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Tag: killed

  • Gunmen kill 3 NDLEA operatives in Kogi

    Three operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been shot dead by gunmen in Okene.

    The Commandant of the NDLEA in Kogi, Alhaji Idris Bello, told reporters on Sunday in Lokoja that the three operatives were gunned down while on patrol.

    He said that they were killed at about 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 by the gunmen, “who emerged from nowhere’’.

    Bello said that gunmen came on foot and that the incident occurred close to the main gate of the Federal College of Education, Okene.

    He identified the operatives killed as Nicholas Onwumere, Ebun Peters and Abdulrahman Musa.

    The commandant explained that the NDLEA officers were on duty alongside their three other colleagues when the gunmen struck.

    Bello said that the officers died on the spot, while the three other colleagues escaped unhurt.

    He said that the gunmen collected the rifles of the dead officers and vanished.

    Bello said that other security agencies in the state had been contacted on the development, saying that efforts were being made to track down the killers.

    The Kogi Government had in August established a Forward Operation Base in Okene in partnership with the Nigerian Army to check kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.

    However, the initiative has yet to yield the desired result, according to observers.

    Analysts suggest that the latest killing may be the handiwork of the jihadist Boko Haram group, which has been striking at soft targets in northern Nigeria, having been degraded substantially by the Nigerian armed forces.

    Kogi, regarded as the spiritual headquarters of the jihadist movement, has witnessed bloody attacks by Boko Haram in recent years.

  • Just in: Gunmen kill UNIBEN Professor, Paul Otasowie

    A senior staff of the University of Benin, Edo State, Prof. Paul Otasowie, has been killed by gunmen.

    It was learnt Otasowie was shot dead by the armed men in front of his residence on Ekehuan road in Oredo Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday evening.

    There was, however, speculation that the professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering was either assassinated or gunned down by suspected armed robbers.

    According to another version of the incident, the deceased, who was a former director of the university’s Industrial Training and Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme, was allegedly shot during an attempted kidnap.

    It was gathered that the news of his death left the university community in a state of mourning.

    The Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr. Michael Osasuyi, confirmed the incident.

    According to a report in The Punch, Osasuyi stated, “We lost him (Otasowie) yesterday. We are trying to gather the right information now (because) we are getting different versions.

    “The first version said that it was an assassination (while) the second version said that it was armed robbery, that he was inside a car and they shot him.”

    He described the death of the professor as a huge loss to the university community, adding the deceased was a hardworking and dedicated staff.

    Osasuyi said, “For now, the university cannot ascertain what has transpired. But we are sending delegates now to the house to meet with the family.

    “We commiserate with the family and it is a big blow to the university. He was one of the persons who have ensured that work is done and done well.”

    He, however, noted that the institution was concerned about the level of insecurity in the state.

    “The vice-chancellor, Prof. Orunmwense is saddened with this development. We just wish that this insecurity in Edo State is looked into. Just recently, (Joseph) Osayomore was kidnapped.

    “The level of insecurity now is becoming something else. The vice-chancellor commiserates with the family and the school is mourning,” the spokesman added.

  • ‘Nnamdi Kanu may have been killed by invading soldiers’ says IPOB lawyer

    Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the lawyer representing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has alleged that his client was abducted by military operatives on September 14 and probably killed.

    Ejiofor made the allegation in a statement on Tuesday issued in reaction to insinuations that Kanu has gone into hiding.

    The statement reads in part: “I have no doubt whatsoever that stories making round that my Client has fled outside Nigeria, were planted to divert attention from their murderous raid on my client’s house.

    “I made last contact with my client few minutes into the bloody onslaught in his home on the 14th day of September 2017. Till date, I have not established further communication with him.

    “The soldiers must have made possible contact with him on this 14th day of September 2017, when they invaded his house on a bloody raid, and by virtue of which position, they should tell the world if he was caught by fire of bullets in the hit of the bloody onslaught or he was arrested alive.

    “In all probability, my client may have been killed by the invading soldiers who are now seeking ways to fool the world into believing that he has left the country. My request is that the military should produce my client wherever they kept him and stop diverting attention of the public,” Ejiofor said.

  • Police nab two suspected IPOB members over alleged killing of 4 in Asaba

    The Delta Police Command has confirmed the arrest of two persons in connection with last Friday’s attack at the popular Abraka market in Asaba in which four persons were allegedly killed.

    Delta State Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Zanna The command made this known in a statement in Asaba by its spokesperson, DSP Andrew Aniamaka on Saturday.

    “The Delta Police Command has in the early hours of Saturday, 16th September, 2017 arrested two suspects namely: Abraham Ndudi from Kwale, Delta State and Okereke Ifeanyi from Ogbaru in Anambra State.

    “The suspects were nabbed for their alleged involvement in the dastardly shooting and killing of four persons at the popular Abraka market in Asaba on Friday, Sept. 15th, 2017 at about 10:45pm,” the spokesperson said.

    He added that the command has intensified efforts to arrest the third suspect, known simply by his alias, “Last Burial”.

    Aniamaka said the armed suspects, who are suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or secret cult, had at about 10:45 pm last Friday night fired indiscriminately into the market.

    According to the police spokesperson, Abraka market in the state capital is predominantly inhabited by non-indigenes of the state and that the shooting left four persons dead.

    He gave the names of the victims as: Usman Abdullahi; Ali Sidi;Ibrahim Zubairu and Hauwa (surname unknown), while five others with gunshot injuries are currently recuperating at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba “The Command wishes to assure the public that investigation has commenced on the incident with a view to finding out the motive behind the shooting and the possible involvement of other conspirators in the unwarranted attack.

    “Commissioner of Police, Delta Command, CP. Zanna M. Ibrahim, enjoins the non indigenes and indigenes alike not to panic or even contemplate any reprisal action as the law will surely take its course,” Aniamaka said.

    He assured non indigenes of the state of the commitment of the police and sister security agencies to ensure their safety and that of indigenes at all times. He said that the police would meet with the leadership of non-indigenes and other key actors in the state over the unfortunate incident on Saturday at the Police Officers Mess, Okwe, Asaba.

  • Catholic priest kidnapped, killed in Imo

    Imo State Police Command has confirmed the report of kidnap and murder of a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo.

    Confirming the ugly incident, the Commissioner of Police, CP, Mr. Chris Ezike, told newsmen that the priest’s corpse has been recovered.

    “The matter was properly reported to the police and we went into action. Less than 24 hours after, the Orsu Divisional Police Officer, DPO, reported the discovery of an abandoned corpse in its area of jurisdiction”, Ezike said.

    According to the Imo police boss, priests of Orlu Catholic Diocese were called in immediately and they identified the corpse as their priest.

    “Although we are working on all leads over the matter. For now, it is a clear case of abduction and murder. If it was a case of kidnapping, his captives would have put a call across to anybody close their victim and made a demand”, Ezike said.

    Answering a question, the CP said that “although nobody has been arrested in connection with the crime, we are investigating it”. He promised to keep Vanguard posted as investigation progress.

  • Killings of Nigerians in South Africa is worrying – Dabiri-Erewa

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Abike Dabiri-Erewa has expressed her displeasure over the incessant extra judicial killings of Nigerians living in South Africa.

    In a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Abdurrahman Balogun, the Presidential aide said ” this is one death, too many”

    She said in spite of all diplomatic talks between Nigeria and South Africa to put an early warning signal in place,” it doesn’t seem to be working”.

    The Nigeria Union in South Africa has confirmed the killing of another member, Kingsley Ikeri, at Vryheid town in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa on August 30.

    Ikeri, 27, was a businessman and native of Mbaitolu in Imo State and the second Imo indigene to be so killed in the last two weeks.

    Dabiri-Erewa described the latest extra judicial killing of another Nigerian in South Africa as “worrying and condemnable”.

    She said that the latest gruesome killing of Ikeri by the Police in South Africa is “unacceptable to the people and government of Nigeria”.

    While reiterating President Muhammadu Buhari’s calls to Nigerians to avoid crimes like drug peddling which attracts stiff penalties, sometimes death, she noted that the latest killing has increased the number of Nigerians killed in South Africa through extrajudicial means in the last one year.

    “The barbaric behaviour of the perpetrators is not only unacceptable but also calls for urgent attention by diplomatic authorities in Nigeria and South Africa”, she said.

    Dabiri-Erewa urged the South African government to ensure that justice prevails by carrying out investigation and bring the culprit to book.

    She reiterated her calls to Nigerians living abroad to always respect the laws of their host countries and be good ambassadors of Nigeria.

    “My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and I pray God to grant the departed soul eternal rest”, the SSA stated.

    Bartholomew Eziagulu, Chairman of the Nigerian Union in the province, disclosed that Mr. Ikeri was allegedly tortured to death by the police.

    He said the union’s investigations revealed that the police arrested the deceased and a friend on suspicion that they were carrying hard drugs.

    “While interrogating him, the police used plastic to cover his face to extort information from him.

    “In the process, they suffocated the deceased. When the police took him to the hospital, he was confirmed dead,” he said.

    The Secretary General of the union, Adetola Olubajo, noted that the national secretariat had been informed about the death of the Nigerian.

    He said the body had informed the appropriate Nigerian authorities and the police in South Africa.

    A report has it that a senior Diplomat from the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg had visited Vryheid on a fact-finding mission.

    In February Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa met with the South Africa High Commissioner, Mr. Lulu Louis Mnguni in Abuja, where he said a total of 116 Nigerians have been killed in South Africa through extrajudicial means in the last two years.
    Seven out of 10 of the killings were carried out by the South African Police.

  • 2 killed in Owerri as youths resist relocation of market

    2 killed in Owerri as youths resist relocation of market

    OWERRI, the Imo State capital, was on Saturday, thrown into confusion, as angry youths clashed with security operatives, who were enforcing the relocation of a market on the orders of Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    Two people were said to have been killed in the fracas, while scores sustained bullet wounds in the clash and rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in the city for urgent medical attention.

    Nurses at the centre could not respond to questions by our correspondent as one of them said, “My friend, as you can see, we are busy trying to save life. What else do you want to hear from us.”

    Trouble erupted when a combined team of the police, army, DSS, NSCDC and those of the Imo security network stormed the market situated on the ever-busy Douglas road with bulldozers to effect the relocation of the market to Egbeada in the Mbaitoli council area as directed by the state government.

    But, no sooner had the security agents arrived the market, than the already mobilised youths of the town called the bluff out of them.

    Armed with dangerous weapons and chanting solidarity songs with placards bearing various inscriptions which conveyed their opposition to the relocation, the youths began to hurl missiles at the security agents who did not dally to respond accordingly.

    In the crossfire that ensued, scores of individuals sustained bullet wounds just as one of them, who was taken to the Federal Medical Centre, was later confirmed dead and his body deposited in the morgue.

    Expectedly, the crisis paralysed commercial activities and vehicular movements, thereby forcing a number of individuals to trek long distances before getting to their destinations, even as security was beefed up in all strategic points within the city.

    An eye witness said that one Sabastine Oparaku of the Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM) was relaxing in his palour at No 5/7 Douglas road when a stray bullet pierced through the front door of his house and hit him.

    President General of the Owerri Community Assembly, Chief Felix Ngoka, told Sunday Tribune that blood would inevitably flow should the government enforce the much publicised relocation.

    “This is a matter that is in court and there is a subsisting injunction restraining Governor Rochas Okorocha from tampering with the market. We are therefore surprised that a governor who is supposed to be the custodian of the law is now teaching us to disobey the law,” he said.

    According to him, the market has been at its current location and for over 200 years, it is both the identity and pride of the people as bequeathed to them by their ancestors.

    “Owerri People are traditionally peace and law abiding and we are here to defend the court injunction which has restrained Okorocha from tampering with our ancestral market. We are ready to lay down our lives to ensure that the market is not relocated unless the count rules other wise.”

    Ngoka, who dismissed Okorocha’s real reasons for his decision to move the market to Egbeada, in the Mbaitoli council area of the state as baseless, said that Owerri indigenes had all along done something to eliminate street/road side trading in the town.

  • Man who killed eight-year-old girl escapes from police custody

    There was outrage in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on yesterday when members of the public learnt that Ifeanyi Dike, the man who allegedly raped, killed and removed vital organs of an eight-year-old girl, Victory Chikamso, had escaped from the police custody.

    The father of the victim, Dr. Ernest Nmezuwuba, who was at the State Criminal Investigation Department when the suspected murderer and ritual killer escaped from police custody, said Dike took advantage of the darkness within the SCID’s premises to escape.

    Nmezuwuba, who spoke during a Port Harcourt-based radio’s programme, added that the suspect was able to escape because one of the policemen on duty on Saturday night identified as Johnbosco had unlocked the handcuffs for Dike to write his statement.

    The father of the deceased explained that Johnbosco did not handcuff the suspect after he (Dike) finished writing his statement, adding that the suspect fled while he was about to be taken into the cell.

    Nmezuwuba said, “We were there with the suspect in handcuffs. When we got to the state CID, there was no light in the entire State CID. I wrote my statement with candle; imagine a whole state CID (without light). Then Johnbosco removed the handcuffs from the suspect’s hands for him (suspect) to write his statement.

    “At a point, the boy (Dike) said he was thirsty and Johnbosco said I should buy pure water for him and I asked him (‘John; are you crazy? Is something wrong with you? Why would you ask me to buy water for a person that killed my daughter? Why would I buy water for a ritualist?’ And I told Johnbosco that it was none of my business.

    “Some policemen were at the gate with guns while we were at the charge room writing statement. After we finished writing our statements, Johnbosco called the IPO to go and put the suspect in the cell. The suspect was not handcuffed at that time.

    “They did not walk up to a pole when I heard hold am, hold am; he has escaped. Whether he jumped the fence or not, I cannot say because the entire place was dark; it was between 7.30 and 8pm (Saturday night). I now told Johnbosco that you know what you are doing.

    “They (policemen) came out with torchlight and checked under the cars parked there. Then I saw the DCP, I mean the Deputy Commissioner of Police and he said; what nonsense is this? He then asked after Johnbosco and he was told he (Johnbosco) was inside. The DCP then said that they should handcuff both his hands and legs.”

    Nmezuwuba expressed disappointment in the police, accusing them of playing game with a heinous crime against humanity, even as he vowed that he would never allowed it to be swept under the carpet.

    He said, “My brother, I cannot understand this country; this must be a planned game and I must fight it to the end. They have to provide that suspect. The Rivers State Police must provide him while Johnbosco should remain in detention.

    “This incident has proven the kind of country we are living. What is going to happen in this particular matter; honestly speaking, heaven will hear it. The whole world will hear it.”

    On his relationship with Dike, he said, “The boy (suspect) is related to me; we are from the same village. He killed my daughter inside his room. Ifeanyi Dike’s landlord is my in-law and also his own in-law. The landlord was arrested and the same day, they released him (landlord). The name of the landlord is Pius Nwoko.”

    Dike, who had allegedly defiled, killed and removed the vital organs of eight-year-old Chikamso, was caught by a local vigilante, who immediately handed him over to the police on Saturday.

    However, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zaki Ahmed, who was visibly sad and angry over the development, explained that the suspect escaped under the cover of the night and promised that the police would soon arrest him.

    Describing the incident as an individual negligence, Ahmed stressed that the police had deployed human and material resources towards ensuring that the suspect was apprehended.

    The CP said, “What I am saying is that it was an individual negligence that caused it. The escape happened in the presence of the complainant; that is the parent of the girl. The boy (suspect) escaped under the cover of the night.

    “But we are making every effort, every move and by the grace of the Almighty God, within a short time, he will be arrested. We are not relenting. We know that this is a serious problem; it can happen to anybody.

    “We are not relenting and by the grace of God, we will get him arrested. It is too bad it happened, but it is one of those things. Sometimes, things can happen this way.

    “We have moved a lot of resources; both human and material resources, to ensure that the culprit is arrested. We call on the people to confide in us if they have any useful information. I will act on it.”

  • Just in: Unknown gunmen invade, kill Special Assistant to Gov Ortom in Makurdi

    Gunmen on Sunday broke into the residence, killed one Dr Tavershima Adyorororough, the Principal Special Assistant on Knowledge Economy and Investments to Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom.

    The unknown gunmen around 12.30am on Sunday, reportedly stormed his residence at Nyinma layout in Makurdi, Benue state capital where they shot at the man and his wife.

    The deceased and family were said to have retired to bed when the assailants invaded the house and shot him dead while his wife was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where she is receiving treatment.

    The state governor, Samuel Ortom has demanded the arrest and prosecution of the killer of his aide.

    In a press statement issued to journalist and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Terver Akase, and made available to our correspondent on Sunday, Benue government confirmed that Dr Adyororough was shot and killed by gunmen who invaded his residence.

    Governor Ortom described the killing as unacceptable and condemnable, requesting security agencies to swing into action immediately so as to arrest those responsible for the dastardly act.

    He described the deceased as a competent and dependable aide who delivered on assignments with dedication and honesty.

    He sympathized with the immediate family of the deceased, the government and people of the state on the loss and pledges that he would support security agencies in apprehending the culprits.

    He urged those with useful information that can lead to the arrest to make same available.

    It will be recalled that the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on security matters was gruesomely murdered in 2016 at his residence along Mobile Barracks, Makurdi.

    Efforts to get the reaction of police are not successful as Benue command Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Moses Yamu did not pick the call put across to his line.

  • Vigilantes nab man who raped, killed, removed organs of 8-year-old girl in Rivers

    An eight-year-old girl, Chikamso Victory, has been defiled, killed and her organs removed by a suspected ritualist, Ifeanyi Dike, who lives in the same house with her on Messiah Street, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    Parts removed from the girls body after she was defiled and killed were her vagina, eyes, tongue and breasts.
    Dike was on Friday arrested by local vigilantes and handed over to operatives of the Rivers State Police Command attached to Okporo Police Station.

    The spokesman of the Rivers State Police Command, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the development in a statement.
    Dike said he was a 200 Level student of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Omoni said in the statement on Saturday: “Today, at about 0130hrs, men of the Okporo Police Station arrested one Ifeanyi Chukwu Maxwell Dike (male, 23 years) of Messiah Street, Eliozu, Port Harcourt, who yesterday (Friday) abducted one Chikamso Victory (female, eight years) of the same address.

    “The little girl was abducted, defiled and killed, while her vagina, eyes, tongue and breasts were removed and put in a polythene bag.

    “The suspect was going to dispose of the body, when he was arrested by a local vigilante that suspected his movement.

    “After he was questioned, the suspect dropped the bag and fled. Consequently, he was given chase and arrested. On further interrogation by the police, he confessed and took the police to where the vital organs were concealed.”