Remains of the Channels Reporter, Precious Owolabi who was shot dead during the Monday protest by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), is to be buried in Zaria on Thursday.
Corpse of the 23 years old corp member was sent to his parents in Zaria, Kaduna State on Wednesday.
The corpse was immediately moved to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Mortuary.
Parents of the late Precious, Mr. and Mrs. Owolabi were still in shock and could not talk to the press as at the time of filling this report.
A source close to the family however revealed that he will be buried tomorrow (Thursday)
Tag: killed
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Shi’ites protest: Channels Reporter, Precious Owolabi for burial Thursday
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How fraudsters killed NBA chairman for withholding N18m Internet fraud proceeds
Thirty-nine-year-old Kenechukwu Eze, a native of Amoli Edem in the Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, on Wednesday, said his gang members killed one Emmanuel Agundu because he withheld the N18m they realised from Internet fraud. The money was reportedly paid into his Nigerian bank account.
Agundu, who was the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Udenu branch, was shot on August 15, 2018, at Obollo-Afor in the Udenu Local Government Area of the state by unidentified gunmen around 7pm, but he survived the attack.
However, on September 2, 2018, he was trailed to Uru-Uwani Edem in the Nsukka Local Government Area around 2pm and shot dead.
Although one of the gunmen was arrested and remanded in prison custody, Eze, a member of the five-man gang of Internet fraudsters based in Morocco, was apprehended on Wednesday, July 10, 2019, by the personnel of the Enugu State Police Command.
Parading the suspect at the state police headquarters alongside 18 were arrested across the state for various offences ranging from armed robbery, kidnapping, car snatching, vandalism, cultisim, unlawful possession of firearms and murder, the state Commissioner of Police, Suleiman Balarabe, said Eze was arrested with the help of credible intelligence, adding that the police had been tracking him since Agundu’s death.
Balarabe said his arrest was part of the command’s efforts to rid the state of criminals.
“We are also striving towards reducing crime to its barest minimum through proactive measures without losing sight of the respect for human rights and the rule of law,” the CP stated.
Speaking to newsmen during the parade, Eze confessed that his group killed the legal practitioner, adding that the person who shot Agundu had been arrested and remanded in prison.
He said, “I didn’t know the lawyer in person, but one of our members brought him to join us in the business. His job was to supply a bank account to pay the money we realised into.
“So, we paid a total of N18m into the account he supplied and when we asked him to provide the money, he rebuffed us. Instead of making the money available for us to share according to our agreed formula, he started threatening to report the matter to security agents. That was why we decided to end it once and for all.
“I was arrested because of the death of that lawyer that we did a fraudulent transaction together. He spent N18m and was killed because of that. The person, who shot him, is already in prison. We were five in number; Emmanuel Ebonyi, one Valentine and his younger brother, Agundu and I.
“It was an online business, but the barrister supplied the account that we paid into. We paid a total of N18m into his account and he kept all the money.” -
I killed my boss’s wife because he sacked me – suspect
A 37-years old driver, Morenikeji Adeyemi on Friday said he killed his boss’s wife, Oyewumi Ayanwale because his boss sacked him for no reason after four years of working with him.
Adeyemi who was paraded by the Oyo state police command in Ibadan said he was able to lure the victim under the pretense of taking her for prayers.
According to him, he strangled the victim to death and consequently made away with her vehicle.
Adeyemi who was arrested by the Anti-Kidnapping squad of the Police Headquarters, Ibadan, said he was hurt when his boss sacked him. He said “I was hurt when my boss sacked me.
That time, my wife just had her baby and because there was no income anymore, we lost the baby.” “So, I thought of a way to get back at him. Because it was so painful.
My boss’ wife had once told me about her spiritual challenges, and I had promised to take her to a place for prayers.” “I was able to use that as a premise to lure her and I told her that I was taking her to a place Awe along Awe/Oyo road.”
“We took her car and along the way, she said she was pressed, so, she went into the bush, I followed her and strangulated her by the river in the bush.”
“I then took her vehicle and ran away, before I was arrested two weeks ago.” The state police commissioner, Shina Olukolu who paraded the suspect at the command headquaters in Ibadan said the suspect was arrested at Sango Ota in Ogun state where he had relocated to after committing the crime.
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Lagos Police arrest suspected killers of LUTH doctor, Stephen Urueye
The Lagos Police Command has arrested two persons suspected to have killed Dr. Stephen Urueye, a graduate of the University of Lagos, near the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba.
According to Channels Television, the suspects; Gbadebo Jimoh and Malik Adeboye, were arrested on Friday by police operatives from the Itire division.
Both have been transferred to the state criminal investigation department at the Yaba area of Lagos for further investigation.
In the aftermath of Urueye’s death, a protest was held at LUTH on Friday, calling for justice for the late doctor as well as improved security in the area.
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I was paid N25,000 after killing Badeh – Suspect confesses
Shuaibu Rabi, One of the prime suspects nabbed in connection with the killing of former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Alex Badeh, said he was paid N25,000.
Recall that Air Vice-Marshal Badeh was killed on December 18 last year by hoodlums who attacked his convoy on the Keffi- Kaduna Expressway while he was returning from his farm on the border between Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory.
The revelation is coming on the heels of the arrest of four additional suspects believed to have taken active roles in the murder, including an informant identified simply as Maube.
Detectives from the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) have revealed that the killers of the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Alex Badeh, used a Dane gun.
The IRT source further disclosed that the arrest of the four additional suspects brought the number of suspects arrested in connection with the killing to five. It recalled that IRT operatives had on December 23, 2018, through a tip-off, arrested one Rabo Shuiabu Rabo, who allegedly fired the shot that killed the ex-CDS, and he confessed during interrogation that another suspect known as Ciroma invited him and his brother, Yayaha, for the operation.
Shuaibu was said to have stated further that Ciroma, who provided three of the guns they used for the operation, including the Dane gun he used in killing the ex-CDS, did not tell him that their target was a former CDS. Shuiabu confessed that Ciroma told him that their target was coming to Panda area of Nassarawa State with a huge amount of money which he intended to use in buying a farmland in the area.
The IRT source further revealed that after Badeh was killed and one of his friends, Joseph, was kidnapped, operatives of the IRT, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari, swung into action and arrested Shuiabu through information provided by some Fulani businessmen within the state, and Shuiabu’s confessions aided the IRT operatives in apprehending, Ciroma and three other suspects, namely Maube, Yayaha and Abdulahi. The source also disclosed that after the four other suspects were arrested, it was discovered that Maube, who was the middleman between the late Badeh and the owner of the farmland which he wanted to buy, contracted Ciroma and the other four suspects to attack Badeh’s convoy on a fateful day.
He was said to have been the one who brought two of the Ak-47 rifles that were used for the operation while Ciroma sourced the three other rifles, including the Dane gun that was used for the operation. The source added that when Badeh’s corpse was examined, pellets from the Dane gun’s bullet were extracted from his body. Narrating how he organised the robbery operation that led to the killing of the late ex-CDS, Ciroma said: “There was a day I went to meet a man called Maube, who lives in Kare, close to Panda area of Nasarawa State. He told me that there was a rich man who had a farm in his area and he would need some boys to rob the man. “I contacted one Shuiabu who I met in Gitata Market and told him about the plan and he got interested and brought in his brother, Yahaya. “I took their numbers, and three days later, Maube called me and said that the rich man was in his farm on that day, saying that I should call my boys. I called Shuiabu and told him that the man was on ground and Shuiabu brought two persons: Yahaya and Baso.
“They met me at Gitata and Maube called me and said that the rich man had left the farm and was driving through Panda Road. Maube took a motorcycle and followed the rich man behind while I and six others, namely Alhaji Lamido, Galma, Rabo, Shuiabu, Yahaya and Baso, waited for the man at Zomgo area of the state, close to Buratai’s farm. “Then Abdulahi, who was carrying Alhaji Maube on his bike, brought two guns to us and pointed the vehicle to us, and we came outside and waylaid it. “We had four Ak-47 rifles in that operation. I brought two Ak-47 rifles and a single-barrel Dane gun. I got one of the Ak-47 rifles from a friend known as Rontumi and another from Rugumi.
The Dane gun belongs to me, and we entered the road and blocked the man’s convoy. I don’t know who among us fired the shot that killed him because three persons fired. “I went to the man’s car, opened it and found money in it. I gave the money to Ibrahim Abdulahi and asked him to give the money to Maube. It was the next day that we knew that the person we killed was a four-star general. I don’t know the amount that was in that bag because it was with Maube.” Recalling how he was arrested, 35-year-old Ciroma, who said he has two wives and eight children, said: “I am a taxi driver and I ply the Kaduna-Keffi Expressway. “Around 5 pm on 24 December, 2018, I was at Panda Market, waiting for passengers when a bus blocked me and policemen came out of it. I was dragged into the bus and I saw Shuiabu in it. “I was swiftly handcuffed and taken to the Keffi Area Command in Nasarawa State. There they asked me if I was part of the gang that blocked the road and killed Alex Badeh, and I said no. But when I was brought to Abuja, I had no option but to confess.” On his part, Ibrahim Abudulahi, 26, a native of Kare area of Nassarawa State, said he did not know that Alhaji Maube was planning a robbery operation when he called him to take him to Gitata in December 2018. He said: “I am a farmer and I also ride commercial motorcycle because I needed extra money to fend for my family.
“Alhaji (Maube) called me on a Tuesday in December 2018 and asked me to take him to Panda area of Nasarawa State. “When we got to his shop, he asked me to stop and I did. He went into his shop and brought a bag. I didn’t know what was in the bag. He only told me to take the bag to Gitata and hand it over to Ciroma. “I went there and stopped at Buritai’s farm where Ciroma and Shuiabu and Alhaji came to meet me and collected the bag from me, after which they asked me to wait nearby, but I went to the back of Buritai’s farm and waited. “A few minutes later, I heard rounds of gunshots and Ciroma called me to come for the bag I gave him, and he also handed me another bag containing money and told me to give the bag to Alhaji Maube.” Shuiabu, 25, a native of Bade area of Kaduna State, said he was not aware that it was the bullets from his gun was that killed the Badeh, adding that he was not the only person that shot at the deceased general’s convoy. He said: “What happened was that before last year’s Christmas, I went to the market and I met Ciroma, and he told me that there was a big man who had a farm in Panda and was coming to buy another farm within the area.
“He said he would want us to rob the man when he brought the money for payment. It was on a Friday and Ciroma told me that the man was coming on a Tuesday to pay for the land. “On that Tuesday, I went to my own farm and told my friend Yahaya about it. We called Ciroma to know if the job was still on, and Chiroma asked us to come. I also called one of my friends known as Baso and we went through the back of Gitata and got to Bruitaia’s farm. “When we met Ciroma, he gave me a Dane gun but I saw five guns with him. He gave the rest to the other people with us. “When the operation started, my friend, Yahaya, was on my right with a stick and I was in the front. But Ciroma and the other guys were ahead of us. When the vehicle that was carrying the man and the money came, the people in front started shooting. “At that point, I cannot tell who killed the man. And when we got to the vehicle, Ciroma brought out a bag from it. He gave me N25,000 and said he would call me when the money was ripe for sharing. I didn’t know that the man was killed by the bullet from the gun I used for the operation.”
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10 killed in Kogi communal clash
The hostility between Ebirra and Bassa-Komu ethnic tribes in Bassa Local Government Area of Kogi State came to a head yesterday as 10 people were feared killed in a crisis that erupted between them.
Many people were also injured in the crisis that followed the return of the Ebirra people who were displaced from their various communities earlier due to the quarrel that started last year April.
The police command Public Relations Officer, William Aya, who confirmed the incident yesterday in Lokoja, said there was no cause for alarm as the situation had been brought under control.
He said that two people lost their lives in the renewed crisis between the two ethnic groups who have been at dagger drawn in the eastern part of the state for months.
Aya said the police command had drafted a team of mobile policemen, conventional policemen and other security agents led by the assistant commissioner of police in charge of operations to the affected areas to restore normalcy as quickly as possible.
“Two people were killed. One killed yesterday, and the second one today. Calm has returned to the affected areas.
The CP in charge of operations, mobile police, conventional police, area commanders and soldiers are already there to restore law and order,” he said.It was gathered that following the intervention of elders from the area, the Ebirra speaking people, who fled their homes in many communities as a result of the crisis, were asked to go back to their villages by the state government in order to pave way for a lasting peace among the two ethnic groups.
In the spirit of reconciliation, the displaced Ebirra, who were accompanied by security operatives and political appointees, including the Bassa Local Government administrator, Sam Alumka, returned to Oguma, the headquarters of the local government on Wednesday, from where they were expected to go to their various villages.
It was alleged that uncomplimentary remarks by the paramount ruler of Bassa-Komu ethnic group, the Aguma of Bassa, William Keke, sparked off the latest crisis. He allegedly said the returning Ebirra people should go back to Lokoja or where they had been staying when they were away.
A source also alleged that the Ohiogba of Mozum, Alhaji Halidu Bukar Ali and other Ebira leaders who were at Aguma of Bassa’s palace to receive their people back home were nearly ambushed by hoodlums, but for the intervention of the security operatives.
The Guardian gathered that the escape of the Ohiogba of Mozum and other Ebira leaders from attack and the alleged unguarded statement of Keke led to the crisis in which more than 10 persons were said to have been killed.
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Unknown gunmen attack OAU hostel, kill 300-level student
A 300-level student of the Department of Accounting, Faculty of Administration, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Abiodun Babalola, has died from injuries sustained when gunmen attacked the ‘Adam and Eve Hostel,’ located at the Parakin Area, along Ede-Road in Ile-Ife.
Sources told newsmen that the robbers, who were armed, had on Saturday evening attacked the students in the hostel, with many sustaining various degrees of injuries.
While confirming the development, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr. Abiodun Olarewaju, explained that as soon as the matter was brought to the notice of the university, the university’s security operatives swung into action and rescued the victims from their attackers. According to Olarewaju, the victims were instantly moved to the university’s health Centre before Babalola and a few others were referred to the teaching hospital.
He added: “As soon as the university heard the news, we immediately moved in, and when Babalola was referred to the teaching hospital, we called his parents. His mother arrived, but unfortunately Babalola died at the hospital and his body was deposited at the morgue. The hospital has also released the body to the parents today (Sunday). “The thoughts of the university are with the parents of Babalola. Losing a child is painful and losing a university student could be more so. We pray to God Almighty to grant the family the fortitude to bear the loss. We shall continue to strive to achieve the best for our staff and students and we call on security operatives to assist us in this regard.”
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12 Nigerian soldiers killed in fighting with Boko Haram terrorists
At least 12 Nigerian soldiers were killed and dozens of others are missing after fighting with Boko Haram terrorists in the northeastern state of Borno, three military sources said on Sunday, one of the largest known losses of life by the army in the last month.
The army said it repelled the attack in which it said one soldier was killed and another injured.
The fighting followed an attack on Friday by insurgents in Gudumbali local government area – a part of Borno where Boko Haram breakaway group Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) is influential. The sources said the poor communication network in the remote area delayed details of the attack being relayed.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that the attack was carried out on a military base and a nearby community in the Gudumbali local government area, comes as President Muhammadu Buhari’s security record has become a campaign issue two months ahead of an election in which he is seeking a second term.
The three military sources, all of whom are soldiers and did not want to be named, said at least 12 troops were killed and dozens were missing after the fighting.
The army, in an emailed statement, said the insurgents opened fire on troops while aid materials were being distributed in Gudumbali.
“The troops, however, fought gallantly and outmanoeuvred the attackers inflicting heavy casualties on them. Unfortunately, a soldier paid the supreme price during the encounter, while another was wounded in action,” said the army in the statement.
The biggest loss of military life in the last few months occurred in late November when around 100 soldiers were killed by ISWA militants who attacked an army base in Metele, Borno state.
One of the sources said 28 militants were killed.
Nigeria’s northeast is home to two Islamist insurgencies: Boko Haram and ISWA which broke away in 2016 and is now considered by security experts to be the stronger of the two.
The Nigerian government in June ordered thousands of people who fled the conflict with Boko Haram to return to Gudumbali, one of the most dangerous areas of northeast Nigeria. Officials cut off food and other aid to those who refused.
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[Update] How gunmen killed five, kidnap Osun College HOD, staff
Gunmen believed to be herdsmen invaded Esa- Oke in Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State and killed five people. Those killed in the Tuesday evening invasion included an employee of the Osun State College of Technology, Esa-Oke, identified as Olaniyi Emmanuel, while a policeman was shot.
Also on Tuesday evening, gunmen stormed the Akure-Owo Road in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State and abducted workers of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in the town. A resident of Esa-Oke, Adewale Ogunsakin, said the Osun State College of Technology worker was going home after work when he was killed. The resident said the gunmen also beheaded another indigene of the town. Also the Public Relations of the institution, Prince Wale Oyekanmi, said six staff of the college were still missing.
He gave their names as Mr. Olaleye Olalekan (Business Administration Department), Engr. Adeyeoluwa Bankole (HOD, Civil Engineering), Dr. Jesuola Ajibola (Director, Ventures), Adenreti Chukwu (Secretary, Civil Engineering Department), Rachael Onyinocha Akinboboye (OSCOTECH Microfinance Bank) and a yet-to-be-identified person.
Many residents of the town had fled their homes to neighbouring towns to seek refuge. Investigation in the town yesterday showed that traditional hunters and vigilantes met and resolved to tackle the herdsmen if security agents do not respond swiftly. It was learnt that the hunters and the vigilantes have been on the trail of the herdsmen since Tuesday.
The traditional ruler of the town, the Owamiran of Esa-Oke, Oba Adeyemi Adediran, said the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) members, local hunters and vigilantes had gone after the herders. Adediran, who said four of those abducted had been rescued, assured his subjects that all efforts would be made to protect their lives and property.
The traditional ruler also called on the OPC leader, who doubles as the Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba Land, Chief Gani Adams, to rise up and defend his people. According to him, the battle is not for the Esa-Oke indigenes alone but that of the Yoruba as a whole. He described the attack as callous and wicked and called on the security agents to swing into action to bring the perpetrators to book.
Palace sources, however, said that before the OPC and the hunters could rescue the four people, they engaged the herdsmen in a fierce gun battle. According to them, in the process, the abductors ran away and left the four persons.
The sources, therefore, expressed optimism that, soon, those who were yet to be rescued would regain their freedom. The residents, however, threatened to avenge the killing of their sons and vowed that the perpetrators would not go scot-free.
Meanwhile, all the roads leading to the town have been barricaded by youths who frisked passers-by, motorists and other road users. At press time, the town had been deserted while students of the state College of Technology had also fled the campus for fear of being molested. But a top police officer, who preferred anonymity, said officers and men had been despatched to the troubled zone.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, confirmed the attack in a telephone interview. Adeoye said his men were on the trail of the attackers and promised that the police would get to the root of the matter. The commissioner, who confirmed the killing, also said one of his men was shot.
He said the policeman was presently receiving treatment in the hospital. Meanwhile, apart from those kidnapped on Akure-Owo Road, several passengers and residents of Amurin in Owo Local Government Area, where the incident occurred, were injured when they tried to escape from the scene of the incident.
A witness said the kidnappers, numbering about 20 and armed with AK47 rifles and other dangerous weapons, waylaid vehicles coming from Owo and started kidnapping passengers in any of the vehicles who caught their fancy. The kidnappers, who the witness said were of Fulani extraction, abducted a nonteaching member of staff of RUGIPO, Mr. Taiwo Akinyemi, from an official car and some medical staff from FMC who were on their way to Akure after the day’s job.
According to him, the suspected kidnappers took over the expressway and were shooting sporadically into the air. He said many people had to run into the bush to escape from the hail of bullets. The witness said it was in the process that the polytechnic staff member and an unspecified number of FMC staff were dragged into the bush by the suspected kidnappers.
He said the kidnappers, who were operating between Owo and Ikare when the road was bad, might have relocated to Owo-Akure Road when the state government started palliative works in the Ondo North axis which had become death trap and kidnappers’ den. The witness added that the police came to the scene shortly after the incident while the staff of the FMC, Owo, brought ambulance in order to attend to the injured people along the ever busy road.
However, an official of the FMC, Owo, told journalists that three of the hospital’s workers were abducted on the Owo- Akure Road. He said the kidnappers had contacted family members of the victims to raise N100 million as ransom before they would secure the release of the victims.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, confirmed the kidnapping incident. He, however, said only two staff of the state-owned polytechnic and FMC, Owo, were abducted.
Joseph said the armed men trooped to the road under the pretence of being armed robbers, shot sporadically into the air and abducted their victims. He said the state Police Command had moved into the zone in order to secure the release of the victims and arrest the hoodlums.
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Police admit 16 cops killed by Zamfara bandits
The Nigerian Police has admitted it lost 16 men to bandits in Zamfara state on 29 November but not 50 as reported by some news platforms.
In an earlier statement the police said they killed 104 bandits, destroyed 50 hideouts of the bandits and lost one unidentified policeman, while 12 others were injured.
Police also said 85 suspects were arrested in the massive operation after a dare-devilry ambush, by the criminals.
Police also said they recovered over 250 heads of cattle and 109 sheep.
However, in the update provided on Tuesday night, the police now spoke about a search and rescue operation by a Police Joint Intervention Force, which found 20 policemen alive and 16 men killed.
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris has condoled with the families of the slain policemen and ordered befitting burial for the officers.
Idris also ordered prompt payment of the life assurance benefits and other entitlements of the dead to their families, according to the statement by Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood.
“The IGP is saddened with the death of the gallant officers whom he describes as heroes of the Force; their demise is a great loss to Nigeria Police Force and our dear Nation, Nigeria. The supreme price they paid for the security and safety of the Country will not be in vain”, Moshood said.
In the meantime, the police said the Police Joint Intervention Force under the command of Deputy Inspector General of Police, Department of Operations deployed by the Inspector General of Police to Zamfara State to rout-out all armed bandits and other criminal elements in the state is making progress.
“Police Special Forces personnel, Counter Terrorism Unit, Police Mobile Force, Federal SARS personnel with three (3) surveillance patrol helicopters have commenced an on-going operation being strengthened to rout out the remnant armed bandits and other criminal elements in the caves and mountains in the identified bandits hideouts in some locations in Zamfara State”, said Moshood.