums who invaded the territory came from the far North and even Niger Republic.

    He urged the committee to monitor scrap collectors in the territory, alleging that some of them also participated in the looting.

    Chairman of the committee and Director-General of the FCT Emergency Management Agency FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, said his team would do a meticulous job and present its findings to the authority.

    “Honestly, the level of devastation is much. If you look at what we saw in Jiwa, Gwagwa, Kuje and Gosa area, you will know that billions of Naira have been lost in this circumstances.

    “When you come to Idu Industrial Layout, many factories were invaded and it is just beyond anyone’s imagination,” Idriss said.

  • Pandemonium as hoodlums loot, wreck shops in Ibadan

    Pandemonium as hoodlums loot, wreck shops in Ibadan

    No fewer than 15 shops were on Saturday vandalized, looted and razed at Agbeni Ologede market, Ibadan on Saturday by suspected hoodlums.

    Goods worth tens of millions were both stolen and destroyed while the incident lasted.

    According to unconfirmed sources, the shops were razed to cover up the lootings perpetrated by the yet-to-be-identified hoodlums.

    The sources noted that the thugs suspected to be from the area arrived around 5am while the operation lasted for one hour.

    He noted that the act was perpetrated by the hoodlums under the pretense of reprisal attack on a rival cult group, in the area.

    Some of the residents who noticed the flame from the affected shops alerted officers of the Oyo State fire service around 6am .

    TheNewsGuru gathered that the fire fighters who ran to the scene were repelled by the hoodlums, who attacked them with cutlass and other dangerous weapon.

    Some of the victims and other traders at the market decried the extent of the damage done by the inferno.

    The residents also explained that the day started with pandemonium as a series of gun shots were heard in what seem an exchange of fire between the suspected hoodlums and security operatives.

    The Director of Fire Service in Oyo State, Mr Moshood Adewuyi confirmed that the damaged was done by the hoodlums adding that his men were also attacked.

    Condemning the action of the thugs, the fire fighter boss appealed to residents of the state and other Nigerians to see security as collective responsibility.

    He said the timely intervention of the officers and men of the operation burst brought normalcy to the area, noting that only 10 shops were identified to have been razed while others were burnt beyond recognition.

    He said five other other lock up stalls made of wood were also torched.

     

  • Gov Sanwo-Olu signs executive order to rebuild Lagos

    Gov Sanwo-Olu signs executive order to rebuild Lagos

    Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday signed an executive order establishing the “Lagos State Rebuild Trust Fund´´ toward rebuilding the state.

    Signing the executive order at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu said that rebuilding the state was necessary, due to the huge destruction witnessed during the mayhem that followed recent EndSARS protests.

    The governor also constituted an eight-member Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee to oversee the rebuilding of every aspect of the state and also look at the future and healing of Lagos.

    He said that in the last few weeks, the state government had been inundated with local and global offers of assistance to rebuild the state and recover all that were lost to arson and violence in the month of October.

    According to him, it is obvious that the government can no longer wait to begin the onerous task of reconstructing Lagos State.

    “In the next few days, our government will send a bill to the Lagos State House of Assembly for the Establishment of a Trust Fund to Rebuild Lagos.

    “However, with the deluge of offers of immediate help and assistance that we have received locally and internationally, we can no longer wait until the bill is passed. It is expedient that our enumeration, recovery, and rebuilding efforts start as soon as possible.

    “Therefore, by the power vested in me as the Governor of Lagos State, I will today sign an Executive Order to set up an eight-man Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee, which will as a matter of urgency begin to oversee our recovery process.

    “As I sign the Executive Order today, I am positive that we will attain new heights of development, we will build more resilient systems, we will become more united and accomplish our audacious goals and visions for Lagos State.

    “I assure you of the committee’s utmost commitment to the reconstruction and upgrade of our dear state. In these challenging but interesting times, we realize that we have the potent opportunity to reform our state, and upgrade our structures,´´ Sanwo-Olu said.

    According to him, the government has decided to put behind it the recent challenges and face the daunting task of collectively rebuilding the state.

    “We believe that our culture, heritage, values and future are worth much more than the looting, arson and destruction, which we witnessed in Lagos State about two weeks ago.

    “We have decided to look to the future with hope, as we work on healing the wounds of our recent past.

    “Instead of wallowing in our pain, we have chosen to positively move forward. We will embrace new standards of governance; we will build stronger partnerships, stronger people, stronger institutions, and a stronger state.

    “Our strength lies in our uncanny ability to overcome the most complicated challenges because we have people who genuinely love Lagos State and will assiduously do all they can to preserve its peace and unity,´´ he said.

    The governor said that the committee would have a profound effect on how quickly and efficiently the state would be rebuilt and restart the socio-economic growth.

    Sanwo-Olu said that when the Trust Fund Bill is passed by the House of Assembly and becomes law, the Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund Committee would be dissolved, and its functions would be immediately transferred to the newly established Trust Fund.

    He said that Trust Fund Committee would be responsible for getting the detailed cost of restructuring and rebuilding the destroyed property, among other functions.

    Members of the Lagos Rebuild Trust Fund include Mr Yemi Cardoso, Prof. Kanyisola Ajayi, Mr Gbenga Agboola, Mrs Bola Adesola, Mr Sam Egube, Mr Jimi Hotonu, Mr Abubakar Suleiman and a member of international donor agency.

  • #EndSARS: Why police did not stop hoodlums from wreaking havoc – IGP

    #EndSARS: Why police did not stop hoodlums from wreaking havoc – IGP

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu has said police officers showed restraints by not using maximum force to repel the hoodlums and criminals that hijacked the #EndSARS protest and wreaked havoc.

    He said the restraints shown by officers proved that no amount of provocation will lead the police to give credence to what the #EndSARS protesters have been preaching on police brutality.

    Adamu said this while addressing police officers and newsmen at the Lagos State Command Headquarters, Ikeja, during a courtesy visit to burnt police formations and injured police officers in the State.

    He said that 1,590 suspects have been arrested across the country in respect of the #EndSARS protest which turned violent after it was hijacked by hoodlums.

    The police boss commended his officers for showing professionalism during the protest by showing restraint and not engaging the protesters violently.

    “When they campaigned against SARS they came up with five demands and after about four days protest, the authorities acceded to those demands because they were demands that could lead to reforming SARS.

    “Our expectation was that after that, the protesters will all go back and leave the streets, but then they didn’t.

    “Every security agent knows that when people come out to protest without observing the protocol, there is always a tendency for the protest to subsequently turn violent,” he said.

    Adamu said that 14 states in the country were badly affected as a result of the violent protest with Lagos State the worst hit.

    “We witnessed the destruction of public properties as well as police stations and businesses.

    “The attack by hoodlums in this manner has the tendency to provoke the police and when we are provoked we have the capacity and strength to repel these people.

    “However, we have shown restraint by not using maximum force to repel the hoodlums and criminals that went about destroying properties and killing people.

    “So, that resilience that you have in showing restrain has shown that no amount of provocation will lead you to give credence to what they have been preaching on police brutality,” he said.

    Adamu commended police officers for this quality, saying it turned the table around against the protesters.

    “I am happy to note that not everybody in the country agreed with the violence not everybody agrees that police are bad.

    “Every organisation and institution in any country breeds few bad eggs just like we have a few in the police that are bad, however, the majority of Nigerian Police officers are good,” he said.

    The IGP said that President Muhammadu Buhari, in support of the police, said that the vast majority of men and women of the force are patriotic and committed to protecting the lives and livelihood of Nigerians.

    “We will continue to support them to do their jobs, so, the Nigeria Police have support from the highest authority in this country.

    “In spite of the fact that we have been attacked, hospitalised and some of our formations burnt, we will still remain committed to our constitutional duties,” he said.

    Adamu said that the federal government has decided to specially treat policemen through reform initiatives that will enable them to continue to do their constitutional responsibilities across the country.

    Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, requested that the IGP should consider and approve posthumous special promotions for the police personnels who lost their lives during the protest.

    “This will give sucour to their families and boost the morale of the serving officers and men of the NPF,” he said.

    Odumosu said that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu had promised to take full responsibilities of the bills of police personnel that sustained various degrees of injuries.

    “The governor also promised to pay compensation to the family of police officers who lost their lives as well as replace police operational vehicles that were burnt during the crises.

    “He also offered scholarships to the children of police personnel killed until graduation from university,” he said.

    Odumosu said that provisions had been made to ensure that security is adequately provided for during the ember months in the state.

  • Hoodlums in army uniform behind Lekki shooting – Malami

    Hoodlums in army uniform behind Lekki shooting – Malami

    The Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, has declared that “hoodlums” wearing military uniforms may have shot Nigerian protesters campaigning against police brutality in Lagos, adding that it was too soon to tell if soldiers were involved.

    Malami has also said that the Consolidated Federal Capital Territory Courts Sentencing Guidelines and Practice will accelerate decongestion of Correctional Centres nationwide.

    EndSARS demonstrations across the country turned violent on October 20 when witnesses in Lagos said the military opened fire on peaceful protesters in the Lekki district shortly after local authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew, drawing international condemnation.

    Soldiers and police killed at least 12 people in two Lagos neighbourhoods on October 20, according to witnesses and rights group, Amnesty International. The army and police have denied involvement.

    Reuters quoted Malami as telling reporters in Abuja yesterday, that the matter was being investigated and there was a need to establish whether the shooting took place, who was responsible and whether the people who were shooting were part of the military.

    “You cannot rule out the possibility of perhaps hoodlums that set in to create a scene… could equally partake in the process,” Malami said at the news conference, which was also attended by government officials including the defence minister and finance minister.

    He also said it was “pre-emptive” to conclude that there had even been a shooting.

    Lagos state has ordered an investigation into the incident.

    Last week the military said the Lagos state government asked the army to intervene to restore order, but soldiers did not shoot civilians.

    Meanwhile, Malami has said that the Consolidated Federal Capital Territory Courts Sentencing Guidelines and Practice will accelerate decongestion of Correctional Centres nationwide.

  • JUST IN: Pandemonium in Mile 12 as hoodlums vandalise BRT buses, loot shops

    JUST IN: Pandemonium in Mile 12 as hoodlums vandalise BRT buses, loot shops

    The #EndSARS violence spread to Mile 12 area of Lagos on Tuesday as hoodlums unleash terror on people and vandalised several BRT buses.

    It was gathered that the hoodlums also attacked private shops, shooting and looting properties in the area.

    There was pandemonium as traders and shop owners fled for safety.

    Vehicle owners were said to have abandon their vehicles and fled as the crisis spread around Mile 12 to Owode axis on Ikorodu Road.

    Primero, operator of the BRT (Blue buses) said they would be shutting down operation immediately to avoid other buses being damaged by the hoodlums.

    Thugs were presently moving around with guns and machetes and were causing mayhem, an eyewitness said on twitter.

    Hoodlums were seen on video holding machetes and other dangerous weapons.

    A top police chief, who craved anonymity said policemen had been drafted to the troubled area to maintain peace.